712 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tor in successful wintering. All pre- 

 paration for wintering should be tiu- 

 ished not later tlian October 1st, and 

 it probably would be better not to dis- 

 turb bees after the middle of Septem- 

 ber, for by that time they have begun 

 to place their food where it will be 

 easy of access, and if the weather is 

 cool, form themselves into a compact 

 cluster, which should not be broken 

 afterwards. 



Each colony should have at least 20 

 lbs. of sealed honey, and each space 

 between the coDibs which contains 

 bees, should contain enough honey for 

 the bees clustered in that space to feed 

 upon, for the less they are compelled 

 to move about the hive to obtain food, 

 and the quieter they keep, the less 

 likely they will be to "become diseased. 

 Absorbents of some kind should be 

 used above the cluster, for if the hive 

 becomes damp and the combs mouldy, 

 the colony cannot be healthy. The 

 entrance of the hive should be large 

 enough to give an abundance of pure 

 air. 



By following these directions, bees 

 can be wintered in suitable bee-houses 

 or dry cellars, or on their summer 

 stands in chafl: hives, with but little 

 loss. 



Mr. Albright said he had wintered 

 out doors for six or seven years. Hives 

 were not protected except by his house 

 and a fence. Lost only one colony 

 during the winter of 18S1-2. Used the 

 American hive. 



Mr. Walker winters out doors. Does 

 not like chaff hives. Would not give 

 a cent for a cart-load of them. Uses 

 a dead air space instead of chaff. Says 

 chaff conducts moisture. Wintered 

 in chaff hives in 1«80 and 1881, and 

 lost 34 out of 41. Left a sheet of oil- 

 cloth between the cluster of bees and 

 the chaff cushion. Uses only seven 

 frames in brood chamber. 



C. H. Hoyt said that several years 

 ago he wintered in clamjis with ven- 

 tilation, and was successful. The year 

 following he wintered in a damp cel- 

 lar without loss. lie was now using 

 chaff hives, and preferred them to 

 any other. 



Mr. Boardman did not think bees 

 could be wintered with as much cer- 

 tainty as horses and cattle. If they 

 could, the business would be very pro- 

 fitable. There was no dilBculty in get- 

 ting old bees through the winteralive, 

 but they died in the spring before 

 there were young bees enough hatched 

 to perpetuate a colony. He winters in 

 a frost-proof house, without absorb- 

 ents, without bottom boards, and with 

 but very little upward ventilation. 



Mr. Boardman thinks the moisture 

 which collects in the hives is not pro- 

 duced by the breath of the bees, but 

 by the cold air coming into the hive 

 from the outside and mixing with the 

 warm air inside, and that this moist- 

 ure is utilized by the bees for drink. 

 Prefers in-door wintering, on account 

 of the less amount of stores consumed. 

 Did not think sub-earth ventilation as 

 good as a room containing a stove ad- 

 joining the winter bee house. 



J. S. Terrel winters in Simplicity 

 hive, with only a piece of cotton clotii 

 over the brood nest. Removes one 

 comb and equalizes the space left. 



Intends to winter in a clamp the com- 

 ing winter. Had fed liquid food in 

 the winter time, when bees could not 

 fly, without any bad result. 



J. B. Darling said that he found no 

 difficulty in wintering, but could not 

 obtain any surplus honey, and would 

 like to have some one tell him how to 

 get it. He said he knew as much 

 about bees now as he did twenty years 

 ago, and no more. 



The Secretary gave the following 

 statistics, using numbers in place of 

 the names of those persons making the 

 reports : 



The table shows that 35 bee-keepers 

 owned, June 1st, 1882, 1,4.53 colonies, 

 which increased to 1,973 by Sept. 20th, 

 1882. These colonies gatliered .55,099 

 pounds of honey, which was an aver- 

 age of about 28 pounds to the colony. 

 The lioney is worth about $10,000, and 

 the wax produced $100. 



After a vote of thanks to the Whit- 

 tlesey Association fortheuseof Whit- 

 tlesey Hall, the meeting adjourned to 

 meet again the first Saturday in Feb- 

 ruary, 1883. 



Read before the Union, Ky., Convention. 



Inter-Breeding of Bees. 



DR. W. M. KOGERS. 



The laws regulating the inter-breed- 

 ing of bees have received too little- 

 attention from Apiculturists. With 

 reference to the relations of charac- 

 teristics, to any system of breeding or 

 crossing, we are nearly ignorant. But 

 little of the knowledge contained in 

 works upon tlie honey-bee, refer to 



Erinciples of breeding, or is suscepti- 

 le of arrangement upon a line of 

 law pertaining thereto. In a first 

 effort at developing a science, one' 

 may be pardoned for venturing upon 

 hypothesis. With greater light a 

 theory may be promulged. From ac- 

 cumulated and convergent facts law 

 is educed. With law clearly insight, 

 all factors are reduced to order, and 

 sequences are definite. We shall 

 probably die without the accomplish- 

 ment — scientific precision in breed- 

 ing bees. With the conviction that 

 all breedina is arranged upon a line of 

 law, I am hopeful that the future has 

 much of interest and profit in stor& 

 for us, arising out of correct interpre- 

 tation of the phenomenal pertaining 

 to the breeding, inter-breeding ana 

 crossing of bees. 



Nature works upon a wider range of 

 correlations than we might expect to 

 find. Comparative anatomy makes, 

 us wonderfully near the animals be- 

 low us. 



Corresponding devices always im- 

 plylny intelligence are found every- 

 where about us, in applications of 

 widest range. The device of an um- 

 bilical cord, serves apurpose alike for 

 the horse chesnut and the man vfho 

 aspires to know God or dares to deny 

 Him. 



The beautiful modifications of the 

 feather serve the purpose of the swan 

 upon the lake ; the swallow that 

 cleaves the air — the gay butterfly that 

 flaunts her colors in the sunlight — the 

 pretty moth that glints the moon- 

 beams, or the industrious honey-bee 

 with corsage of gold. I hope for 

 much yet to be reveiiled from the wide 

 and illimitable inlinitude of intelli- 

 gent correlations inhering in the co- 

 ordinations of all nature. The path- 

 way of intelligence is marked. The 

 thought of the Miglity One is feebly 

 followed by the thought of the tiny 

 mould of his image. I have studied 

 this subject until I have discovered 

 my own ignorance and am grown 

 curious to learn. I think I could 

 hardly breed a flock of Cotswolds or 

 of Soutlidowns, without some effort 

 to discover the possibilities of modi- 

 fication of character inhering in them 

 under differences in breeding and 

 mating. I am satisfied that Bakewell 

 had a law of breeding applicable to 

 sheep— and that any man to-day could, 

 with a knowledge of that law, take 

 the same character of material and 

 arrive at the same results essentially. 



Returning to the immediate subject 

 of this paper I express the opinion 

 that the introduction of the new races, 

 of bees into America, affords oppor- 

 tunity for advance in discovery of the 

 susceptibility of bees under the vari- 



