THE AMERIOAJS BEE JOURNAL, 



725 



division, you should have learned the 

 expense of re-queening, otherwise the 

 other party should have done it. If 

 the honey and bees were properly 

 divided, in the absence of any con- 

 tract, each party should winter his 

 •own bees.— G. W. Demaree. 



I should suppose each for his own 

 bees, though I am not authority in 

 such matters.— A. J. Cook. 



As near as I can understand the 

 spirit of the contract, I would say that 

 it depends upon the bargain as to who 

 -was to supply queenless colonies. 

 Unless differently agreed upon, I 

 should hold you for such supply ; and 

 for the shortage in winter stores, both 

 equally, unless it can be shown that 

 the shortage is the effect of the 

 queenlessness which B. had agreed to 

 make good, and failed to do ; then I 

 should hold B. alone responsible for 

 the lack of stores, and to supply such 

 as are needed. — James Heddon. 



OUR CLUBBING LIST. 



We'supply the American Bee Journal 



one year, and any of the following publica- 

 tions, at the prices quoted in the last column 

 of figures. The first column gives the regu- 

 lar price of both. All postage prepaid. 



Price of both. Club 

 The American Bee Journal 1 00. . 



and Gleanings in Bee-Culture 2 CO.. 1 75 



iBee-Keepers'Magazine 1 25, . 1 25 



Bee-Keepers' Guide 150.. 140 



The Apiculturist 2 00.. 1 70 



Canadian Bee Journal 2 CO.. 1 75 



Rays of Light 1 50.. 1 35 



The 7 aboye-named papers 5 25 . . 4 50 



■and Cook's Manual 2 25. . 2 00 



Bees and Honey (Newman)... 2 00.. 175 

 Binder for Am. Bee Journal. .1 75.. 1 60 

 Dzierzon's Bee-Book (cloth). . .3 00. . 2 00 

 Root's A B C of Bee-Culture.. 2 25.. 2 10 



Farmer's Account Book 4 00.. 3 00 



Guide and Hand-Book 150.. 130 



Heddon's book, "Success,".. 150 1 40 



Convention Notices. 



ly" The New York State, the Eastern New York 

 and the New Jersey & BListern Bee-Keepers' A3- 

 floclations will hold their frreat united convention 

 at Albany. N. Y.. on .Tan, IH, in and 20, IR.'^B. This 

 convention will be one of the larizest.if not the 

 larizest, ever held anywhere in this country, and it 

 behooves every bee-keeper tu attend. A ^rand 

 exhibit of apiarian fixtures is promised. An un- 

 usually brilliant proiframme will be prepared and 

 announced later, 



^F" The eleventh annual meeting of the N, W. 

 Ills, & S, W, Wis, Bee-Keepers' Association will be 

 beld in the (Jrand Army Hall in Rockford. His., 

 .on the third Tuesday in January. 1887. There 

 -will be a two days' session. J. Stewart, Sec. 



|y The next annual meetins of the Michifran 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association will be held In 

 Tpsilanti. Mich., on Dec. 1 and 2, 1886. 



H. D. COTTINO, Sec. 



^ff~ The Illinois Central Bee-Keepere' 

 Association will hold its next raeetlner at 

 Mt. Sterling, Ills., on Nov. 24 and 25. 1886. 

 .1. M. H.iMB.iCQH, Sec. 



|y The next annual meetina: of the Nebraska 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association will be held in 

 Lincoln, Nebrafika, on Wednesday. Jan. \2. 1887. 

 XiOCatlon of Hall to be used and Hotel accommo- 

 dations will be slven after further arrangements 

 bave been made. H. N. Patterson, Sec. 



tW~ The f'edar Valley Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will hold its next semi-annual meeting In the City 

 Hall at Vinton, Iowa, on Dec, 7 and 8,1886, An 

 excellent programme will be presnted. including 

 essHys by the very best of Iowa apiarists. Special 

 rate^ have been secured at the Hole's, and alt are 

 Invited to come and help make this ra<>eting brith 

 pleasant and proHtahle, H. E. lIlTBBAHn. Sec. 



Explanatory.— The figures before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near tne center of the State named; 

 6 north of the center; 9 south; O* east; 

 K3 west; and thiS(^ northeast; N3 northwest: 

 o^ southeast; and 9 southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



ror the American Bee Journal. 



Tte Wintering ProWem, 



W. J. CULLINAN. 



The very heading of this article 

 will doubtless prevent many from 

 perusing the same, especially the old- 

 timers who think that they do not 

 need any advice on wintering bees, 

 and do not have to give any. But 

 " let your light shine," should be the 

 motio of all the members of the bee- 

 keeping fraternity. If by a few words, 

 either written or spoken, I can keep 

 others off the rock upon which my 

 ship was stranded, I am certainly 

 lacking in humanitarian principles if 

 I do not utter those " few words." 



Having theorized but little upon 

 the science of bee-culture, and never 

 having practiced it scientifically, I 

 shall not attempt to argue this self- 

 important question from a scientiflc 

 stand-point ; but in homely phrase 1 

 shall tell a few things that I have 

 learned, and paid for learning. There 

 may be beginners in the Held to whom 

 these words of warning, though 

 plainly spoken, will come greeting. 

 While I do not wish to " tread upon 

 the toes" of those who have been 

 theorizing upon this problem, and 

 studying its relation to science, I 

 cannot help thinking that if a few 

 grains of common-sense were mixed 

 into many of the recipes, instead of 

 the flne-spun theories and scientific 

 analogies so frequently given, such 

 recipes would be of far more service 

 to the vast army of beekeepers who 

 have no time for theorizing, and no 

 desire for the study of science. It is 

 all right for Profs. Cook, McLain and 

 others who have the time and incli- 

 nation, to practice bee-keeping upon 

 scientific principles— and there is no 

 denying the fact that their researches 

 are not only important, but of untold 

 value to the cause. What the ma- 

 jority of bee-keepers want, however, 

 is a simple, common-sense method 

 of wintering bees, a method that is 

 practical, concise, and that any one 

 can follow. 



While I am of the opinion that the 

 cellar is the safest and best place to 

 winter bees, if the conditions are 

 right, I believe that in the absence of 

 those conditions the summer stand is 

 preferable, provided that ample Jpro- 

 tection of a proper kind is given. 



As I have never had any experi- 

 ence in cellar-wintering of bees, I 

 shall refer the reader to the methods 

 of Ira Barber, (i. M. Doolittle, and 

 others, frequently detailed in the bee- 

 papers, and which may be safely fol- 

 lowed. 



The first year I kept bees I win- 

 tered them unprotected and unmo- 

 lested upon the summer stands, leav- 

 ing them the whole of an 8-frame 

 Langstroth hive to keep warm during 

 the whole of that bitter cold winter of 

 1884-8.5, and the consequence was they 

 came tlirough very weak in bees. L'-ist 

 winter I acted upon the advicr; of a 

 brother bee-keeper, and removed the 

 outside frames of my 10-frame Sim- 

 plicity hives, placed a piece of burlap 

 next to the remaining outside combs, 

 and filled in between that and the 

 wall of the hive with chaff ; over the 

 frames I placed a chaff cushion, the 

 lid fitting down tight over the same. 

 I then grouped the hives together in 

 twos and threes, and over and around 

 them I piled hay and straw to a depth 

 of about two feet on top, leaving the 

 entrances open. No water could 

 possible get in from the outside, and 

 yet in the latter part of the winter 

 water collected and ran down on the 

 inside of the hives, completely block- 

 ing the entrances to some of them. 

 As a result I lost 7 colonies out of 1.5 ; 

 and some of the surviving colonies 

 were in a weak condition. 



I am confident that none died from 

 cold, excepting one that was weak in 

 bees when put into winter quarters, 

 for when raking the snow away from 

 the entrances in the coldest weather, 

 steam would issue therefrom, attest- 

 ing the presence of sufficient warmth; 

 and that they did not die from starva- 

 tion, ample stores in the hives of the 

 dead colonies bore testimony. 



Then, what killed my bees ? Upon 

 examination I found the combs were 

 damp and moldy, and full of dead 

 bees, and I very naturally concluded 

 that they died of too much packing. 



This year I am preparing my bees 

 as follows : Examining first to see 

 that they have ample stores, I crowd 

 the bees tn the south side of the hive 

 on 4 or -5 Langstroth frames, accord- 

 ing to strength, placing a division- 

 board on the north, and feed where I 

 think it is needed. Before the advent 

 of cold weather I shall pack between 

 the division-board and north wall of 

 the hive with dry sawdust, and over 

 the frames put the same material six 

 inches in depth ; then ventilating the 

 lid with a li,f-inch auger-hole in each 

 end, and banking around the hives 

 with earth four inches above the 

 bottom-board. I shall then leave my 

 pets to enter their long winter's sleep, 

 confidently expecting them to awaken 

 betimes in the spring and begin the 

 season of 1887 with renewed zeal, in 

 which case I shall consider myself 

 well rewarded for my labor. 



A word as to feed : I consider pure, 

 welln'ipened honey, either fall or 

 summer-gathered, preferable to any 

 other food for bees ; of course in the 

 absence of such, sugar syrup makes a 

 good substitute. I believe the two 



