THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The idea is to prove or disprove the 

 theory of Mr. Quiiiby, iuid as we let 

 the bees wax all tight but the wire- 

 cloth, we must keep tlieui warm and 

 dry outside i)f the hive. Have it so 

 they do not know when the weather 

 ■changes, let it be hot or cold. The 

 bees will send all the moisture out be- 

 low, if they do not feel the cold above 

 or on tlie sides. 



Dundas, Out. 



' For tbQ American Bee Juurnal. 



How the Grapes are Destroyed. 



M. RICHARDSON. 



There appears to be a mistaken idea 

 •with a good many about bees biting 

 grapes. It seems to me that among 

 men as sharp as the bee men are about 

 most things, there need not be such a 

 diversity of opinion. In the lirst 

 place, I will say that I know as well 

 as I know anything that thev do not 

 do it. Let us take a little close ob- 

 servation and see if we cannot prove 

 how they are opened. All that I have 

 seen were as follows : The skin is 

 i)icked up near the top of tlie grape 

 and torn down the grape, usually the 

 hole growing wider as it descends, and 

 the skin left hanging in a sort of tag 

 about half an inch long. The skin is 

 not bitten on the sides of the wound, 

 but torn from the top where it was 

 first taken hold of. Xow what kind 

 of a bee could take hold of a grape 

 skin and tear it like that V If it had 

 hgld of the end with its teeth, it would 

 have to stand on its two hind feet, and 

 be able to tear both sides at once, 

 which no lioney bee living is half 

 strong enougli to do ; and more than 

 that, if a bee will not bite through a 

 red clover blossom where there is 

 plenty of nice honey to be obtained, 

 she never would bite tlirough a grape 

 skin, which is three times as thick, 

 to get at a thin, watery juice, that she 

 will hardly suck at all until the sun 

 and air have dried and sweetened it. 

 Then she will work on it some and 

 buzz around it a great deal, and a 

 careless observer is ready to lav it to 

 them, simply because they are" there 

 and he does not see anything else to 

 lay it to. 



My sou lived near me and raised a 

 good many grapes, and I kept bees. 

 He kept ooniplaining to me that my 

 bees were destroying his grapes, it 

 was too bad, etc. I had some grapes 

 between my house and barn, which 

 were torn in the same way, tliat I 

 passed often, and I did not have to 

 watch long to find out where the 

 trouble was. I pointed it out to hira, 

 sir^ce which I do not hear any more 

 about my bees destroying his grapes. 

 The marauder was the oriole, fire 

 hang-bird, red bird, or English robin, 

 for it is known by all these names in 

 different places, although the red bird 

 is a darker red, and lives in tlie woods. 

 I suppose grape growers will expect 

 to see the bright peach-blow colored 

 bird that is seen and lieard in apple 

 blossom time, tuning up his song of 

 gladness as he hops among the flowers. 

 The oriole, like the turkey and some 

 other of the male birds, is nearly 



twice as large as the female. The fe- 

 male is a small, lnown bird, with a 

 tinge of yellow and some light spots 

 on close examination, l)ut at a little 

 distance looks brown, and the young 

 ones are all of the same color until 

 thev shed their down, which they do 

 at the south in the winter. Hut when 

 you see a small, brown bird, that 

 might be easily mistaken IVu' a spar- 

 row, tliat seems to come from the top 

 of a tree or the clouds, and flies right 

 into the leaves of a vine — for they sel- 

 dom light wliere they can be seen, but 

 go very quietly, and when you drive it 

 out, flies right into the leaves again to 

 alight, and as he flies says, quink, 

 quink, quink— that's it every time. 

 They make another loud chattering 

 noise when dist\irbed, but not as 

 often. Look where it started from 

 and you will find fresh work. What 

 satisfaction it is for it to pick open so 

 many grapes (it will do a hundred in a 

 few minutes) when it does not eat 

 three, I do not know ; but I suppose 

 it tastes the juice and looks for a 

 sweeter one, aiid when it gets enough 

 they don't taste so good, and it keeps 

 looking for one that tastes better, as 

 children do when they go into an or- 

 chard. It is just as bad on sweet 

 corn, only that the husk makes so 

 much hard work tliat it is glad to stop 

 when it gets enough. 1 have had 

 them tear open bushels of wild-goose 

 plums when ripe, red and soft, and 

 followed them around the orchard to 

 get a shot at them ; but they would 

 always fly out from the opposite side 

 of the tree and keep behind ittillthey 

 reached another, so I could not shoot 

 without putting the whole charge into 

 the tree top. They seldom alight 

 where they can be seen, and seldom 

 remain still long. Adam laid the 

 taking the forbidden fruit to Eve, so 

 here it is the female and young ones 

 who generally do the harm. The males 

 seem to leave very early and go by 

 themselves. Wild turkeys do the 

 same, the old gobblers go "in a flock 

 by themselves, and the females aiid 

 young ones in another, as soon as the 

 mating season is over. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Lower versus Upper Ventilation. 



U. CORBETT. 



" How shall I winter my bees to in- 

 sure success y" is a question which 

 no doubt occupies the minds of many 

 apiarists at the iireseut day, and even 

 at tills season of the year. I have read 

 the many plans set forth in the Bee 

 .louRNAi,, and, from my observations, 

 I do not wonder that many fail. 



I have been handling bees for over 

 50 years, in the old box hive, until 

 186-5, and I think I have gained much 

 knowledge from my experience. My 

 memory carries me back to the winter 

 of 1831-"32, when there was a snowfall 

 early in January to the depth of nearly 

 3 feet. The wind changed to the 

 northwest, and blew for over 6 weeks, 

 never changing its course, the mer- 

 cury ranging from 10° to 20^ below 

 zero, and one or two days at 28° below. 

 That winter my bees stood on a bench 



two feet from the ground. The hives 

 were raised from % tol inch, on blocks, 

 oiieu all around "the bottom, and out 

 of 17 colonies 16 came through strong 

 and good, while tlie otiier starved for 

 want of honey. The bees had not the 

 least bit of ventilation at the top, not 

 so much as to exude their own mois- 

 ture, which ])roves that upward venti- 

 lation is not necessary. However, I 

 think that bees do need something to 

 absorb their own moisture, but no 

 direct draft. 



There are some points in the shape 

 and size of the hives esential. In the 

 case alluded to, I think the hives were 

 17 or 18 inches deep by 10 inches in 

 the clear. In those primitive days we 

 had no holes cut through the comb 

 for bees to pass through for their 

 food. The honey being above them, 

 it was kept from freezing by their own 

 heat, therefore it was always soft and 

 moist, and ready for them to partake 

 of when they were hungry. 



I will refer you to a couple of in- 

 stances I have read of. Dr. McClain, 

 of Oskaloosa, Iowa, I think, concluded 

 to test the problem of wintering, by 

 puttingsomeinacellar, burying some, 

 leaving some on the summer stands, 

 and for one he drove 4 stakes in the 

 ground, nailed cleats on the sides of 

 the hive, and hung it by the cleats on 

 top of the stakes, with the mouth 10 

 or 15 inches from the ground. This 

 hung there for 5 successive winters, 

 good and strong, and how much longer 

 I have no information. 



Another gentleman, a Mr. Jackson, 

 for an experiment took one of his 

 colonies and hung it 4 or 5 feet from 

 the ground, against the side of his 

 house, and there it remained ?, suc- 

 cessive years. In both instances the 

 mouth "of the hive was open full size 

 of the hive. As we do not have 3 or 5 

 winters in succession without a severe 

 one, I think this goes far to prove that 

 downward is what is needed, and not 

 upward — all other conditions being 

 right. Neither method will save them 

 without provisions of the proper kind. 

 I hardly ever lost any bees that had 

 enough to live on. Once I lost all 1 

 had (9 colonies) well filled with bees 

 and honey. I thought I would do 

 things up in a nice manner, and closed 

 the liives all up around the bottom 

 with tlie exception of a small entrance. 

 I tlieii covered them around the out- 

 side to shelter them from the winds 

 and storms, and just smothered them. 

 (This was before I read the Bee 

 Journal.) 



Now when I fix my bees foi'winter, 

 I take the oilcloth from the top of 

 the frames and lay on my quilts, 

 pressing them down tight at the sides, 

 and using some weight to hold it well 

 in place, then fill with some absorbent 

 and |)ut on a good cap or roof to keep 

 all dry. This is sufficient for the top 

 without any other ventilation. For 

 tlie bottom I have a manipulating 

 block 2x10 inches with i?8 or i.j inch 

 taken out of the bottom of the'block 

 for a passage-way. This can be re- 

 moved when they get a little uneasy, 

 as they sometimes will in the cellar. 



From what experience I have had 

 in wintering bees, and from observa- 

 tions for a. long time, -open bottom 



