THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



439 



Can we snjipose that a lot of dead 

 bees can remain dose to tlie frames 

 on which tlie colony is clustered, and 

 not poison them with foul odor V 

 Finally, our methods ^o on the princi- 

 ples of securinsi a uniform tempera- 

 ture, which does not obtain in nature, 

 but is one of man"s so-called improre- 

 ments. There is no evidence that 

 bees are not the better for having a 

 chansce now and then, if gradually 

 brought about, by means under tlieir 

 own control. 



lIIltEKNATION OF BEES. 



It is generally admitted that bees 

 hibernate ; tliat is, go off into a state 

 of torpor or semi-torpor, when they 

 winter under purely natural condi- 

 tions. There are differences of opin- 

 ion among scientific men and practical 

 bee-keepers as to the nature and ex- 

 tent of this process in the case of 

 bees. I cannot now discuss this 

 point at any length, but will simply 

 say that hibernation is to a consider- 

 able extent, if not wholly, prevented 

 by our customary methods of winter- 

 ing. Among hibernating animals and 

 insects, there is a difference of habit. 

 The bear goes into winter quarters 

 fat. sleeps during the cold weather, 

 and wakes lean in the spring. Ilis 

 excess of adipose matter has kept him 

 alive without eating. The squirrel 

 and other creatures that lay in a 

 stock of food, have several spells of 

 torpiditv during the winter, out of 

 which they awake at the touch of 

 warm weather, to eat. Bees are like 

 squirrels rather than bears. They do 

 not become fat in the fall, and sleep 

 themselves lean, but have short terms 

 of torpidity, out of which they awake 

 in mild weather and take a feed. 

 Then as the mercury goes down, they 

 yield to drowsiness again. A little 

 rellection will show that the tree-top 

 conditions are favorable to the hiber- 

 nation of the bee, but cellars, bee- 

 houses clamps, and cliaff-packed hives 

 are not. They go on the principle of 

 one uniform temperature as neai'ly as 

 possible all winter. If that tempera- 

 ture is too warm, the bees do not go 

 to sleep at all, but become restless, 

 eat lots of honey, foul the hive, many 

 old bees die, arid get up what Mrs. 

 Partington called " an antagion," and 

 so forth. If the temperature is too 

 low, they get cold victuals — icy honey, 

 frozen pollen, etc., and why should 

 not such food give a bee the colic and 

 diarrhoea as well as human beings ? 

 Mark this, that the bee to winter 

 naturally, must be able to take hiber- 

 nating spells; not one, long sleep, nor 

 one long wake, either or which will 

 be injurious if not fatal. 



MY I'LAN OF WINTERING. 



There is very much more to be said 

 in the way of general discussion of 

 points connected with the central 

 idea, but I must simply state it. and 

 close for the present. In brief, then, 

 I go for the hollow tree-trunk plan of 

 wintering; not literally, for that of 

 course is out of the question, but the 

 nearest approximation to it that can be 

 got. If I had a flat-roofed building, 

 which I have not, I would set my ex- 



perimental hive on that, and have a 

 long hollow tube connected witli the 

 hive bv a hopper, and extending to 

 witliin a foot or two of the grouiul. 

 Tliat I sliould consider a fair way of 

 testing tlie theory, I liave set forth: 

 and if any bee-keeper has tlie chance 

 of trying'it thus, it would be well to 

 do so. But " I have faith to believe " 

 the thing will work without going so 

 liigli up into the air, and have just 

 completed a hive-stand embodying 

 the principle set forth in this article. 

 It consists of a box about table high ; 

 just the height at which you can 

 handle bees without hurting your 

 back. The bottom of the box is one 

 wide board H.i inches thick, 20x2(5 

 inches ; thedinrensions calculated for 

 a Langstroth hive. Tlie box is tight 

 withthe exception of four auger holes 

 covered with wire gauze, which are 

 made within (i inches of the top. The 

 extra size of the box is meant to af- 

 ford an opportunity to cover the hive 

 with a rough shell in winter, and if 

 desired, pack witli chaff. I also gives 

 a wide alighting board in front, and 

 some shelving on the sides, and at the 

 rear, which will be found handy dur- 

 ing the working season. The hive to 

 be used is without a bottom -board, 

 but a sliding bottom-board, put in 

 and taken out from the rear, is to be 

 used during the honey harvest. When 

 that is over, and all danger of comb 

 extension is past, it is to be removed. 

 Immediately below it is a hopper fit- 

 ting tightly to the stand just beneath 

 the hive, its flaring sides terminating 

 in a square tube 4 inches wide eacli 

 way inside, which reaches to within 

 a few inches of tlie bottom of the box. 

 The usual entrance to the hive is to 

 be left open. Through it and through 

 the auger holes on the four sides of 

 the box. abundance of air will find its 

 way into the hive. Its dead bees will 

 choke the entrance, as they will fall 

 to the bottom of the box. A little 

 door in the box enables the bee-keeper 

 to see the dead bees, dry excrernent, 

 etc., that may have dropped from 

 above, and thus the state of the col- 

 ony can be judged at a glance to the 

 extent that these signs reveal it. 



It will perhaps be asked, why not 

 have a skeleton stand with merely 

 the hopper and tube reaching to with- 

 in a few inches of the ground ? I an- 

 swer, because it would not so nearly 

 fulfill the conditions of tree-trunk 

 wintering. My box gives me a reser- 

 voir of still air obtained 2 feet or more 

 from the ground, and, being tight, 

 cuts off dampness and excludes foul 

 gases. It should be added, that the 

 bottom-board of the box is spiked to 

 pieces of cedar pole slightly flattened 

 on the lower side, giving the least 

 possible contact of the box with its 

 round sills. My idea is now roughly 

 out-lined, and the practical use of it 

 will doubtless be improved upon by 

 others whose inventive genius in that 

 line is greater than mine. 



Speedside, Out. 



®" TheKentuckyBee-Keepers'Con- 

 vention meets in Louisville, Ky., dur- 

 ing the opening of the Exposition (day 

 not fixed). 



N. P. Allen, Sec. 



For the American Bee JouniaL 



Reversible Frames. 



I. i;. I'OND, .TH. 



Are reversible frames of any real 

 practical value, or at least sutticiently 

 so to pay for the trouble in fitting 

 them up so that they can be made of 

 use y When they were first men- 

 tioned, the idea struck me as being 

 one of value, and theoretically it is, 

 but it proves with me to be one of 

 those theories that after all are of no 

 real practical value, and for the simple 

 reason that I find I can accomplish 

 the same results without them, in a 

 far more simple and easy manner than 

 I can by going to the trouble and ex- 

 pense of fitting up for their use. 



Again, the points of superiority 

 claimed for them are really more a 

 matter of fancy than of real utility. 

 Perhaps in a poor season, or at a time 

 when honey is coming in slowly, 

 frames may be found to be filled more 

 completely by reversing than by al- 

 lowing them to remain in their usual 

 position ; but it is to be hoped that at 

 such times, the prudent and economi- 

 cal apiarist will be enabled by regular 

 feeding in small quantities, to cause 

 his frames to be well filled out, and 

 while doing this, stimulate his colo- 

 nies sufflcientlv to keep the cells filled 

 with brood ; aiid thus, as the old say- 

 ing is," kill two birds with one stone." 



One of the chief points of super- 

 iority claimed by the advocates of re- 

 versible frames is, that by the process 

 of reversing, the cells are filled with 

 brood close up to the top-bars, and 

 the bees will then more readily enter 

 into the sections. I am aware, and 

 have been for years, that bees deposit 

 their stores above the brood, and have 

 made good use of the extractor to 

 cause them to go into sections, when 

 I got ready to place them on the col- 

 ony. I have found also that extract- 

 ing stimulated brood rearing pre- 

 cisely as does feeding, and that when 

 I extract the honey stored in the 

 upper parts of the frames, the queen 

 will deposit her eggs in the cells from 

 which the honey is extracted, and the 

 bees will at once occupy the sections 

 and begin storing therein. 



When a flow of honey is coming in 

 from the fields, there is no trouble at 

 all in getting frames well filled out, 

 and sections well filled out also, if 

 care is taken to provide the proper 

 facilities. Those who claim that the 

 instinct of the bee is all-wise, and 

 allow it to work its sweet will, 

 must fall far behind in the race, with 

 him who uses his reason in directing 

 (not forcing) that instinct to work for 

 his own advantage. If the extractor 

 could be used for no other purpose 

 than simply giving the queen room to 

 deposit her eggs in the location de- 

 sired by the owner, it would well pay 

 for itself in a very small apiary ; and 

 with myself, after a fair trial, I find 

 it will do so much more easily, simply 

 and cheaply than can be done by any 

 arrangement I have yet seen or heard 

 of in the way of reversing or reversi- 

 ble frames. 



I speak only for myself ; others may 

 view the matter differently ; but my 



