710 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



from below. Care should be taken to 

 make the entrance perfect, enabling 

 them to have access to the outside, so 

 that they may have a flight when the 

 weather is favorable. 



■WINTERING IN CHAFF OR SAWDUST 

 HIVES. 



These hives are intended to winter 

 safely without any outside packing, 

 only requiring the same preparation 

 as those for the bee house, viz., strong 

 in bees, plenty of young, plenty of 

 stores (if not sufficient, feed), crowd 

 up on a few combs, cut a passage in 

 the comb, the combs half an inch 

 apart, and fill up the space in the rear 

 of the division board with dry saw- 

 dustorehaff, filling the space, between 

 the top of the frames and lid, with the 

 large cushion. 



Taking all seasons through, nothing 

 pays belter than a careful preparation 

 of bees for winter, and I would cau- 

 tion people to beware and not expect 

 this winter to be the same as last, as 

 that was the best winter we have had 

 for many years, and the indications 

 are that tlie next may not be so favor- 

 able, and tliose who do not properly 

 prepare will likely be found mourning 

 over their empty'hives in the spring. 



I sincerely hope that no one will 

 have to repent their neglect in this 

 matter when too late. 



Beeton, Ont. 



[We give the foregoing plans delin- 

 eated by Mr. Jones, as there are so 

 many inquires as to how he prepares 

 his bees for winter.— Ed.] 



Southern World. 



The Progress of Scientific Bee Culture. 



C. R. MITCHELL. 



The subject of bee-keeping has 

 claimed the attention of many of our 

 most learned men of ancient and of 

 modern times, who looked upon it as 

 a science worthy of their study and 

 their philosophy. Gratwell,Schiracli, 

 and Huber the elder, were among 

 those of antiquity who devoted their 

 wisdom to the advancement of the 

 knowledge of the habits and charac- 

 ter of tliese insects, and to the latter 

 especially, as every school- boy knows, 

 we are indebted for much that is of 

 inestimable value in the studies of the 

 naturalist. Although he became 

 blind at the early age of fifteen, his 

 works gave an impulse to this branch 

 of rural industry in Europe, which 

 caused the management of bees in 

 common hives to be brought to a high 

 degree of perfection. Lombard, Ra- 

 donan, Desormes and others, in the 

 first part of the present century spread 

 abroad this acquired knowledge, and 

 added to it the results of their own in- 

 genious inventions, observations and 

 experiments. 



l)ebeauvoy, in 1844, invented his 

 movable frame hive, but it was found 

 to be too inconvenient for general use. 

 Its merits were contradicted and its 

 inventor ridiculed by all, until Mr. 

 Bastain, a clergyman of Germany, 

 published a work in which he gave 

 proper credit to the movable frame of 



hives, and Mr. Sagot offered to the 

 public an improved frame hive of his 

 own construction. In spite of all op- 

 position, this new system worked 

 itself into the favor of many apiarian 

 societies, and through them the mova- 

 ble frame hive began to be widely 

 used with the recommendation of such 

 learned men as M. M. Balsamo Cri- 

 velli, Visconti di Saliceto, Angelo 

 Dubini and Major von Hrushka, at 

 the head of the bee culture of Italy, 

 and to the last named of whom we are 

 indebted forthe principle of the honey 

 extractor. 



The improvements, inventions and 

 discoveries made in Germany, in the 

 last twenty years, are almost beyond 

 number, and up to 1868 four hundred 

 and twelve publications had been is- 

 sued upon this subject. Notwithstand- 

 ing the advances made by the coun- 

 tries of Europe in theoretical bee cul- 

 ture, none have excelled in the prac- 

 tical knowledge of the science the bee- 

 keepers of our own grand common- 

 wealtli. 



The theories of Dzierzon, the ex- 

 periments of Berlepsch, and the pre- 

 cepts and exami)les of many of modern 

 days have passed into our language 

 and been given to us for our guidance 

 and amelioration. What a vast dif- 

 ference to-day, even in our own land, 

 from what was considered perfection 

 in bee-keeping less than half a cen- 

 tury ago, when to " let bees do as they 

 have a mind to" was the ortliodox 

 philosophy of practice, and he who 

 would experiment must suffer for his 

 temerity. 



A new field of enterprise opened up 

 and bee-keepers and hive makers is- 

 sued numerous patents, but none 

 seemed to advance beyond a certain 

 point initil about ISoO, Mr. Langstroth 

 introduced his own ingeniously-con- 

 structed movable frames and their 

 method of successful manipulation to 

 the public mind. Perfection seemed 

 almost attained; the interior of the 

 bee hive need no longer remain a 

 labyrinth of mysteries, and the asser- 

 tions of the naturalist could be easily 

 verified at every man's door. The 

 golden-banded bees were imported 

 from Italy, in the light of the new 

 science, and the moth worm, the great 

 bug-bear of inexperience, need no 

 longer be feared as the destroyer. 

 Under such favorable auspices as 

 these, with numerous bee periodicals, 

 modern conveniences and appliances, 

 and gentle, industrious Italians, can 

 it be supposed that bee culture could 

 be other than a pleasant and profita- 

 ble vocation, when properly and in- 

 telligently pursued? 



You may search out a knowledge of 

 the material, and stumble over the 

 tilings which impede your progress, 

 but if you adhere to the fogy notions 

 of your ancestry and flatter yourself 

 with the delusive hopes of abundant 

 success, you will find a mountain of 

 despair at almost every stride ; while 

 on the contrary, all obstacles fade with 

 the fleetness of a shadow amid the 

 progress and improvements of an en- 

 lightened age. 



Bees in themselves have the same 

 essential habits that were given to 

 them when they first winged their 



flight in the Garden of Eden, as per- 

 manent and as unvarying as the at- 

 traction of gravitation, or the natural 

 laws of our solar system. They act 

 alike under like circumstances, are in- 

 capable of education and learn noth- 

 ing. It is by taking advantage of 

 these unchangeable habits, that we 

 can control their actions and make 

 them subservient to our purposes at 

 our own good pleasure, just as we take 

 advantage of the immutable laws of 

 the universe and appropriate them to 

 our own conveniences for scientific 

 investigatiouj domestic manufactor- 

 ies and foreign commerce. Review 

 the annals of bee culture for the past 

 few years, and you will find yourself 

 astonished beyond measure, at the ad- 

 vancement it has made as a science, 

 at the reputation it has achieved as a 

 remunerative employment, and at its 

 present magnitude and importance as 

 a leading industry among domestic 

 pursuits. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1882. Time anr! Ptace oj itefUrKi. 



Nov. 1— New Jersey & Eastern, at New Brunswick. 

 J. Httsbrouck, Sec, Bound Brook, N. J. 



3.— Iowa Central, at Wintersel. Iowa, 



Henry Wallace, Sec. 



29-30, Western Michiean, at Grand, Rapids. 

 Wm. M. S. Dodge, Sec. 



1883. 

 Jan. Itj.— Eastern N. Y., at Albany, N. Y. 



E. Quakenbush, Sec, BarnervUle, N. Y. 



II, Nebraska State, at Wahno, Neb. 



Geo. M. Hawlcy, Sec. 



16-18. Nortbeaptern, at Syracuse, N. Y. 



G. W. House. Fayetteyille, N. Y. 



t^~ In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— ED. 



l®"The annual meeting of the Ma- 

 honing Valley Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion will be held at Berlin Center, 

 Mahoning County, in the town hall on 

 Friday and Saturday the 19th and 20th 

 of Jauuary, 1883. All bee-keepers are 

 invited to attend and send essays, pa- 

 pers, implements, or any thing of in- 

 terest to the fraternity. A full at- 

 tendance is requested of all who are 

 interested. In fact, the meetings wiU 

 be so interesting that you cannot 

 afford to miss them. We expect a 

 lecturer from abroad on the evening 

 of the 19th. 



Leonidas Cakson, Pres. 



i^" The Nebraska State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, will hold its annual 

 session in Wahoo, Saunders county, 

 Neb., commencing Thursday, Jan. 

 11th, 1883. Arrangements have been 

 made with the railroads to secure IM 

 fare for the round trip. The Saunders 

 county Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 furnish entertainment free to all 

 visiting apiarists. 



T. L. VonDorn, Pres. 



Geo. M. Hawley, 6'ec. 



