THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



621 



For the American Bee JoiirnBl, 



Ventilation of Cellars. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



Before the ventilation of my cellar, 

 the air in it had a close disagreeable 

 odor, and if bees were placed therein, 

 the disagreeable odor was increased, 

 and especially so if the bees suffered 

 from dysentery. Two years ago I 

 made arrangements for a thorough 

 ventilation of the cellar, and since 

 then the air in it has been as pure and 

 sweet as it is in any part of the house. 

 Last winter 14 colonies of bees died 

 from dysentery, in the cellar, and yet, 

 upon entering the cellar, not the 

 slightest odor could be detected. 



To remove tha impure air, a '2]4 

 inch pipe connected with the kitclien 

 stove pipe was extended down through 

 the floor to within 4 inches of the 

 cellar bottom. That part of the pipe 

 below the floor, and ?:j of that above, 

 was made of wood, the remainder oi^ 

 iron. The pipe was furnished with a 

 damper, whicli could be opened or 

 closed at pleasure. When first start- 

 ing the tire, or if at any time it burned 

 low, and we wislied" to start it up 

 again, the damper was closed, which 

 increased the draft in through the 

 stove. At otlier times the damper re- 

 mained open, and the draft that other- 

 wise would have passed through the 

 stove, passed through tlie pipe ; and, 

 as there was less draft through the 

 stove, there was a saving of fuel. The 

 draft througli tlie pipe was often 

 strong enough to carry up light pieces 

 of paper when placed "under its mouth. 



Please allow me to digress long 

 enough to say that the coal stove, in 

 my sitting-room, is furuislied with a 

 similar pipe, only larger, that extends 

 down to within li inclics of tlie sitting- 

 room floor. Wlieii this pijie is open it 

 ventilates the room by drawing the 

 cold air from the floor, and also effects 

 a saving in fuel. A neighbor, wlio 

 has a similar stove, but witliout the 

 ventilating arrangement, burns a ton 

 more coal during the winter. 



To f urnisli the cellar with pureair, 

 the cellar drain was opened to a dis- 

 tance of about 70 feet, and 6-inch tile 

 substituted for the small size. At the 

 point of .iunction between the two 

 sizes of, tile, tliere was l)uilt up, with 

 brick, a sort of "well," which was 

 covered with a wooden ventila- 

 tor similar to those l)uilt upon barns. 

 When the outside temperature was 

 down to zero, the air blowing in 

 through the six-incli tile would be 

 warmed to above the freezing point. 



While I consider the ventilation of 

 cellars and houses an excellent thing, 

 I very much doubt its very materially 

 .affecting the health of our bees. For 

 two years I have successfully wintered 

 bees In clamps, where there was no 

 ventilation except wliat came through 

 18 inches or 2 feet of earth. It is my 



opinion that the primary cause of 

 dysentery is in the food. 

 Rogersville, Mich. 



for tlie American Bee Journal. 



New Jersey and Eastern Convention. 

 Reported by J. Hasbrouck, ISec. 



The meeting was called to order at 

 11:80. Roll called. By vote, the Sec- 

 retary's reiiort was dispensed witli, 

 as it had been read by all present. 

 President Tliompson delivered his ad- 

 dress, lie reported that his daugh- 

 ter, who had manipulated his bees, 

 was greatly in favor of the Cyprian 

 and Syrian bees. She flnds them 

 much "gentler to handle, and more 

 easy to get off tlie combs. She can 

 manipulate at the rate of 10 colonies 

 of these races to 7 of the Italians. 

 Four Syrians yielded 247 lbs., 4 Cyp- 

 jians 297 lbs., and 4 Italians 142 lbs. 



Mr. L. C. Root, who was present, 

 was elected an honorary member, and 

 invited to take part in the discussions 

 of the meeting. 



Mrs. Thomas, of Tacony, Pa., was 

 received as delegate from "the Phila- 

 delphia Bee-Keepers' Association, and 

 was also elected an honorary member 

 of tlie Society. 



The very interesting report from 

 the President's apiary was then dis- 

 cussed. 



Mr. Cook said, he understood that 

 the new races were remarkable for 

 productiveness, and believed that 

 their chief advantage would be in 

 crossing them with our best Italians. 

 He had a Syrian queen, and intended 

 to try these" crosses. 



Much interest was manifested, to 

 hear the opinions of Mr. Root, who 

 responded b>' saying that we li.v.d 

 claimed too much "for the Italian bee, 

 Imt yet, in his opinion, the Italian 

 still stands at the head of races. The 

 principal reason was, that tliey had 

 been improved in this country by 

 great (!are in breeding them. Ilis ex- 

 perience witli Cyprians had not been 

 good. Tliev lireed so late in the fall, 

 and hold drones so late, that they 

 used up too much honey uselessly. 

 The tendency to late breeding, in 

 bees, was good, but the Cyprians over- 

 did the business. He had no doubt 

 that the introduction of tliis new 

 blood, crossed with Italians, might re- 

 sult in improvement. 



Mrs. Thomas was quite in sympa- 

 thy with the views of the last speaker. 

 Tliere was something good in each 

 race. She felt an attachment to the 

 black bee, but not for honey. She had 

 learned, in a visit to Mr. Alley, that 

 he considers tliem best as nurses for 

 queen-rearing. She thought the Ital- 

 ians, Cyprians and Syrians were very 

 similar. She liad seen the Italians in 

 their own homes, and slie had noticed 

 that they do mucli better in this 

 country. She reported that she had 

 taken an average of 100 lbs. to the 

 hive, the past season, and 1.'50 pounds 

 from each of 2 colonies. She thouglit 

 the honey industry in its infancy, and 

 thought that its importance ought to 

 be brought to the attention of the 

 public, particularly at fairs. She said 



the managers of fairs needed to be in- 

 formed, so that they might know what 

 arrangements to make to insure 

 proper exhibitions of bees and honey. 

 She had been judge for a long time in 

 tlie Department of Industrial Insects 

 and their Products, such as honey- 

 bees and silk-worms, of the Pennsyl- 

 vania State Agricultural Society. 

 Everything has more attention given 

 to it than bees. To illustrate the 

 want of knowledge in the managers 

 of this industry, she said there was a 

 premium offered for the best honey 

 extracted in the presence of the com- 

 mittee. 



The Secretary said that he was 

 much interested in the President's 

 report, and inucli surprised at it. He 

 had liad (piite extensive experience 

 with the two new races of bees, but 

 found that they could carry only 

 about half tlie load of honey of an 

 Italian ; that tlieir tongues were 

 shorter, and that they were exceed- 

 ingly unpleasant to handle on account 

 of their stinging ability. His queens 

 were imported ones, direct from Mr. 

 Jones. He believed that most of the 

 stock sold for Cyprian or Syrian bees, 

 were extensively crossed with Ital- 

 ians, and that they were gooil and de- 

 sirable in proportion to the Italian 

 blood in them. 



Mr. Cunkey could substantiate the 

 statement tliat the Syrians were easy 

 to get oft' the combs, but they all went 

 into the air, and directly for your face. 



Mr. Cook had exhibited bees at the 

 New Jersey State Fair at great trouble 

 and expense, and loss of bees, with 

 little competition, and without much 

 encouragement. He had come to the 

 conclusion that it was impracticable to 

 exhibit bees at fairs. 



Mr. Tompkins said th.at if the busi- 

 ness were properly presented to the 

 managers of the State Fair, he had no 

 doubt but that the proper arrange- 

 ments would be made by them for ex- 

 liibits, that would be satisfactory and 

 advantageous. He had read of bees 

 being an annoyance, at a fair in Ohio, 

 to those who kept confectionery 

 staiuls. Provision ought to be made 

 by the exhibitors of bees to avoid 

 such things. The v>td)lic ought to be 

 instructed about the honey industry. 

 Statistics ought to be gathered, and 

 could be, and ought to be circulated 

 so as to give the industry its proper 

 influence. 



Mrs. Thomas said it was perfectly 

 practicable to exhibit bees in the 

 midst of an exliibition, if the bees 

 were given an outlet through a long 

 tube, as she had seen it done, and it 

 formed the most interesting part of 

 the fair 



The President said the greatest 

 dirticnlty in the way of proper encour- 

 ageinen't by the agricultural societies, 

 was that the business is not appre- 

 ciated by the public. Tlie managers 

 would provide for anything in which 

 the people were inUn-ested. The rea- 

 son that liorse-racing was the princi- 

 pal jiart of agricultural fairs, was be- 

 cause the public demanded them. 

 We must begin with tlie people ; we 

 must educate them. 



Mr. C'ook moved that a committee 

 of three be appointed by the Chair, to 



