THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



105 



the first of January. 1 found 

 brood from the egg to that nearly 

 ready to hatch ; the brood must 

 have been started by Dec. 15. The 

 bees were in a single-walled hive, 

 the same as described, and set in 

 the shade in the woods. I think 

 there must be some little secret 

 about wintering bees we do not all 

 understand. 



One year ago I wintered seventy 

 colonies in the manner above de- 

 scribed, and all came out strong in 

 the spring, except four or five 

 which lost their queens. 



How cold would it have to be to 

 freeze a good, health}' colony of 

 bees in a single-walled hive ? I have 

 about twenty-five colonies that are 

 in two- and three-story hives, all 

 open from bottom to top ; they are 

 in fine condition, notwithstanding 

 the fact that the temperature has 

 been as low as ten degrees below 

 zero. 



I had in the fall sixty-four 

 stocks ; all alive to date except 

 one ; wintered on summer stands, 

 in single-walled hives. 



Feb. 16, 1886, Winterton, N. Y- 



For the American Apiculturist. 



COMB vs EXTRACTED 

 HONEY. 



By Johx T. Beech. 



I HAVE noticed in a good season 

 for honey (all other conditions 

 about equal) that with the "L" 

 hive and old combs for the extractor 

 and 4^ X 4;^ sections used for 

 comb hone_y, that the hives for ex- 

 tracting will give from two to three 

 pounds more honey than the hives 

 run for comb honey in a poor season. 

 I found the difference to be still 

 greater last year. In this vicinity 

 the season was veiy poor for honey, 

 no surplus stored from any source 

 but basswood and that not the best. 



M}' experience is about as follows : 

 fifteen hives for the extracted most- 

 ly old combs (four did not work in 

 the upper story) leaving eleven to 

 extract from. I took about 900 lbs. 

 at three extractings from basswood, 

 twenty-five for comb honey ; 1400 

 1-lb. sections, about 400 had worked 

 out starters from last season ; the 

 balance had a small piece of foun- 

 dation for a starter in each. Re- 

 sult : about one hundred salable 

 sections mostl}^ all very light in 

 weight, from which about 200 lbs, 

 could i)e extracted although I prefer 

 to let the bees clean them out early 

 in the spring as the extractor muti- 

 lates the starter. 



1 have always considered myself 

 satisfied when I received double 

 the price of extracted for comb 

 honey, but hereafter the diflfei"ence 

 will have to be greater or the comb 

 honey will be scarce and extracted 

 hone_y more plentiful at the '"Burnt 

 River Apiary." 



Burnt River, Ont. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



THE BAY STATE 

 REVERSIBLE HIVE. 



By FTenky Alley. 



Last fall I promised the readers 

 of the " Apiculturist " a description of 

 a reversible hive then in process 

 of construction, and which I in- 

 tended to have completed in time 

 for the season of i886. The hive is 

 completed, and a brief description 

 of it may not be out of place at this 

 time. 



The hive as now made has but 

 eight frames, same size as the stand- 

 ard Langstroth, but the frames are 

 "closed ends" and are so wide that 

 when the frame is in position they 

 are self-supporting. On either side 

 the frames are J- inch boards, as wide 

 as the depth of the frames and three 

 inches lonc;er. These boards serve 



