THE AMERICAN UEE JOURNAL. 



183 



I have not luifreqnently noticed even 

 in the hives of leading apiarists and 

 supply men. 



In every hive, no matter what the 

 style, there ought to be a ventilating 

 hole in the hack part 2 or 3 inches 

 above the l)ottom-board. This should 

 be covered with strong wire gau/.e in- 

 side, and a good button outside, so 

 that it can be opened and shut at 

 pleasure. In hot weather it can be 

 left open, and then serves as a good 

 ventilator. In the spring and fall. 

 when a leading object is to keep the 

 bees warm, and there is a sutlicient 

 ingress of fresh air at the entrance, 

 tliis hole can be (illed vvilh wool from 

 tlie outside, the button closed, and 

 the cold thus kept out. 



But it is in wintering that this ar- 

 rangement is imperatively needed and 

 becomes especially important. Indeed, 

 I regard it as quite inilispensable 

 whetTier the bees are wintered outside 

 or in. When wintered in a cellar or 

 in a bee house the button can be left 

 open ; and then, no matter how many 

 dead bees may be deposited on the 

 bottom-board, choking up the en- 

 trance, the air can still enter at this 

 liole. 



And it is of equal value and impor- 

 tance in wintering outside. Lately I 

 have noticed in more than one of the 

 bee papers correspondents anxiously 

 inquiring about the safety of colonies 

 covered up in the snow drifts. And 

 well they may, if they have not looked 

 after this matter. A strong colony of 

 bees under a snow bank, with other 

 winter protection, will generate so 

 much heat that even though the en- 

 trance may have been left wide open, 

 the snow surrounding it will be melted 

 from time to time until the entrance 

 becomes completely closed witli a 

 thick glade of ice. Then if there is 

 no other medium of air ingress, good- 

 bye to the bees in a majority of cases. 

 Still, there is probably this exception : 

 In the case of a doid)le-walled hive 

 filled in with sawdust, and "ship- 

 lapped " like the Jones double-walled 

 hive, I am inclined to think that bees 

 would not smother even though all 

 the entrances were closed, that is, if 

 the hive had not been so long occu- 

 pied as to be hermetically sealed up 

 inside the walls with wax. But these 

 hives are not yet in general use, and 

 even though they were, it would 

 hardly l)e safe to depend upon the 

 collateral ventilation through the 

 walls of the hive under a snow drift. 

 But it is quite impossible for the ven- 

 tilating hole described above to be- 

 come tilled with ice ; and it will serve 

 to ventilate when the entrance gets 

 either clogged up with bees or frozen 

 up with ice. 



This winter I am wintering 8 of the 

 stronger colonies outside on the sum- 

 mer stands. Some 2 or 3 weeks ago, 

 soon after the first heavy snow storm, 

 I went to examine thein, as some of 

 them were quite covered up with 

 snow. As I had stuffed the back ven- 

 tilating holes with wool in the fall, 

 and closed the buttons, I thought 

 they might need some attention. I 

 have three or four styles of hives in 

 my apiary — the Jones hive, doul)le 

 and single-walled ; the Thomas hive 



improved ; and a hive I make, which 

 is quite different from both, and for 

 which I have no name, and holding 14 

 frames below and 14 above, which I 

 use mostly for extracted honey. I 

 have also one Langstroth hive — a hive 

 which has good features, but I do not 

 like the frames for extracting. The 

 bees I have wintering outside are in 

 two double-walled Jones hives ; two 

 single - walled ditto; three Thomas 

 improved; and one of my own non- 

 descripts, making eight. 



They are all, of course, provided 

 with the back hole ventilator, for I 

 always try to practice what I preach. 

 One of the double-walled hives which 

 I had not made myself, was without 

 the hole, but I put it in during the 

 fall while the bees were in the hive. 

 Of course the double-walled hives, 

 filled in, require a tube in the hole to 

 keep the sawdust or other flUmg from 

 running out. In this last hive men- 

 tioned, the bees were crowded up in 

 the fall on about six frames; and be- 

 hind the division-board was packed 

 with dry forest leaves with some dry 

 pine sawdust on top of them. (The 

 frames in the Jones hive run parallel 

 with the entrance instead of at right 

 angles with it as is the case with most 

 styles of hives.) Above all this was 

 spread the cloth and then the heavy 

 quilt packed with sawdust. As al- 

 ready stated, the hole behind in all 

 t!ie hives was tilled with wool and the 

 buttons closed in the fall. Upon ex- 

 amining the entrances after the snow 

 storm, I found some of them com- 

 pletely stopped up with ice. The bees, 

 however, were all right, as the hives 

 clogged were the double -walled ones, 

 besides they had been but a very 

 short time in that condition. I opened 

 the buttons behind, lookout the wool, 

 placed a )>iece of woolen cloth, three or 

 four double, over each hole and filled 

 in again with snow, and covered them 

 up as they were, leaving the front en- 

 trances alone. Two or three heavy 

 snow storms since have covered them 

 up still deeper ; but I nm content to 

 risk them though ten feet of the 

 " beautiful " should rise above them. 

 Indeed, I would ratlier have the snow 

 on them than not. especially when the 

 mercury is dancing around below 

 zero most of the time. 



Such a winter as this, so far, they 

 are better under the snow than over 

 it, and when it drifts off them. I shovel 

 it on iigain. Had I known that this 

 winter was going to be so terribly 

 severe as it has been so far here, I 

 doubt whether eight of my colonies 

 would have been left out to winter. 

 Of course they are " protected," but 

 when the mercury persists in remain- 

 ing below zero for days at a time, no 

 ordinary winter protection will keep 

 frost oiit of the hives. The trntli is, 

 we are all disapiiointed in the winter. 

 The weather prophets — Vennor, Oats, 

 et al. — predicted a mild, open winter; 

 and as last winter was so exceptionally 

 severe, we, too. thought it would not 

 likely be immediately succeeded by a 

 similar one. But the " weather clerk " 

 has sold ns again, and our ont-door bees 

 must, I suppose, take their chances. 



In addition to the ventilating hole 

 already described, there ought also to 



be one in every hive in the front 

 about the same distance above tlie 

 lower entrance, or perhaps a little 

 higher. As this is to serve some- 

 times as an entrance, the wire gauze 

 must of course be omitted ; but there 

 must be a well-fitted button to cover 

 it when not wanted open. This front 

 avenue has more than one use, the 

 principal one of wliicli is to serve as 

 an exit in winter and spring flights, 

 when the bottom entrance is closed 

 either with ice or dead bees, and be- 

 fore the hive is overhauled in the 

 spring. At other times it can be kept 

 shut if desired, except in hot weather 

 when it can be left open for ventila- 

 tion. 

 Selby,Ont., Jan. 24, 1884. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Southern Wisconsin Convention. 



The bee-keepers met in Janesville, 

 Wis., on March 4, and organized a 

 permanent society, to be known as 

 the " Southern Wisconsin Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association." The following 

 named persons were elected oflicers 

 for the ensuing year : President, 0. 

 O. Shannon ; Vice-President, Levi 

 Fatzinger ; Secretary, J. T. Pomeroy ; 

 Treasurer, W. S. Squire. 



The regular sessions of the associa- 

 tion will be held on the first Tuesday 

 of March in each year. Special meet- 

 ings will also be held, the time and 

 place of which will be determined at 

 previous meeting. 



The object of the association is to 

 promote scientific bee-culture and 

 form a bond of union among bee- 

 keepers. Any person may become a 

 member by signing the constitution 

 and paying a fee of 50 cents. The 

 next meeting vvill be held at the 

 Pember House in Jane-sville, on the 

 first Tuesday in May, at 10 a. m. All 

 bee-keepers are cordially invited to 

 attend. The secretary, J. T. Pomeroy, 

 of Edgerton, Rock County, Wis., will 

 conduct the correspondence of the 

 association. J. T. Pomeiioy, Sec. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Bees Eating Grapes. 



HENRY ZEIS. 



The following item is from the 

 Gardner's Monthh/, and I saw it in the 

 National Fanner. As I wish to give 

 my experience, I will quote tlie item 

 here : 



" It has been clearly demonstrated 

 by Australian experience, that the 

 honey bee can open flowers from out- 

 side as well as the humble bee in this 

 country. We have never had any 

 doubt ourselves that they do manage 

 to cut open grapes somehow, and eat 

 them ; but as good entomologists de- 

 clare that their tongues are not equal 

 to the task, it was not w'se to argue 

 the point too strongly. But now that 

 it has been clearly proved that they 

 cun cut open flowers to get the honey 

 easy, there is no reason why they can- 

 not cut a delicate grape skin also. We 

 now regard the question settled. Bees 

 do cut into and eat grapes, and to that 



