1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



155 



1. The worker progeny of a pure 

 queen (whether light or dark) will all 

 plainly show the 3 bands peculiar to 

 their race, as they stand on the I'onihs, 

 without feeding.' bending, or placing 

 them on a window. 



2. They will all have light downy 

 rings around that part of their bodies 

 back of the 3 yellow bands. Sometimes 

 these rings of down or hair are worn off 

 from the effects of having honey on 

 their bodies, as in case of robbing, etc. 

 When the absence of these rings is thus 

 caused the back part ot the abdomen 

 always presents a shiny, black appear- 

 ance. I always find, sooner or later, 

 that all queens not bearing the above 

 test will show their impurity by the 

 disposition of their workers. I usu- 

 ally use more smoke when handling 

 such, than I do with pure Italians. 

 They will not keep their place on the 

 combs like the latter while being han- 

 dled, and sometimes they will leave the 

 combs entirely, and roll over the sides 

 of the hive like black bees. Again. 

 some of their queen progeny, even 

 though they mate with pure drones, will 

 produce cross workers although they 

 look like fine Italians; but a close ex- 

 amination will show the absence of the 

 rings of down on a part of the bees. 

 Such will not be shiny-black unless 

 smeared with honey or syrup. 



I claim that the bright rings covering 

 the back part of the bodies of all the 

 bees of a colony is a sure test of purity. 

 The bees must be several days old be- 

 fore the above test can be applied, as it 

 is difficult to distinguish the light rings 

 on bees just emerged from the cells ; 

 but if it is a pure colony the 3 yellow 

 bands can be seen as soon as the bees 

 are hatched, while they stand in a nat- 

 ural position on the comb. Wheu all 

 bee-keepers adopt this method of test- 

 ing their queens, the dark Italians will 

 no longer be called crosser than the 

 light ones. 



Hubbardston, Mich. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Chaff Packing— The Result. 



J. H. TOWNLEY. 



The old reliable and ever welcome 

 Bee Journal makes its regular weekly 

 visits tilled with interesting and valua- 

 ble informaton upon all topics connected 

 with bee-keeping. The past winser has 

 been worse than the winter of 1842-3. 

 Cold weather then commenced Nov. 17 

 and continued until near the last of 

 March, but we had warm weather by 

 April 1. This year on April 3itsnowed, 

 and on the 2d it was only 7° above zero. 

 In LS42-3 I was so unfortunate as to lose 

 all the bees 1 had,one -'skip" in a hollow 

 log, but found another one in April with 

 which to commence again, and have 

 been without bees but 2 years since. 



Chaff; Oh yes, chaff ! howaboutchaff 

 now ? As I was the first to bring chaff 



Eacking as a winter protection to bees 

 efore the bee-keeping public (in Glean- 

 ing*), I am again receiving letters in re- 

 lation to it, while some of the writers 

 intimate that the " baby " is dead or 

 dying, others seem to be just a little 

 " sarquastic ; " for instance, as follows : 

 " How do you manage to winter your 

 bees on chaff V Do you give it to them 

 clear, or do you mix it with honey, 

 sugar, or glucose V Do you cook it or 

 do you feed it raw ? Do you have it 

 ground or feed it whole '( Will it not 

 produce dysentery if fed whole without 

 bolting V " etc. 



It has now been 10 years since I first 

 commenced wintering bees packed in 

 chaff. I have heretofore been very 

 successful with it, but the present win- 

 ter has been a little too much for thi 

 chaff. The winter commenced early. 

 The last good flight the bees had was in 

 October ; from then until the 6th of 

 March they were kept in their hives by 

 cold weather. Bees have died all around 

 me in cellars, out-doors, and, in fact, in 

 all other ways of wintering them. 

 Whole apiaries, consisting of 2 or 3 

 colonies up to 150, each have been 

 swept out of existence, leaving nothing 

 but hives and combs. Last season was 

 very poor here for bees ; but few colo- 

 nies stored any surplus honey ; hardly 

 enough was collected during the fall 

 crop to keep up breeding ; they went 



into winter quarters light in numbers 

 and weak in stores; I was away from 

 home, too, when I ought, to have been 

 there preparing them for winter, ami 

 they were not put up as they should 

 have been. As a consequence, all I 

 have left now is 54 colonies. 

 Tompkins, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintered well in Chaff Packing, 

 c. w. sic KOWN. 



Last fall 1 had 24 colonies of Italians 

 in double-walled hives, with 4 inches of 

 space between the walls on every side 

 or the bees. I packed this space full of 

 dry wheat chaff; gave no ventilation at 

 the bottom, but the entrance, %x4 in. 

 I used boxes as large as the body of 

 the hives, 6 in. deep, witli common mus- 

 lin for bottoms. These were tilled with 

 the same kind of chaff and placed in 

 the hive, and the caps were put on over 

 all. This gave no top ventilation except 

 what could pass through the chaff box 

 and out between the hive and cap. In 

 place of <i honey board I used a piece 

 of thin cloth on some, one thickness of 

 home-made carpet on others, or a heavy 

 woolen cloth. The frames I use are \\% 

 in., in side measure. My bees were in 

 good condition in the fall, but some of 

 the honey was not capped and conse- 

 quently soured and caused some mold. 

 Some of these colonies did not fly from 

 Nov. 18 to March 15; others flew a lit- 

 tle 3 or 4 times between these dates. My 

 loss in these 24 colonies was one, which 

 by some unaccountable blunder was 

 ■'chaffed" only on 2 sides. There 

 were some dead bees in all the hives, 

 and dysentery in several, though not 

 very bad in any but one ; this I surely 

 would have lost in March had I not re- 

 sorted to radical treatment. One day 

 in March I found the bees daubed and 

 not disposed to move or fly ; so I took 

 the honey cloth off and let the sun in 

 between the frames. The bees soon be- 

 gan to roar and crawl all over the hive. 

 Many flew away and never returned, 

 others crawled out and back. About }% 

 the bees never returned, but those that 

 did were cured, and now it is a good 

 colony. But the color of the hive was 

 changed from clear white to dirt brown 



Bees packed in this way are not af- 

 fected by a solitary warm day— it takes 

 about 3 of such to briug them out. 

 Some moisture accumulated in the chaff 

 over the cluster, and I repeatedly lifted 

 off the caps to let the sun dry it. In 

 March, when I wanted to force them to 

 fly, I took the caps and chaff boxes off 

 and let the sun shine on the honey 

 cloths. This brought the bees out in a 

 few minutes. I had 9 other colonies in 

 single- walled hives ; the caps tilled with 

 wheat chaff and about 12 inches of the 

 same on the outSide, covered with 

 boards. Of these 1 lost one. So my 

 loss in 33 is only 2. Some tell us of 

 failures with chaff, but they do not tell 

 us what kind of chaff was used, how 

 much, or in what way. I believe the 

 chaff hive theory is correct, and the 

 failure is in the manner of doing it. 

 The prospect for a good honey season 

 here is excellent. There is an extra 

 tine crop of white clover coming on. 



Gilson,Ill.,May 2, 1881. 



Eastern Michigan Convention. 



The Bee-keepers of Eastern Michi- 

 gan met at Detroit on May 3, and 

 formed the Eastern Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, with the usual 

 Constitution and By-Laws. 



The following were elected officers 

 for the ensuing year : President, A. B. 

 Pierce; Vice-President, Win. Morhous; 

 Sec, A.B. Weed ; Treas., J. U. Sanborn. 



The chief topic of discussion was the 

 comparative merits of imported and 

 home bred queens. All agreed that 

 further importation was undesirable. 



Mr. Otto Kleinow belived that im- 

 ported queens were the best for those 

 who bred queens for sale, because they 

 sold better ; he saw no difference in the 



working qualities of the two kinds, 

 lie was of the opinion that Italian 

 blood would inn out. 



Mr. Hunt thought that blood was as 

 likely to " run " one way as the Other. 



He believed that Americans surpassed 

 the Italians in skill in breeding. 



Mr. llolbrook said that Italians would 

 not run out if the drones in the neigh- 

 borhood Were Of the right kind. 



Mr. Herberstute had had black bees 

 that ran to Italians because there were 

 Italian drones in Ins neighborhood. 



Mr. llolbrook said that the same 

 principles applied to the breeding of 

 bees as to cattle. 



Mr. Pierce said that American bred 

 cattle were equal to imported. 



Mr. Weed thought that frequent im- 

 portation of fresh blood precluded the 

 possibility of improvement by select inn. 



The question " why do bees swarm 

 out in the spring "elicited much inter- 

 est. The conclusion was that it was 

 because of uncomfortable quarters. 



Mr. Hunt and Mr. Morhous had some 

 that swarmed out this spring, when the 

 closest examination revealed no cause. 



Mr. llolbrook said that there was yet 

 much to be learned about bees. 



Mr. Kleinow had observed that a 

 slight covering, if dry, was better than 

 a heavy one if dam]) ; he considered 

 ventilation above the chaff necessary. 



Minor subjects were discussed and 

 the Association adjourned to April 11, 

 1882, at'Detroit. A. B. Weed, tSec. 



Read before the Central Michigan Convention. 



The Lesson of the Winter. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



I do not know that Shakspeare was a 

 bee-keeper, though he seems to have 

 been almost everything; or at least to 

 have been intimately conversant with 

 all kinds of men and their various 

 crafts; but I do know that his -'sweet 

 are the uses of adversity" is specially 

 pertinent, after such a winter as we 

 have just experienced, and may well 

 serve as the text of an address to prac- 

 tical bee-keepers. 



As many wtio have suffered sore losses 

 will wonder where we can see aught 

 of sweetness, I propose, on this occa- 

 sion, to indicate just where we have re- 

 ceived value from the unwelcome losses 

 of the past severe winter. 



We have previously learned that to 

 winter our bees on the.summer stands, 

 with no protection, was neither safe nor 

 wise. Bees thus neglected may pass 

 safely through several winters. But he 

 who trusts his bees, with no protection 

 from the full sweep of the winter's 

 blasts, can never be certain that his pets 

 will live to greet the sunshine and 

 bloom of the coming spring. 



Past experience has also taught us 

 that good cellars, thoroughly adapted 

 to the requirements of our bees, were 

 safe, and could be safely trusted witli 

 our little insect servants, even tbeugb 

 the storms raged in maddest fury for 

 four or five months. The past excep- 

 tionally severe winter has been valua- 

 ble in showing tnat this opinion was in 

 no wise vain. Good cellars are again 

 vindicated as the most secure places in 

 which to winter bees. 



We have also been taught by our 

 practice in the past that chaff hives, or 

 packing about the hives with chaff, 

 sawdust, or straw, would aid to ward 

 off calamity in severe seasons, but we 

 had not had such a trial as would war- 

 rant us in pronouncing them wholly 

 safe. The past winter has furnished a 

 crucial test. The verdict is an import- 

 ant one. This seems to call in question 

 the trustworthiness of the heavy, 

 costly chaff hives, and certainly pro- 

 nounces against the efficiency of the 

 method of packing. A good packing 

 box will cost, at least, §1, which will be 

 the extra cost of a good chaff hive. 

 These latter are, besides, inconvenient 

 and awkward. Now if the past winter 

 is fruitful in convincing bee-keepers 

 that such packing boxes and hives are 

 insufficient, and thereby saves to each 

 bee-keeper $1 per colony, it will not be 

 wholly m vain ; and we shall be able to 

 see some use in adversity. 



Again, the past winter has shown that 

 cellar wintering saves no small amount 

 of honey. Colonies wintered out-doors, 

 even though well packed, have eaten 2U 



or 30 lbs. (if honey, and in some cases 

 seem actually to have starved to death, 

 after eating all their stores, while colo- 

 nies in the same condition have win- 

 tered in the cellars on less than ';,' the 

 amount of honey. The extra honey 

 consumed is worth $2 a colony. 

 Mine than all this, the bees are also 



dead, which adds SS to the loss. It will 



quickly be seen that a few colonies of 



I s will pay all the expense of a good 



cellar, or of converting a poor one into 

 one that is suitable. The present win- 

 ter has more than ever settled the ques- 

 tion in Eavorof good cellars for winter- 

 ing bees in all the Northern States Of 

 our country. 



Last, autumn all our colonies of bees at 

 the Agricultural College were strong, 

 and vt.re provisioned with about 30 lbs. 

 of good capped honey to the colony. On 

 Nov. 10, >i were packed in straw— the 

 packing being one foot in thickness — 

 and immediately above the bees ttiere 

 was placed 6 inches of chaff. One of 

 these colonies was also in a Shuck hive. 

 The other half of our bees were, on the 

 same day, placed in the cellar. Just 5 

 months later, on March 10, all were ex- 

 amined and permitted to fly. There 

 was no suitable opportunity previous to 

 this date. Those in the cellar were all 

 in good condition, while each colony 

 had over 20 lbs. of honey. Half of those 

 out-doors were already dead ; the oth- 

 ers were suffering in no small degree 

 from the dysentery, though the colony 

 in the Shuck hive was in far the best 

 condition. On the evening of March 

 10 I placed all in the cellar except the 

 colony in the Shuck hive. Since then 

 one, which was reduced to a mere hand- 

 ful of bees, has died in the cellar. The 

 colony in the Shuck hive is no more. 

 This hive was warranted, I believe, to 

 be all-sufficient, without any packing. 

 Warrants do not always save bees. Had 

 I removed this colony to the cellar on 

 March 10 I feel sure it would have re- 

 mained with us. I do not regret, how- 

 ever, that I gave the hive the trial, 

 though I do regret the result. 



The great sine qua non to successful 

 wintering of bees, next to a sufficiency 

 of good honey, is a uniform tempera- 

 ture, neither too hot nor too cold. Too 

 much heat irritates, induces uneasiness, 

 over-eating, and, if the bees are re- 

 strained from flight, death. Cold like- 

 wise stimulates to activity, that the 

 bodily heat may be kept normal ; un- 

 due eating follows as a necessity, and, 

 as before, with prolonged coutiuement 

 comes death. 



With such prolonged cold as we have 

 had the past winter, the best chaff hive 

 or style of packing will prove insufficient 

 to maintain this uniform temperature, 

 which should range from 35° to 45 u F. 

 But a well-arranged cellar will secure 

 this desideratum, and so may always be 

 counted on to bridge over calamity 

 with bees that are in good condition in 

 the fall, and that are provided with suf- 

 ficient good capped honey ; and as we 

 have seen, it requires the minimum 

 amount, if we winter in a good cellar. 



A uniform temperature in a cellar 

 may be secured in either of 2 ways : 

 First, by sub-earth ventilation, where 

 the cellar is constantly supplied with 

 fresh air drawn 30 to 40 feet through the 

 earth, quite below the freezing point. 

 Or, secondly, by keeping a large body 

 of water in the cellar. This, as in our 

 cellar, may be accomplished by arrang- 

 ing the out-flowing drain pipe so that it 

 will be higher than the bottom of cellar. 



A better way would be to have the 

 cellar well drained, and have a large 

 cistern in it. As you all know, such a 

 body of water would serve excellently 

 well to modify temperature, keeping it 

 warm in the cold winter days and not 

 suffering it to rise during the warm 

 days of winter and spring. 



1 fully believe that in a cellar thus pre- 

 pared, colonies of bees which were in 

 good condition in the fall, might re- 

 main for months in prime condition. 

 Two small nuclei in our cellar survived 

 until March, the past winter, and then 

 only died because the water raised till 

 it covered the bottom boards, owing to 

 our floods. The old idea that a cellar 

 must be dry to be safe for bees, is not 

 founded in fact. Ours has worked well 

 lor 2 winters, and has had from 4 to 8 

 inches of water in it during all the win- 

 ter through. 



