THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



73 



I should as lief have them ; but if they 

 are not as good, I shall be liable to make 

 it known to my customers. I have no- 

 ticed of late that the Api says that cel- 

 lar wintering will soon be a thing of the 

 past ; that the double-walled hive is 

 soon to take the place of wintering in 

 the cellar ; also that bees do not dwin- 

 dle .so badly wintered out of doors, as 

 they do where they are wintered in the 

 cellar. Now to answer these questions 

 much would depend on the climate 

 where you are located. Away down 

 here in Maine we cannot hardly agree 

 with you. I find that those that winter 

 in the cellar are ready for the honey 

 flow first ; for instance, I will call your 

 attention to some of Maine's most suc- 

 cessful beekeepers. Mr. Greeley of 

 Clinton always had success by winter- 

 ing in the cellar, his bees came out last 

 spring in such a condition as to build 

 up very early, on some hives he had to 

 put two cases of boxes to give the bees 

 room some time before the honey flow. 

 Well, what was the result? He got 4800 

 pounds of honey while many others got 

 none. Our honey here came in last 

 season quite early, what little there was. 

 I do not think such a winter as we had 

 in 1890 here in Maine, that the double- 

 walled hive could give bees much pro- 

 tection. Is cellar wintering soon to be 

 a thing of the past ? We must remem- 

 ber that this world is large, and there 

 are many beekeepers, and many minds, 

 and many inventions, and more to fol- 

 low. We are all apt to think that we 

 have it in our own mind. Now if I 

 should tell you that l)y wintering bees in 

 a cellar, that we' could be able to winter 

 them in a way so that every colony 

 could be under the same conditions, 

 and where one colony would winter, so 

 would they all, and at an expense of 

 i-^ cents a colony per week, or count- 

 ing them in- the cellar five months at a 

 little less than 30 cents per colony. This 

 might place the double-walled hive 

 where it would not pay to winter out of 

 doors. Although they may be a good 

 hive, and it may pay to have them for 

 spring and fall and I dare say that they 



would do to put in the cellar as well as 



anv, although tliey would be a little 



bulky. 



Skowhegan, Maine. W. H. Norton. 



' Double-wall hives, my friend, as now 

 made are not bulky. The outside hive is 

 so constructed that it is readily removed, 

 and notliing but a brood nest and bottom- 

 board need be carried into the cellar. — Ed. ] 



HOUSE APIARIES. 



MRS. AXTKLL GIVES HEK OPINION OF THEM; 

 AND MAKES IMPORTANT SUGGESTIONS. 



I have wondered that before this 

 house-apiaries were not invented that 

 were practical and came into general 

 use; but few I think are now in use. 

 I think they have been given up more 

 because of the bees getting out into 

 the room while being manipulated. The 

 one you describe Brother Alley, strikes 

 nie as being about w^hat would fill the 

 requirements of the bees, except it 

 seems to me the old fault of their get- 

 ting out in the room might bother you 

 by their flying to the light, and if turned 

 out of doors would be chilled by alight- 

 ing on other objects instead of their 

 own entrance board. Could this ob- 

 jectionable feature be removed, I think 

 house-apiaries would come to stay. 



As they are more costly than single 

 hives unless they combine more advan- 

 tages, the average beekeeper would not 

 care for them. 1 should want a house 

 so built that small windows would be in 

 front of each hive being manipulated 

 and all others closed so the bees would 

 all fly to that one window ; then when 

 that hive was finished a board-blind 

 might be closed on the outside, the blind 

 being an inch shorter than the window, 

 leaving a small strip of light just above 

 an opening into the hive where the bees 

 would find their way back if the weather 

 was too cool to throw the window open 

 to let out the bees. 



Second. The house should be built 

 as cheaply as possible and have it strong 

 and v\arm, the warmth to be gotten as 

 much as possible by plastering, as no 



