

_»*i».. 



ESTABLISHED r>) 

 IN 1861 



DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY. 



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., DECEMBER 7, 1881. 



No. 49. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION i 



WEEKLY— (52 numbers) S2 a year, in advance. 

 Three or Six Months lit the same rate. 



SEMI-MONTHLY— The first and third numbers ot 

 each month, at imi.OO a year, in advance. 



MONTHLY— The Qrst number of each month, at 

 SO cent! a year, in advance. 



fW Any person sending a club of six is entitled 

 to an extra copy (like the olub) sent toany-address 

 desired. Sample copies furnished free. 



0" Remit by money-order, registered letter, ex- 

 press or bank draft on CblCftKO or New York, pay- 

 able to our order. Such only are at our risk, checks 

 on local banks cost us ii5 cents for collecting. 



Free of postage in the United States or Canada 

 PoNt:ige to Europe 5© cent, extra. 



Entered at Chicago post ofice as second class matter. 



Weekly Bee Journal— Its First Year. 



Almost one year ago we reluctantly 

 ventured upon the doubtful experi- 

 ment of publishing the I5ee Journal 

 weekly, as we fully appreciated the 

 vast amount of unremitting labor to 

 be expended upon it. Many of our 

 friends, especially among those most 

 competent to realize the task, advised 

 us against taking the step, anticipa- 

 ting either a diminution of interesting 

 matter in our pages, or a lack of ability 

 to keep a weekly up to the proper 

 intellectual standard. But we could 

 not resist the impulse— a monthly 

 visit to our readers was too infrequent 

 to do all the work we hoped to accom- 

 plish ; our space was too limited to ac- 

 commodate our numerous correspond- 

 ents ; four to seven weeks was too long 

 to withhold answers to letters seeking 

 information, the delay often proving 

 embarrassing to the inquirer, and sci- 

 entific discussions covered too great a 

 breadth of time to be of the most 

 practical value. 



We are free to admit, however, that 

 the above were not the only considera- 

 tions which induced the change — we 

 felt that with a weekly issue we could 

 do more to advance scientific apicul- 

 ture, to correct existing abuses, to in- 

 corporate fixed and rational reforms, 

 to further the pecuniary interests of 

 our readers, and to develop a great 



source of national wealth. It has been 

 a gratification to know that our more 

 intelligent bee-keepers appreciate our 

 labors in their behalf, and that all 

 honest men approve our efforts in cor- 

 recting abuses. Many scores of letters 

 have given us encouragement. The 

 following is just received from Mr. W. 

 Z. Hutchinson, correspondent of the 

 Country Gentleman, and with whose 

 writings bee-keepers are familiar : 



In my humble opinion, the present 

 volume of the Bee Journal is far 

 superior to any of the past volumes. 

 I fear that we do not all realize how 

 much editorial work, work, work, has 

 been expended upon this volume. I 

 thank you for the work that you are 

 doing for us bee-keepers. 



The current volume of the Bee 

 Journal will comprise, when com- 

 pleted, 416 pages, containing 1,664 col- 

 umns, treating upon every variety of 

 subjects relating to bees and bee-cul- 

 ture, and all furnished postpaid for 

 only $2. Many articles published in 

 the Journal the past year for the first 

 time, have each been worth the price 

 of subscription to many readers. We 

 have given nearly 100 pages of edito- 

 rial reading, have to the best of our 

 ability answered all queries asking for 

 information, have carefully collated 

 from and accredited to our exchanges 

 such articles as we thought would be 

 of general interest, and have carefully 

 revised correspondence when neces- 

 sary to make it acceptable to the pub- 

 lic and creditable to the writer. 



And yet we are not content. We 

 find our correspondence is accumula- 

 ting, notwithstanding our enlarged 

 space, and the present form of the 

 Bee Journal does not give perfect 

 satisfaction, though it is the best we 

 could do one year ago. We have , there- 

 fore, perfected arrangements to make 

 further improvements for the coming 

 year. We shall somewhat reduce the 

 size of the pages, and print 16 instead 

 of 8, as now, giving about one-fourth 

 more reading matter. This will give 

 a volume of 832 pages, or 2,406 columns 

 for $2, and when bound at the end of 

 the year, will make a book worth ten 

 times its cost to any bee-keeper. 



The Monthly and Semi-Monthly edi- 

 tions will be supplied in the same man- 

 ner as heretofere, but of the newer 

 form. We cannot refrain from advis- 

 ing our Monthly and Semi-Monthly 

 subscribers to take the Weekly instead, 

 though it be for a shorter time. Arti- 

 cles of great interest frequently appear 

 in intermediate numbers, as also re- 

 joinders in controversies, which are 

 entirely lost to the Monthly and Semi- 



Monthly subscribers. Try the Weekly 

 Bee Journal for 1882— we think you 

 will not regret it. 



The Successful Wintering Problem. 



Notwithstanding much has been 

 said and written regarding the requi- 

 sites for successful wintering,the prob- 

 lem seems about as far from a satis- 

 factory solution as it was a score of 

 years ago. In Russia, in order to 

 evade the rigors of winter, a deep pit 

 or subterranean vault is dug in the 

 ground, and the "gums" containing 

 the bees are piled one above the other 

 several feet below the surface ; then a 

 straw hut is constructed above-ground , 

 over the. pit, with a door for ventila- 

 tion in the leeward side, to carry off 

 the moisture and heat from the bees. 

 If 50 per cent, of the bees survive till 

 spring the bee-keeper feels much en- 

 couraged. In our Central and North- 

 ern States, cellar repositories seem to 

 have met with more favor than per- 

 haps any other plan ; still, some ex- 

 perienced and comparatively quite suc- 

 cessful apiarists are found among the 

 advocates of numerous other methods, 

 most prominent of which are chaff 

 hives on summer stands, double-wall 

 hives, frame hives with deep combs, 

 and box hives or "gums." Yet, in 

 view of the disasters of last winter, it 

 must be admitted that each of the 

 more popular plans so far practiced 

 has proven more or less a disastrous 

 failure, and although much progress 

 has been made in the science of api- 

 culture, in this most important branch 

 no advance has been made. 



To account for the many failures of 

 all the popularmethodsnumerous the- 

 ories have been put forth by the wise 

 ones, while others stand aghast at 

 having had their pet theories proven 

 mere chimeras ; and even the most 

 confident look forward with trembling 

 anxiety, scarcely knowing which is 

 the strongest sentiment— hope or fear. 

 Breed our bees up to what standard 

 we may, create a popular demand for 

 honey till it is as eagerly sought after 

 as bread, build up the price till our 

 profits count cent, per cent, when 

 Providence ordains a favorable win- 

 ter, and yet, with all these, there is a 

 nervous anxiety about the business 

 that is not dispelled till we have 

 passed the last nipping frost of spring. 

 Disguise the fact as we may, until 

 some method for wintering is devised 

 — that is, a method which will prove 

 as safe and certain for a medium weak 

 colony as a strong one ; which will at 



all times give bees access to their 

 stores let them be in what part of the 

 hive they may ; that will be as safe in 

 a long, inclement winter, such as the 

 last, as they were the winter before ; 

 that will carry a colony through on the 

 lowest minimum of honey ; that will 

 be cheap of construction and easy of 

 application — until then, the success 

 attending bee-keeping will be more or 

 less a matter of chance. 



All the best apicultural authorities 

 of the present day, as well as those 

 who have gone before, give the fol- 

 lowing as absolute requisites for safe 

 wintering: 1. An even temperature 

 ranging from 42°' to 45°. 2. Complete 

 expulsion or absorption of moisture 

 from the body of the hive. 3. Perfect 

 freedom from outward disturbances. 



r'r'i 't i i r ii TT 



Fig. I.— Front View of Building, 



4. Protection of stores from con 

 tact with frost. 5. Protracted isola- 

 tion from atmospheric changes in 

 spring. 6. Exclusion of light. 7. Suf- 

 ficient stores for winter consumption. 

 It is generally admitted that with 

 these seven contingencies provided 

 for, there will be no hazard in winter- 

 ing, and it is further admitted, that 

 no plan so far practiced combines all 

 these essentials. 



At the recent Northwestern Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention was exhibited a 

 model for a bee house in winter, and 

 dairy house in summer, patented by 

 Mr. W. L. Drake, which may be of in- 

 terest to bee-keepers, and if it pos- 

 sesses the merits claimed for it by the 

 inventor, is certainly worthy of inves- 

 tigation. The house is constructed of 

 brick, with triple walls. ITig. 1 gives 

 an end view of the house, with door 

 closed, and drafts opened. O gives a 



