770 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



December^- 



cerned, is assured nearly or quite a year previous to their 

 expanding. After being formed they remain dormant till the 

 warmth of the next spring brings this dormant life Into 

 growth. As soon as the buds unfold, the latter part of May, 

 then we can see and know whether we should move the bees 

 or not. 



By examining closely, as soon as the buds unfold so that 

 we can see the minature leaves, we can find the bunch of bass- 

 wood buds at the base of each tiny leaf, curled up and loolilng 

 very much like a small, fuzzy worm. With each week this 

 bunch of buds grows, until at the end of about seven weeks 

 from the time the trees put on their green in the spring, they 

 open their flowers, filled with nectar to invite the bees to a 

 sumptuous feast. 



Of course, a cool season will retard the time of blossoming 

 a little, and a hot season advance it ; buttheabove is the rule. 



Thus the practical eye can tell nearly two months In ad- 

 vance as to the promise for a yield of basswood honey, as far 

 as blossons are concerned ; and uo beekeeper should consider 

 that he has gone beyond the stage of " swaddling clothes " till 

 he is familiar with all of these things, the knowledge of which 

 goes to make up the " full statured" man or woman in this 

 fascinating pursuit. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Reuderlug Wax from Houey-Cappiugs. 



BY J. K. DARLING. 



I have read the question by " Jamaica," on page 725, also 

 Dr. Miller's reply, and it appears to me that I might help a 

 little with these difficulties. As Dr. Miller says, I believe a 

 large solar extractor would suit better than anything else, but 

 that Is not quite enough to get all the wax, altho It will take 

 out the wax as clean or cleaner than any other process I know 

 of without applying pressure. 



If "Jamaica" will get a properly-constructed solar ex- 

 tractor and manage It rightly, he will not be bothered very 

 much with flying bees, and will obtain a good grade of honey 

 that some of his customers will prefer to that taken with the 

 honey extractor, for allho it may be preceptlbly darker. It Is 

 very heavy In body, and of good flavor; and he will also ob- 

 tain a grade of wax that he need not be afraid or ashamed to 

 place in competition at any of the fairs, and no need to remelt 

 or clarify it, either, as the extractor "is so constructed that it 

 will at one operation effectually separate wax, honey and 

 refuse," and there Is no need for the honey and wax to go 

 " into the first receptacle until it is filled, and overflows Into 

 the second, and that Into the third, and so on," as there is 

 only one pan for both honey and wax In which they separate 

 themselves. The refuse never gets there. I have one that I 

 made for myself, modified after the style of one known as the 

 " Alpaugh Extractor," and I would not take $25 for it, if I 

 could not maiie or buy another. 



I am not bothered with too mnch heat here on the 45th 

 parallel, but on the contrary I am bothered at times because I 

 do not have heat enough, altho the lid is double glass, }4 inch 

 space. 



If one wishes to save all the wax, it will be necessary to 

 have some kind of a press to take the wax out of the refuse, 

 as I do not believe that any steam extractor, or solar ex- 

 tractor, or hot water process, will take the wax all out of the 

 refuse without pressure. I believe that one of our most wide- 

 awake and progressive bee-keepers, Mr. F. A. Gemmill, has 

 constructed a press that as an adjunct to the solar extractor 

 will leave little to be desired, and it does not work inside a 

 vessel containing hot water, either, if I understand the de- 

 scription. 



I may say that my first prize wax for the last two seasons 

 was from the solar wax extractor without remelting, and I did 

 not see any better at the Industrial Exposition at Toronto, or 

 the Central Canada at Ottawa. 



Lanark, Co., Ont., Canada. 



No. 5 The Care of Bees for Wintering. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



I believe the question of shelter, lu out-door wintering. Is 

 of more importance than generally believed. Tho It Is true 

 that In some Instances, colonies have been known to winter 

 safely, when exposed to the fierceness of the winds, these ex- 

 ceptions, Instead of weakening the rule, can only strengthen 

 it, for it will always be found that the circumstances other- 

 wise were most favorable, where the results were so unex- 

 pectedly good. 



In a natural state, the bees which are hived In hollow 



trees can hardly be used as a safe criterion, for we have no 

 manner of knowing how many or how few such colonies win- 

 ter safely In this climate, but even if It could be proven that 

 they generally succeed, the fact that their abode Is usually at 

 only a short distance from the ground, and In thick timber, 

 where the force of the wind is lightly felt, and the additional 

 fact that the body of the trunk which they inhabit is very 

 thick, much thicker than our improved hives, would still in- 

 dicate that some shelter is advisable. The straw hives for- 

 merly used by the old apiarists of Europe were certainly very 

 good abodes, as far as winter protection was considered ; for 

 they were very thick, and the material used Is one of the best 

 non-conductors of heat or cold. But It Is out of the question 

 to make such hives to-day, or at least to put them In use in a 

 practical way; so we must see what we can do with the ordi- 

 nary movable-frame hives. 



Double-wall hives are very good for winter, especially 

 when they have a dead-air space between the two walls. They 

 are exposed to two weighty objections. The first Is that. In 

 the warm days, or In early spring, they are not readily and 

 quickly warmed by the first rays of sunshine, and the bees in 

 them will be less readily induced to take a flight. The othe 

 defect is their cost. Few bee-keepers will adopt them because 

 of the expense involved in the purchase of such hives. This 

 objection should have no weight with a practical man, who 

 will readily figure that the first cost of a hive Is a trifle, when 

 he considers the time of Its usefulness, which may be reckoned, 

 if the hive is well made and well painted, not less than 30 

 years. But, since most of our apiarists have only single- 

 walled hives, It Is useless to spend much time In the considera- 

 tion of anything else. 



A bee-house. If properly made, built as a shed, with a 

 reof and three sides closed for winter, would be an ideal win- 

 tering-place, especially if the front could also be closed during 

 stormy days, and the hives more or less packt in straw, leaves, 

 etc. But a bee-house for a large apiary Is almost out of the 

 question, and it is only in small apiaries, or in cities, that 

 they are used. 



A tight board fence is a good shelter, as far as it goes, 

 especially if on the north side of the apiary. A movable outer 

 covering, made so as to fit over the hive, and arranged so it 

 may be taken to pieces and piled away for summer Is very 

 good. It may be made of rough boards, or of thin lumber, to 

 be more easily handled when removed. But it must be so 

 arranged as to permit of the bees' flight during warm days, as 

 said before. 



It would be a big error to place the bees In any repository, 

 or to cover them with any shelter which prevents their flight, 

 unless the temperature of such repository Is kept evenly at 

 the point which would enable them to remain Inactive with 

 the smallest possible consumption of stores. That Is why the 

 placing of bees in garrets, or enclosed sheds, where they are 

 certainly warmer than out-of-doors, but where the tempera- 

 ture nevertheless falls much below the freezing point, or rises. 

 In warm days, so as to make them restless, has always been 

 an entire failure. 



Our method, which Is perhaps not the best of all, but 

 which has always given us very good results, is to place 

 around each hive, on all sides but the front, a packing of 

 forest leaves, held In place with a sort of lattice work made 

 of plasterers' laths and strong twine. The laths are cut in 

 two, so as to make about the height of the hive. The leaves 

 used are found right in the apiary, and simply raked together ; 

 and when they are thus closely folded around the hive they 

 give It a very cosy and comfortable appearance, especially 

 when the cold winds blow. The front being left uncovered, 

 the bees can take advantage of any sunshine to take flight, 

 and no particular attention need be given them, except to see 

 that the consecutive thawing and freezing of the snow does 

 not close the entrance and prevent the circulation of air. 



A shelter of loose snow, as I said before, is a very good 

 shelter until it begins to thaw, when it Is objectionable, espe- 

 cially if the thawing snow fastens to the hive, and refriger- 

 ates It, so to speak, by the natural absorption of heat to 

 change to water. 



In the hive, over the frames, we always use a straw-mat 

 made of course straw, or slough-grass. This, with a cap full 

 of leaves, allows the moisture arising from the bees to readily 

 escape without any deperdltion of heat; and places them in 

 the very best possible condition at least possible cost. 



The use of leaves as shelter was suggested to us by the 

 oft-repeated remark that leaves are very good to keep the 

 ground from freezing. Any one who has had to dig the 

 ground In the timber In cold weather has noticed how little 

 the ground freezes under a plentiful coat of leaves. 



In another article I will examine the question of cellar- 

 wintering. Hancock Co., III. 



