THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



59 



then, if they have been persevering 

 and economical enough to liave main- 

 tained a subsistence in the face of 

 Borean winters, light crops and low 

 prices, they will stand a chance, at 

 least, of being able to trutlifully say 

 that they know which are the neces- 

 sary factors in wintering, and can 

 winter their bees successfully. 



At this time it seems as though 

 location may have something to do 

 with the condensation of moisture. I 

 always had supposed that the conden- 

 sation of moisture was common in all 

 countries where the wind blows and 

 the rain falls. In the fall of 1882 I 

 placed in the cellar 13 colonies that 

 were in large observatory hives. 

 Through the glass I watched daily, 

 from Nov. 9 to April 12, the actions 

 of the bees. There was no upward 

 ventilation given, and they had been 

 in the cellar but a short time before 

 the glasses were dripping with mois- 

 ture, and water ran from the combs. 

 I saw individual bees leave the cluster 

 and sip moisture a great number of 

 times. On April 12 but one hive con- 

 tained live bees, while on the bottom- 

 boards of the others there was mold, 

 moisture and dead bees fully two 

 inches deep, and all the characteris- 

 tics of disease were present. The 

 hive containing live bees differed 

 from the others in having two IJ^- 

 inch holes about 4 inches from the 

 top. Were bee-keepers as apt to re- 

 port failures as successes we would 

 have more abundant evidence that 

 this case is a fair example of the con- 

 dition of hives where the bees die 

 with disease. 



From the writings of certain bee- 

 keepers who winter bee's with success 

 without upward ventilation, in tem- 

 peratures varying from 40^ to 70-, it 

 is made to appear as proper to let the 

 bees arrange the ventilation, and store 

 them in any moderately warm reposi- 

 tory. In niy case, and as also in the 

 case of neighboring bee-keepers, such 

 management has always proved very 

 disastrous. For all of our skill we 

 can figure no difference in effects in 

 warm temperatures, except as bear- 

 ing relation to moisture. Though we 

 have been moderately successful in 

 wintering bees packed with some 

 porous substance, like the inquisitive 

 Yankee we wish to know why every 

 one cannot winter bees successfully 

 without upward hive-ventilation, as 

 does Dr. G. L. Tinker, H. R. Board- 

 man, or Ira Barber. 



Bradford, (^ Iowa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Care of Bees in Winter, 



J. H. ANDRE. 



I have noticed in the Ajieeican 

 Bee Journal and elsewhere that 

 bees, after they had been prepared for 

 winter, should not be disturbed until 

 spring. Perhaps this advice will be 

 followed by some beginners, and 

 when spring comes, and an examina- 

 tion of the bees is made, several 

 colonies may be found to have died 

 from starvation, or from some other 



trifling cause which might have been 

 easily remedied if the bees had been 

 examined every two weeks. 



My bees are wintered in afruit-and- 

 vegetable cellar, that is visited with a 

 light from two to four times per day. 

 I also remove the dead bees from the 

 hives every two weeks, and their 

 humming may be. heard at all times ; 

 towards spring it becomes a continual 

 roaring, and yet my bees always win- 

 ter well. I have had them breeding 

 six weeks before they were taken 

 from the cellar, and such colonies 

 were the best of all. I put the most 

 of my bees in for the winter as early 

 as Nov. 15, last fall, and the balance 

 I left out until Dec. 11, hoping that 

 they would get a flight. Some that I 

 had fed liberally were put into winter 

 quarters without their young bees 

 having a flight. This will be a test 

 case, and if nothing prevents, I will 

 speak of it again next spring. 



Owing to poor health, and an in- 

 ability to give my bees proper care, I 

 found that one was queenless and had 

 died, the cold weather of November 

 having been too severe for their thin 

 ranks, and the last survivors had the 

 diarrhea. I suppose that some would 

 say that it was pollen that caused it. 

 What a pity it was not one of the late- 

 fed colonies, so as to make it sure. 



Lock wood, $ N. Y. 



Convention Notices. 



t^~ The Northeastern Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will hold its 4th annual 

 meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 18S6, in the 

 Common Cotincil Rooms at East Saginaw, 

 Mich. The Sherman House, one block from 

 the place of meeting, will entertain those 

 present, at .$1.00 per day. Saginaw people 

 are working hard to make the meeting a 

 success. Let us all go and show them that 

 we appreciate their efforts. 



W. Z. HPTCHINSON, Sec. 



J^" The Illinois Central Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold its next meeting at 

 Mt. Sterling, Ills., on Tuesday and Wednes- 

 day, Oct. 10 and 20, 18811. 



J. M. HAMB.4UGH, Sec. 



eS" The Seventeenth Annual Goiiven- 

 tioii of tlie New Y oik State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association (formerly the Nortneastern) 

 will be held in Rochester, JST. Y.. on Feb. 

 16, 17 and 18. 1886. This will be one of the 

 largest meetings ever held in tlie State. A 

 large number of our most experienced bee- 

 masters will take part in the discussions, 

 and several essays will be read from a 

 number of our most practical apiarists 

 throughout the country. The programme 

 is complete. If you are young in.the work 

 you can not afford to stay away— if older, 

 you may give some good hints, if you get 

 none. \Ve want a good display of all kinds 

 of supplies and fixtures. We have a room 

 on purpose for exhibits, and any goods 

 sent to the Secretary in care of tlie ''Na- 

 tional Hotel," Rochester, N. Y., will be 

 placed on exhibition, and either sold or re- 

 turned to the exhibitor, as directed. Re- 

 duced rates at the hotels have been secured, 

 also rates on some of the railroads. All 

 will have to pay full fare one way— retnrn 

 ticket at 1-3 fare by presenting certificate 

 from the Secretary, who will furnish them 

 on application. We want ah active vice- 

 president in every county in State. Please 

 name one or send the name of some one, 

 for your county. 



F. C. Benedict, Sec. 



Local Convention Directory. 



188y. Timeandpiace of Meetivfj. 



l''eb.4.-Wl8Conpin State, atMadlson. Wis. 



Dr. J. W. Vance. Sec, Madison. Wis. 



B'eb. .'l.-N. E. Mlchluan, at East SaKinaw, Mich. 

 W. Z. Uutchlnaon, Sec, KoKersvltle, Mich. 



Feb. le-is.— New York State, at Rochester, N. Y. 

 F. C. Benedict, Sec, Perry Centre. N. Y. 



Apr. -27.- 



-Des Moines County, at Burllneton, Iowa. 

 Jno. Nau, Sec, MIddletown. Iowa. 



Oct. 19, 20.- 



-llllnols Central, at Mt. Sterling, Ills. 

 J. M. Hambaugb, Sec, Spring, Ills. 



^F" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ku. 





vamimm 



Bees Wintering Grandly.— J. E. 



Cady, Medford,? Minn., on Jan. 15, 

 1886, says : 



We are snowed in up here with 2 

 feet of snow on the level. My bees 

 are wintering grandly in a tempera- 

 ture of 48° above zero. 



Bees did Well.— J. J. Hopkins, 



Brookside,(5Pa., on Jan. 2, 1886, says : 



My bees did very well for thia 

 neighborhood, last year. I had 39 

 colonies last spring, and I extracted 

 1,160 poundsof honey from lOof them, 

 and took 1,641 poundsof comb honey 

 from the balance ; besides increasing 

 my apiary to .55 colonies. 



Learning by Experience.- Rev. 



Weisel Beale, New Madrid, <x Mo., on 

 Jan. 19, 1886, says : 



This is my fourth year of bee-keep- 

 ing. I have learned some things by- 

 paying for them ! Yet I feel a grow- 

 ing interest in the business. I will 

 start in the season of 1886 with 15 

 colonies, I had about that number 

 last fall, but I had to part with all 

 but 4, which I transferred to this 

 place when I moved from Shawnee- 

 town. Mo. I take great pride in my 

 bees and love them. My hives are 

 all nicely painted and equiped. 

 About next year my experience will 

 have ripened enough for me to pre- 

 sume to render an opinion on some of 

 the important questions of the day in 

 apiculture. 



Extremely Cold Weather.— G. M. 

 Doolittle, Borodino,© N. Y., on Jan. 

 14, 1886, says : 



We have just passed through the 

 coldest week ever known in this 

 locality by the oldest inhabitant. The 

 mercury scarcely reached as high as 

 zero during the entire week, and was 

 as low as 1.5° to 30° below zero much 

 of the time. On one c^jiy the sun 

 shone brightly all day, but the mer- 

 cury stood below zero all through the 

 day. Such cold on a clear, still day 

 was never before known in central 

 New York. 



