THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



201 



They both wintered and springed 

 ■well. 



Mr. M. H. Snyder tells, on page .583 

 of Gleanings for 1881, how he saved 

 his bees, which were dying of dysen- 

 tery, by raising the hives above the 

 bottom board and loosening the en- 

 amelled cloth with which they were 

 covered. A few days after, all were 

 ■dry and in good condition. 



On page 593, of the same volume, 

 Mr. G. W. Stitts tells how he cured 

 two colonies half-dead with dysen- 

 tery, by heating tlie hives and pack- 

 ing hot cushions and hot bricks over 

 them, and by repeating this once a 

 week for three weeks, they were ef- 

 fectually cured. 



On page 452, of the same volume. 

 Dr. Jesse Oren relates how he suc- 

 ceeded in wintering bees in box-hives 

 by inverting them and tiering them up 

 in the cellar ; how, he also succeeded 

 with Langstroth hives in the same 

 way, leaving the holes in the honey- 

 board open, and keeping them apart 

 by strips of wood, and how, when this 

 was neglected, he had dysentery in 

 his strongest colonies early in the 

 winter. He says : " I took off the 

 honey-boards, shoving them forward 

 about 2 inches, and then re-piled the 

 hives. This soon ended the dysen- 

 tery. Bee-bread may have excited 

 the disease, but ventilation ended it 

 with me." It will be at once seen 

 that the above are clear cases of 

 cures by improved ventilation, giving 

 the bees a chance to dry out. Com- 

 ment is unnecessary. 



Lindsay, Out., March 7, 1883. 



Tor the Amertcan Bee Journal. 



Keply to Dr. Tinker. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



I may be in the dark regarding the 

 popularly supposed great advantages 

 of the Langstroth shallow air-cham- 

 ber above the brood frames, and the 

 surplus receptacles. I may also be in 

 error regarding my supposition that 

 almost all practical producers were 

 enjoying said advantages. I did 

 really think that most of the more ex- 

 perienced bee-keepers, who read our 

 •controversy, were laughing at the 

 idea of the barbaric method of resting 

 the sections, or any bar that might 

 support them, down" flat on the brood 

 frame top bars. 



The Doctor thinks it " strange " 

 that the bees will go thro\igha honey- 

 board and two air-chambers and en- 

 ter the surplus receptacles just as 

 soon as the flow of nectar begins. 

 Now, Doctor, all that you need is 

 proper arrangements, and' the 

 " strangeness " will all resolve itself 

 into simplicity. I would tell you all 

 about these arrangements if it was 

 not for the fact tiiat I am foolish 

 enough to be using these things that 

 I have found best, and tricky enough 

 to be selling just what I use, and you 

 would then accuse me of " advertis- 

 ing." 



I am glad that the Doctor and I see 

 nearly enough alike about the half- 

 pound sections, that we mean to give' 

 them a trial the coming season. 



The Doctor should have quoted 

 some one beside Mr. A. G. Hill as 

 authority in favor of the ancient prac- 

 tice of resting the sections directly on 

 the brood frames. I wonder at his 

 judgment in selection. I have long 

 tried to get a missionary to visit Mr. 

 Hill, but all are afraid of being eaten. 

 Such things have occurred. Well, 

 Doctor, let us leave the matter of the 

 advisability of leaving out the third 

 claim of Mr. Langstroth's invaluable 

 patent to the judgment of the future 

 practice of bee-keepers. It took 

 years to teach us the numerous ad- 

 vantages of this " shallow air-cham- 

 ber," but we learned it to stay (I 

 think), and it is my sincere conviction 

 that none will do without its splendid 

 features long. Upon this suliject, I 

 long ago "cast out the beam," and 

 feel sure the Doctor will cast out his, 

 ere long. 



Dowagiac, Mich, April 5, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal- 



Results of My Winter Packing. 



E. C. CRANE. 



Having had many inquiries con- 

 cerning the result of my manner of 

 packing, I desire to answer them in 

 the columns of the Bee Jouknal. 



I had 12 colonies, spring count, in 

 1882; sold 15, and furnished 12 swarms 

 for tlie woods. I sold 2,000 pounds of 

 comb honey in one and two-pound 

 sections, at an average of 17J-^ cents 

 per pound, and put 37 colonies into 

 the cellar and 12 on the summer 

 stands, in ashed, open to the south, for 

 the winter, making 49 colonies in all. 



I use the improved Quinby hive in 

 preference to four or five other hives 

 I have tried, or any other kind, all 

 things considered. The large (11x18) 

 sensible frames for the brood-cham- 

 ber, with their two movable division- 

 boards, gives the operator the most 

 perfect control, in directing tlie energy 

 of his bees to the special object de- 

 sired, in the different honey flows of 

 the season, enabling him to produce 

 comb honey, extracted honey, or bees, 

 at will. The details of each are sup- 

 posed to be understood by any old 

 reader of the Bee Journal. 



In the fall I select from five to eight 

 of the best brood-frames, with ripe 

 capped honey, on the upper edge and 

 down to the end of each frame, with 

 division-board each side, and blanket 

 or honey-board raised enough for the 

 bees to climb over the tops of the 

 frames ; also holes in the combs for 

 runways ; then lill with dry leaves, 

 chalf or straw, 3 or 4 inches thick 

 down the sides, to the floor of the hive, 

 and also on the top of the frames, up 

 to the cover, leaving their packing 

 chamber ventilated. I have also used 

 a ventilating chimney with one-inch 

 bore 5 or 6 inches long, with wire 

 screen on top, from the top of the 

 brood-nest to tlie top of the packing. 

 I do not consider this very essential 

 for cellar packing where the cellar is 

 properly ventilated. 



I tilled the summer shed with corn 

 stalks a foot deep. I set the hives, 

 packed as above described, one foot 



apart, 8 inches from the back side, 

 covering the whole with dry leaves 

 between, behind and on the top, to the 

 depth of 2 feet, leaving the entrance 

 holes open to the south. Those, in the 

 summer house, had a vigorous flight 

 on Jan. 1, 17, 24, 28 and Feb. 4, 11, 17 

 and 18. 



The cellar is 15x30 feet, under a 

 brick house, finished for the purpose, 

 and is clean and dry, with a cement 

 bottom, and it contains nothing but 

 bees. It is ventilated with a 7-inch 

 stove pipe, entering the chimney, 5 

 feet from the floor, with an elbow run- 

 ningdownto within 1 footof the floor, 

 having a draught sufficient to suck 

 up a dry leaf or small paper from its 

 mouth. I never lost any bees in that 

 cellar. I carried out my 37 colonies on 

 Feb. 27, all strong and in good order. 

 Having sold some, I now have 45 col- 

 onies, all containing eggs and brood ; 

 some living drones at this writing. 



Burlington, Iowa, April 9, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Raspberry Honey, Etc. 



A. E. FOSTER. 



I noticed in the Journal, a few 

 weeks ago, an article asking for infor- 

 mation about the quality of honey 

 obtained from raspberry blossom. I 

 believe the article has not been an- 

 swered yet. I hope some one, who 

 has had a large experience with rasp- 

 berry honey, will give us " light." I 

 read an item in one of our leading 

 papers, not long since, saying that the 

 honey obtained from raspberries is of 

 an inferior quality, and unfit for the 

 markets. 



It looks as though the season had 

 opened in earnest here. To-day, the 

 bees are as busy as can be, bringing 

 in natural pollen. The following is 

 an item about bees in the South laying 

 up stores of honey. Is it true V 



Covington, Ky., April 8, 1883. 



The Eec'kless Bee. — An experi- 

 menter in Southern agriculture told 

 me the following concerning of North- 

 ern bees in the South, lie took a 

 colony of the little gratuitous honey- 

 makers down to Florida. The first 

 year they revelled, throve, and stored 

 honey nearly all the unvaried summer 

 time. But the second year, a few of 

 the more reflective bees evidently 

 turned the thing over in their minds 

 thus : " This country has no winter 

 to provide against ; what is the use of 

 laying up honey, where the flowers 

 blossom all the year round '?" These 

 bees exerted enough influence among 

 their friends to keep a good many 

 bees from laying by any sweet mer- 

 chandise the second year of their 

 exile. 



But the prudential instinct so strong 

 in the little insect prevailed with the 

 majority. They evidently said to 

 themselves : " Perhaps this has been 

 an exceptional year. Next season may 

 t)ring cold, and snow, and dearth of 

 flower." So there was quite a stock 

 of honey laid by on the second year, 

 in spite of a few strikers. But by the 

 third year the conviction h;id evidently 



