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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Winter Quarters for Bees. — Mr. B. 



Taylor, of Forestville, Minn., in the 

 Farm, Stock and Home, recently gave 

 the following advice regarding the prep- 

 aration for bees in winter : 



The time is about here when it will be 

 in order to put the bees in their winter 

 quarters. In this climate, where the 

 temperature is likely to fall ten or more 

 degrees below zero, some kind of protec- 

 tion to the hives is necessary to insure 

 safe wintering. We find a good cellar 

 is cheapest and best. Bees may be win- 

 tered on their summer stands, with out- 

 side cases set over the hives, and a space 

 of three or four inches left between 

 them, filled with dry sawdust or chaff. 



The vegetable cellar is all right, where 

 there is room to set the hives in some 

 quiet corner, and keep them dark by 

 hanging old carpets, quilts or wrapping- 

 paper around them. The hives should 

 be raised from the bottom-boards by 

 making a rim of two-inch strips, the size 

 of the hive, and placing between the hive 

 and bottom-board, leaving an entrance 

 the entire length of the hive open at all 

 times, as bees will not do well when so 

 confined to their hives. 



The best cover for the top of hives 

 that we have tried is strawboard build- 

 ing-paper cut in pieces one inch larger 

 than the top of the hive, and kept in 

 place by tacking some small strips of 

 wood around the edge to keep it tight. 

 This will keep the heat from escaping, 

 and give all surplus moisture a chance 

 to escape by drying through the single 

 thickness of paper. There should be no 

 solid cover on the paper, as that would 

 cause the paper to retain moisture. 



No colony should be put in quarters 

 with less than 20 pounds of sealed 

 stores. Prepared for winter in this way, 

 there is but little danger of loss in the 

 Northwestern States. 



The first of November is the proper 

 time to place bees in the cellar in the 

 North 



The Ant and the Bee are 



amusingly yet profitably compared in 

 their spheres of life, in an article by 

 Rev. A. B. Austin, who wrote it for the 

 Epworth Herald. With the exception of 

 the error made in "sex," especially 

 when speaking of the bee, we are in- 

 clined to believe that the writer has 

 about the correct idea of what he under- 

 takes to say. As " variety is the spice 

 of life," and as bee-keepers want to 

 know what is being written about their 

 favorite "pet," we here present Mr. 

 Austin's views, without further com- 

 ment: 



THE FAVORITISM OF THE FLOWEBS — A 

 SOCIAL STUDY. 



The ants have a grievance. They 

 claim that there is nothing fair in the 

 distribution of the world's honey. If 

 "there were any equity stirring," the 

 toilers of the insect world would get the 

 largest share of the sweets of life. As 

 it is, they get nothing. They know no 

 greater delicacy than honey, and no 

 greater rarity. 



Nor is their grievance groundless. If 

 the truth were told, the ant is the victim 

 of unjust discrimination. In point of 

 industry he is not inferior to the bee : 

 only in the circumstance of birth. Both 

 are suitors for favors in the gift of the 

 flower. But the ant finds every door 

 shut in his face, while the bee is wel- 

 comed with open arms. All this hap- 

 pens, of course, in accordance with 

 Nature's laws. Talk after that about 

 her justice ! Here is an instance of the 

 baldest class legislation. Who dare say, 

 as matters now stand, that all insects 

 are equal before the flower ? 



Let me cite an instance of partiality : 

 Darwin tells us that the beauty and the 

 fragrance of the flower are not for our 

 benefit, as we, in our lordly self-conceit, 

 are accustomed to think, but are simply 

 a tinted and scented note of invitation 

 to Rev. Mr. Bee to call and tie a knot at 

 his earliest convenience. Mr. Primrose 

 is in a quandary. The object of his af- 

 fection lives only a stone's throw away, 

 but neither can stir an inch from the 

 other. They are so near, and yet so 

 far. A happy thought strikes them. 

 They will engage the services of Rev. 

 Mr. Bee as a go-between. The func- 

 tionary joins their hands, and receives 

 from each a walletful of honey as his 

 fee. It is a short ceremony, and easily 

 performed, and yet on the strength of 



