THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



187 



(which signifies winter) on the top 

 bar ; put those combs near together, 

 and do not extract from them. As 

 soon as the honey in those combs are 

 sealed nearly half way down, I spread 

 them apart, and insert in each alter- 

 nate space an empty frame, or one 

 partly filled with comb or foundation, 

 and the frames thus inserted can, as 

 fast as completed, be extracted at 

 pleasure. 



I thus secure three objects : A hive 

 full of straight comb ; the queen is 

 forced below, on account of the 

 frames marked containing much 

 honey and being far apart, and the 

 rest of the combs, as fast as com- 

 pleted, are tilled with honey, having a 

 nice lot of sealed clover honey for 

 winter. 



But here comes the trouble. Empty 

 combs will not do to winter bees on, 

 neither do I believe full frames of 

 honey, without some empty cells, 

 much better, in this latitude; but 

 when we produce comb honey, the 

 honey in the brood-chamber is in a 

 much more desirable shape. I be- 

 lieve I am the only one in this part of 

 the country that produces comb 

 honey, and being requested, by some 

 of my neighbors, to write my plan of 

 manipulating sections without separa- 

 tors, I cheerfully make the effort. 



I use the Langstrotli hive exclu- 

 sively, have used both 8 and 10 frames, 

 but have no use for 10 frames beneath 

 a rack of sections, as I use a rack 

 similar to a crate, with partitions be- 

 tween the rows of sections. 



The first thing, after the sections 

 are on, is to get the bees to work in 

 them ; for Italian bees are very loath 

 to enter boxes. The best method that 

 I have ever practiced, is to use 10 

 frames in the brood-chamber until the 

 bees are strong in number, and ready 

 for the boxes; previously to adjusting 

 the boxes, 1 remove all but 7 or 8 

 frames, and use a division-board on 

 each side of the frames, so arranged as 

 not to allow bees behind them. The 

 hive having, heretofore, been crowded 

 with bees to its fullest capacity, and 

 by contracting the hive inside, the 

 bees are compelled to take possession 

 of the boxes immediately, or cluster 

 outside the hive. As the bees are not 

 desirous of swarming yet, and as the 

 honey harvest has just commenced in 

 earnest, they are most likely to work 

 in the sections. Now, having the 

 boxes on, with a starter of comb or 

 foundation in each section (the 

 former preferred), and after the bees 

 have been at work in them a few daj's, 

 probably they may need some atten- 

 tion. I usually examine each section 

 twice a week, and this is the main 

 secret in obtaining straight combs 

 without separators, for we are sure to 

 find some probably half finished, 

 whilst others near them are just com- 

 menced. Take out all the sections 

 that are nearest completed, and put 

 them together, and thus always keep- 

 ing the fullest together, and the ones 

 least worked in near the lean end of 

 the row. I think I got that " lean end " 

 from Mr. Ileddon (thanks toMr.Hed- 

 don). If any of the sections are nearer 

 completed on one side than on the 

 other, put them with their fullest 



sides together, or near the glass at the 

 end of the row, but leave space be- 

 tween the honey and end of the box, 

 sufficient for the bees to pass, or tliey 

 will empty the honey from the outside 

 and carry it to the other sections, 

 which is only a loss of time, and the 

 hives are level from right to left, and 

 if I follow the above plan, I seldom 

 have to bend or cut a piece of comb, 

 although if I cut a bit of comb out, it 

 is not lost, but will make a nice 

 starter for another section. If not 

 quite so cheap as foundation, it is 

 much better. 



Perhaps some may think that honey 

 produced "vvitliout separators would 

 not be nice enough for the Cincinnati 

 Industrial Exposition. But I will say 

 that, with my experience in the pro- 

 duction of comb honey, and a few 

 acres of (melilot) sweet clover, I was 

 able to procure just such honey as Dr. 

 Miller and others saw there last fall. 



I believe my honey was all the comb 

 honey that was there. What in the 

 world is the matter with bee-keepers 

 around Cincinnati V If correspond- 

 ents of the various bee papers would 

 write less about half-pound sections, 

 yellow bees, etc , and more about 

 practical experience in the production 

 and sale of pure honey, and try to 

 create a better demand at home by 

 making better displays at their county 

 fairs, and sell only such honey at 

 home or abroad as they can fully war- 

 rant, we would certainly do the great- 

 est good to the greatest number. 



Dividing Ridge, Ky., Feb. 23, 1883. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Description of My Bee Room. 



V. B. DODGE. 



I have 42 colonies in the cellar, and 

 19 packed on the summer stands. 

 Those on the summer stands had a 

 flight on Feb. 17, the first since Nov. 

 15. The thermometer showed 6.5° in 

 open air. 48'^ at the top, and iFp at the 

 bottom, in the cellar. No signs of 

 dysentery in the cellar or on the sum- 

 mer stands. The lowest range of 

 mercury, this winter, was 9^ below 

 zero. Last season was poor, in this 

 locality ; no surplus, and very little 

 natural increase. This is my first 

 year's experience in cellar wintering. 

 My arrangements were as follows : I 

 have a room, 10x12 feet, partitioned 

 off in one corner of the main cellar, 

 which is thoroughlv plastered, on two 

 sides and bottom, with hydraulic 

 cement ; the other two side walls are 

 made of matched boards and battened. 

 I have a tight-fitting door from the 

 main cellar, and in close proximity to 

 my outside cellar-way. through which 

 I enter the cellar below, down five 

 stone steps to the cellar bottom. From 

 the bee room, I have a 3inch glazed 

 tile pipe, running through the "cellar 

 wall, 3 feet under ground, running 

 horizontal about 8 feet ; on the end of 

 this pipe, I have an elbow which turns 

 the pipe up, at right angles with the 

 pipe, that runs through the wall, from 

 the cellar, leaving the end of the el- 

 bow sticking out of the ground about 

 6 or 8 inches. I have a wooden tube, 



6 inches square and 8 feet long, made 

 of matched pine boards and painted, 

 with galvanized iron, one-half circle, 

 on top, to keep out the storm and give 

 room for free circulation of air, with 

 a damper to shut off the outside air, 

 when desirable. This wooden tube 1 

 place over the end of tube-pipe, in a 

 perpendicular position, holding it in 

 place by hooks and staples, attached 

 to the outside covering of the cellar 

 door, and earthed up snugly around 

 the bottom or base of the tube ; the 

 damper completely controls, and I find 

 I can add or diminish the volume of 

 outside atmosphere at pleasure, which 

 gives complete control of the tempera- 

 ture of the bee-room, at any time, 

 when the weather outside is colder 

 than the ordinary temperature of the 

 cellar. To control the inside atmos- 

 phere of bee-room, I have a 2}>4 inch 

 tin pipe, connected with the room, on 

 the opposite side from the tile pipe, 

 and running through the floor of the 

 sitting room, which is directly over 

 the bees, connecting with the stove 

 pipe above, in that room. In the pipe 

 is a tight-fitting damper, which I can 

 use at will, checking or increasing the 

 draft of air from the room through 

 the chimney. 



I have two thermometers in bee 

 cellar, one hung near the bottom and 

 one near the top. It has not, this 

 winter, been lower than 42°, nor 

 higher than 49°, since Nov. 15, the 

 day I put the bees in the cellar. In 

 the sitting i*ooni and directly over the 

 bees, stands an anthracite coal fire, 

 constantly burning, night and day. 



To further control the temperature 

 of the bee-room, as the weather be- 

 comes warmer and spring advances, 

 should the bees show signs of uneasi- 

 ness, I have secured a quantity of ice 

 and propose to remove the upright 

 wooden tube which fits over the end 

 of tile pipe, leaving the end of tile 

 sticking above ground, about 6 or 8 

 inches. Over this I propose to set a 

 box with a hole in the bottom, just 

 fitting over the tile, leaving the end of 

 the tile tube sticking up inside of the 

 box ; this box is supplied with a tight- 

 fitting lid, that may be opened or 

 shut, at pleasure. In this box I in- 

 tend to put ice from day to day, as re- 

 quired, in sufficient quantities to cool 

 the air that passes through the tile 

 pipe into the bee-room, to obtain the 

 desired temperature from day to day, 

 until I deem it proper time to set my 

 bees upon their summer stands, say 

 about the blooming of soft maple. 



There does not seem to be the 

 sligh test moisture in the bee-room ; 

 the quilts seem as dry as the same 

 material would be in an ordinary 

 room. The bees seem perfectly at 

 home, and, to all appearance, in a 

 happy and contented mood. How 

 long they may so continue, is a problem 

 that I am unable to solve at present; 

 but the prospect is certainly flatter- 

 ing, and I hope reflections from " the 

 silver lining," may penetrate and 

 cheer the hope of every genuine apiar- 

 ist of the land. 



If ihe theory and practice of damp 

 cellar wintering is correct, I am cer- 

 tainly on the wrong track, and in the 

 opposite extreme. My cellar is so dry 



