504 



THE AMERICAJSI BEE JOURNAL. 



the leaves of the tree looked " shiny 

 and gummy,'' and the bees were on 

 •every leaf and twig. No plant-lice 

 ■were noticeable. How is that '{ 



White clover and alsike yielded 

 well here, but shortened up a little by 

 the drouth. Basswood was sliort and 

 sweet, but not a very heavy flow. 

 Ooldenrod may yield some now that 

 rain has come plentifully, for the tirst 

 time in seven weeks. 



New Richmond, ? Micti. 



Read at the Indiana State Convention. 



Winter Protection of Bees. 



EVA SCHOLL. 



There is perhaps nothing connected 

 with the care of bees that has been 

 the cause of so much anxiety, study 

 and thought by bee-keepers as win- 

 tering ; and, well it may, when official 

 statistics show, that of 78,-526 colonies 

 in this State in the fall of 1882, 29,842, 

 or more than one-third, were dead by 

 April 1, 188.3. Nor have we fared any 

 worse than a number of other States, 

 in proportion to the number of colo- 

 nies kept. Such facts and figures 

 show that with all our knowledge in 

 •other branches of business, successful 

 wintering of bees is an art yet to be 

 learned by many bee-keepers. 



While there is uniformity in many 

 things in the management of bees, 

 when it comes to wintering, the plans 

 and methods given are so many, and 

 so various, as almost to distract the 

 beginner. Uniform success will prob- 

 ably never be attained ; nor is it pos- 

 sible for all to adopt the same plan. 

 Let us then tirst consider what a col- 

 ony needs protection against. 



The food of the bee being liquid, 

 nearly all is exhaled in the form of 

 moisture. This passes off in moderate 

 weather, but in cold it is condensed 

 on the comb and sides of the hive in 

 the form of frost. To prevent the 

 accumulation of frost near the cluster, 

 it is necessary to provide means for 

 warmth as well as dryness. With the 

 brood- nest contracted, and a good 

 absorbent above the bees, we have, 

 perhaps, the best known way to 

 secure this ; sometliing that will re- 

 tain the natural warmth of the clus- 

 ter and allow the moisture to escape. 



The principal points embodied in 

 the plan of wintering here given, were 

 suggested .some twelve years ago by 

 our esteemed friend, Mr. J. S. Hill, 

 of Mt. Healthy, Ohio, and after ten 

 years of uniform good success, I see 

 no necessity of any essential change. 



The hive I use is thelO-frame Lang- 

 stroih, having double walls and bot- 

 tom, with an open space between. 

 This I consider of prime iaiportance ; 

 not only as a winter hive, but also as 

 a protection against heat in summer, 

 as such hives need no shade, the air- 

 space around the brood-chamber pre- 

 venting all danger of comb melting 

 down. The extra bottom with dead- 

 air space is a safe-guard against mois- 

 ture from the ground. The extra 

 work required on such hives need not 

 cost over 7.5 cents each, and does not 

 add iierceptibly to their size. As a 



10-frame hive is too large for safe 

 wintering, division-boards are used. 

 These are made of two pieces of J^- 

 inch lumber, with air-space between. 

 Division-boards do not reach the 

 bottom of the hive by % inch. Eight 

 frames give suflicient space for the 

 strongest colonies. When chaff di- 

 vision-boards are used, there is room 

 for only six or seven frames. Every 

 brood comb has two half-inch tin 

 tubes through it for winter passages. 

 Five or six sticks, half-inch square, 

 are placed across the frames, and a 

 woolen blanket lined with muslin is 

 then put on. The blanket should fit 

 so closely all around that not a bee 

 can get above it. A stretcher made 

 of burlap tacked on a light frame, 

 that drops loosely into the upper box, 

 and rests on four short nails a half 

 inch from the lower edge of the box, 

 allows the box to be lifted off when 

 filled with packing. 



My experience is that dry beech 

 leaves make the best packing. The 

 box should not be more than ?^ full. 

 Chaff is inclined to retain moisture. 

 A little ventilation over the packing 

 is necessary to allow the escape of 

 moisture constantly arising from the 

 bees. This is secured by slightly 

 raising the cover. Ttie entrance is 

 tightly closed with a long block hav- 

 ing a small notch about J^nch square, 

 cut in the under side. Four inches 

 above this entrance is an inch hole, 

 so protected with a slide as to prevent 

 a direct draft into the hive. Sleet 

 and ice cannot close this upper en- 

 trance. Straw or refuse hay is packed 

 under the hive at the first approach 

 of cold weather ; and a portable fence 

 V4 feet high is erected for a wind- 

 break. 



It is very important that all prep- 

 arations for winter be made early, 

 before the weather becomes too cool 

 for bees to fly. Bees are very sensi- 

 tive to the first cold, and it is very 

 injurious to disturb them by any 

 manipulations or feeding after they 

 have entered dormancy, or their nat- 

 ! ural period of rest. 

 i Lyons' Station. o Ind. 



Boone and Hendricks Co, Convention, 



The joint association of bee-keepers 

 of Boone and Hendricks Counties, 

 Ind., met at the residence of Mr. 

 James Cattersou.of Hendricks county 

 on June Kl, and was organized by 

 electing Ora Knowlton, of Boone, 

 President; Nathaniel Gossett, of 

 Hendricks, and W. H. Higgins, of 

 Boone county, Vice-Presidents ; and 

 John Lingerman, of Hendricks coun- 

 ty, Secretary. After some prelimi- 

 nary business the association ad- 

 journed to dinner, which consisted of 

 a bountiful supply of the good things 

 that the ladies of this association 

 know how to prepare, and the society 

 is much indebted to the efforts of 

 Mr. and Mrs. Catterson in making 

 the meeting both useful and pleasant. 

 The lirst business after dinner was to 

 select the place for the next meeting, 

 which will be held at Elie Smith's, 



Boone county, near Fayette, on the 

 third Thursday of September next. 



Mr. Catterson's bee-house was one' 

 of the attractions of the meeting. 



The members took a lively part in 

 the discussions, and Miss Martha Cox 

 read a paper on " Tlie Honey Bee." 

 The President gave an address on the 

 general features of bee-keeping. We 

 had with us Mr. Mason, of Putnam 

 county, who was full of information, 

 and I. N. Cotton, of Marion county. 

 President of the State Association, 

 who gave us some of his stock of 

 mirth and wit. The meeting was not 

 only useful but lively, often indulging 

 in applause. The social part of the 

 meeting was more than pleasant. 



John Lingerman, ,Sec. 



Ora Knowlton, Pres. 



For tbe American Bee JoomaJ. 



My First Colony of Bees, etc. 



W. M. barnum. 



When I was a boy of 10 or 17 years, 

 a friend offered me a colony of bees 

 in an old-fashioned box-hive, if I 

 would come and get them. Being 

 glad of the chance, I accepted his 

 offer, and told him that I would be 

 after them the next morning. On the 

 morrow, bright and early, taking one 

 of the men with me, we started with 

 the two-horse wagon. Arriving at 

 Mr. W's we found nobody astir, so 

 we went into the apiary of perhaps 15 

 to 20 colonies, and picking out the 

 heaviest hive, we covered it with an 

 old carpet and carried it to the wagon. 

 The roads at that time of the year 

 were in a terrible condition, so we 

 drove over into Mr. W's meadow, 

 which extended almost half way to 

 our place, and arrived home all right. 



Taking a large round fence-post we 

 drove it into the ground (a few rods 

 back of the house), and sawing it off 

 about 2 feet above the ground, we 

 securely nailed a board to it, which 

 was perhaps .5 or 6 inches wider than 

 the hive. Putting the hive upon 

 this, I imagined that my " trials and 

 tribulations were o'er;" but no. I 

 soon found to my regret that they had 

 but just begun. Rolling a log up 

 within a few feet of the hive, I sat 

 down to watch those " blessed bees." 

 I had not been seated five minutes 

 before I came to the conclusion that 

 they were short of stores and needed 

 a little help. I had arisen, and per- 

 haps taken three or four steps towards 

 the house, when a bee lit on my left 

 ear. That bee died very suddenly, 

 and if it had not been that that colony 

 was a present, etc., there might have 

 " suHthin " happened to " that." But 

 I gave them some sugar syrup, and 

 called up a lot of robber bees, and in 

 my attempt to rescue the dish of 

 syrup, I got stung again. Along to- 

 wards night it commenced to snow, 

 and the next morning the number of 

 dead bees around that hive was 

 astonishing. 



I did not get over a pound of sur- 

 plus honey that year, and only one 

 swarm ; two went to the woods. I 

 often laugh as I think of those days. 



