84 



THE AMEBIC AN APICULTUBIST. 



burlap answers very well. On top 

 of the mat I put some six or eight 

 inches of forest leaves, and have a 

 1^ inch ventilating hole, in each 

 end of the cover. I prefer a double 

 walled hive with 1^- inch dead air 

 space, as I consider dead air a 

 better non-conductor of heat, than 

 chaff, saw-dust, or any other kind 

 of filling ; I consider a single 

 walled hive safe, however, if it is 

 wide enough to allow a 1^ inch 

 division board to be placed on 

 each side. My apiary has a hedge 

 on the north and west sides, and I 

 deem a breakwind of such a nature 

 invaluable. From observations 

 made during the last eighteen years, 

 I fully and firmly believe that bees 

 can be wintered safely on their 

 summer stands, by making use of 

 the above precautions — all of 

 them — with such queens as are 

 ordinarily sold by experienced 

 breeders. I do not know but some 

 of the above precautions might be 

 omitted, and success still follow, 

 but I do not dare omit any one of 

 them myself, and cannot advise 

 others so to do. It is possible that 

 some day, queens will be so well 

 bred as to hardiness, that their 

 brood will winter safely, without 

 precautions of any kind being 

 taken ; but, until some way can be 

 devised whereby we can avoid the 

 promiscuous mating with drones, 

 to which we are now imperatively 

 obliged to submit, I fear that, 

 unless we do take just such precau- 

 tionary measures as I have advised, 

 we shall sufl[er loss, winter after 

 winter, that might be avoided with 

 slight expense, and very little 



trouble. So far as I myself am 

 concerned, " I have solved the win- 

 ter problem ;" go thou and do like- 

 wise. 



Foxboro, 3Iass., May 30, 1883. 



EDITORIAL. 



There is a question of great 

 moment to which we would call the 

 attention of our readers. For a 

 long time manj'^ of our most 

 thoughtful and prominent apiarists 

 have endeavored to impress upon 

 the minds of beekeepers the neces- 

 sity of establishing in the United 

 States a national beekeepers' asso- 

 ciation, which should be authority 

 in the decision of every question 

 of importance which might be 

 brought before us for consideration. 

 Although our country leads the 

 world in advanced apiculture, j^et 

 as regards a thorough organization 

 of our ranks and a systematic 

 method of disseminating knowledge 

 upon this subject, we are at fault. 

 There are many reasons why this is 

 so, and it behooves us, at the com- 

 ing convention at Toronto, where 

 a large number of our leading men 

 will assemble from all portions of 

 the country, to consider this matter 

 thoroughly and see if we cannot 

 devise an improvement. The ques- 

 tions of a standard hive, frame, 

 and section box have long interested 

 those whose minds reach beyond the 

 present and who contemplate the 

 numbers who are yet to engage in 

 the bee business. It is not enougii 

 that any certain hive, frame, or 

 box may be adopted as a standard 



