470 



THE AMERICAIJ BEE JOURNAL. 



in thickness, and over these a piece 

 of burlap sacking and two thicknesses 

 of old cotton quilt, covered with one 

 layer of shingles, a plain honey-board 

 or anything that came to hand, and 

 over all were placed the lids snug and 

 close. This operation was performed 

 in the extracting-room, where the 

 bees were found much more docile, 

 and the hives replaced upon their 

 summer stands. 



In going through the colonies the 

 matter of stores was looked after, and 

 it was ascertained that at that date 

 (Nov. 1) each hive contained from 15 

 to 25 pounds of well-ripened honey, 

 most of which was fall honey, and 

 gathered principally from heart's- 

 ease and Spanish-needle. No effort 

 was made to deprive the bees of pol- 

 len, and the combs of the different 

 colonies contained more or less of that 

 baneful article ; none were without it, 

 while some had a bountiful supply. 



Now, after due and careful deliber- 

 ation, and a somewhat studious re- 

 view of the experiences of others in 

 both in and out-door wintering, I con- 

 cluded to " pick them up. hives, en- 

 trances and all, and place them in the 

 cellar." a la Heddon. So a bench 

 12x1 K feet, and raised to 2 feet in 

 height, was placed on one side of the 

 cellar, and on this were placed the 

 hives two tiers deep, with lids left on 

 and entrances open, and facing out- 

 ward from the wall ; but no rims were 

 placed under the hives, only one hive 

 was raised from the bottom-board, 

 and that not until the middle of win- 

 ter, and then only about }4 of an inch 

 in front. The entrances to the hives 

 were 9x% inches. 



The cellar is 12x18x7 feet, and in 

 one corner I placed a small heating- 

 stove, the pipe connecting with that 

 of the cook-stove above, the cellar 

 being under the kitchen. 



An inside door opens into the cellar 

 from a room in which fire was kept 

 going all winter, and it has double 

 doors opening into it from the out- 

 side ; these doors were used only in 

 mild weather, while the inside door 

 was used in cold weather. 



A thermometer, kept hanging from 

 the ceiling, registered in mild weather 

 from 40° to 60" Fahr. ; but in freezing 

 weather, of which we had a pretty 

 liberal share last winter in this re- 

 gion, had no artificial heat been em- 

 ployed, it would have fallen to or be- 

 low the freezing point. But at such 

 times a slow fire was kept going in 

 the stove, and the temperature of the 

 cellar kept as nearly as practicable at 

 from 42" to 45° "Fahr.— frequently 

 running as low as 40°, and as high as 

 50°, In cold weather the doors were 

 kept closed, and no ventilation was 

 provided, except what these closed 

 doors and the stove afforded. After 

 Feb. 1, the temperature was kept at 

 from 45° to 50°. 



On Feb. 28 I took the 16 colonies 

 out of the cellar for examination, and 

 to give them a flight, returning them 

 the next evening. Upon examining 

 a number, I found that the amount 

 of honey consumed was scarcely per- 

 ceivable, while a brighter, healthier, 

 happier lot of bees would have been 

 hard to find. Not the slightest sign 



of diarrhea or disease of any kind was 

 present. 



On April 2 I placed them on the 

 summer stands to stay, and they 

 " boomed right along," casting the 

 first swarm on May 20, which was 

 very early for this locality. I was not 

 troubled in the least with "spring 

 dwindling" in my apiary, which was 

 due, I think, to the fact that they 

 were not taken out of the cellar until 

 settled warm weather. I did not feed 

 an ounce of anything to stimulate 

 brood-rearing, and yet on May 1 most 

 of the colonies had eight frames 

 solidly filled with brood. 



I believe that bees can be wintered 

 as successfully as horses or cattle, if 

 we but learn the necessary conditions, 

 and then set about it with a will to 

 secure them. A little effort rightly 

 directed will accomplish wonders, 

 " sure enough ;" and I know of no 

 line of human industry where per- 

 sistent and well-directed endeavor 

 will be more lavishly rewarded than 

 in apiculture— and in no branch of 

 this noble science does it apply with 

 stronger emphasis than in providing a 

 comfortable winter home for our 

 little friend— the honey bee ; which 

 certainly ranks as the " noblest and 

 the best" of God's insect creation. 

 In my mind, a properly kept cellar is 

 that " comfortable home." 



Mt. Sterling,*© Ills. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bare-Headeil Bees, Fonl Brooil, etc, 



H. E. HILL. 



In Mr. Hoyle's article on page 393, 

 in reference to unsealed brood in the 

 pupa state, he says: "I am likely 

 to have no little opposition on this 

 particular point, if I call it a symptom 

 of foul brood ; I call it that, neverthe- 

 less." 



He further asserts that it is a posi- 

 tive indication of the disease. While 

 I am sure I have never seen a case of 

 foul brood, to see nice, oblong, evenly 

 laid patches of brood in the last 

 stages, unsealed, is not a rare occur- 

 rence. For this we have adopted the 

 somewhat comical, but appropriate 

 name suggested, I think, by Dr. 

 Miller, viz : " bare-headed bees." 



I am inclined to think, although my 

 experience is very limited, that it is 

 more prevalent in the South than 

 farther north. I found it, however, 

 to be the case in Cuba compared with 

 Ontario and this State. My attention 

 was first drawn to the fact while 

 transferring a number of colonies 

 from hollow logs into frame hives, in 

 Cuba, as my assistant used to amuse 

 himself by holding the combs above 

 his head (at a time when robbers 

 were plenty), and watch the unsealed 

 brood drop forward until the surface 

 of the comb was a complete mass of 

 heads, prevented from falling out by 

 the " wire edge " against which the 

 thorax rested. 



It is a strange fact that after these 

 bees were transferred, the colonies 

 that contained the "bare-headed" 

 brood were without exception remark- 



able for their vigorous working- quali- 

 ties. While I do not doubt that Mr. 

 Hoyle " never knew a bee to hatch 

 from such a cell, that was of any 

 value," I am quite sure that he 

 " never knew " they were not of any 

 value, either. 



In Mr. A. J. King's essay read at 

 Indianapolis, last October, on this 

 subject, he says : " Foul brood is not 

 ' indigenous ' in Cuba, there not being 

 a case on record in all the native 

 apiaries." On making numerous in- 

 quiries in nearly all parts of the 

 island I found this to be the case, as 

 not one had lost bees, or heard of bees 

 being lost by such a disease ; and as 

 this is in a land where apiaries of 

 from a dozen to 500, or even 1 ,500 col- 

 onies, are thickly scattered over the 

 country, we may safely rely upon Mr. 

 King's statements, as not being with- 

 out foundation. For, with bees kept 

 at nearly every house In the country ; 

 hollow logs through the fields and 

 along the highways containing bees, 

 and the countless numbers as they ex- 

 ist in the mountains, in the side of a 

 bank, beneath the trunk of an up- 

 rooted tree, or the shelter of a pro- 

 jecting rock— one would suppose that 

 if " foul brood " was to gain foothold 

 in Cuba, every bee-keeper from Cape 

 Maysi to San Antonio would know 

 something of it. 



Again, if " foul brood " is unknown 

 there, and it has no connection with 

 " bare-headed " brood, how came the 

 germ of the disease in the Cuban 

 honey which Mr. Pond says was the 

 cause of his loss y 



After quoting the following from 

 Mr. Hoyle's letter : " I have known 

 for nearly two years that old bees, as 

 well as the larvae, would be diseased," 

 Mr. Pond says : " Now my experi- 

 ence is just the reverse of this. lu 

 my own apiary I have known a dis- 

 eased larva to emerge from its cell, or 

 a mature bee to show any sign what- 

 ever of that disease; and from the 

 very name given the disease cannot 

 affect mature bees. If it does, it is of 

 course wrongly named." Further on 

 he says, with reference to Mr. Hoyle's 

 statements : " And while perhaps he 

 may be correct, and all the others, 

 including Mr. Frank Cheshire (who 

 certainly has given the subject more 

 attention scientifically than any other 

 to my knowledge), wholly wrong, I 

 still cannot believe him right without 

 some little proof." 



The facts and truth, and "proof" 

 of the same are just what we do want; 

 but it seems to me that while Mr. 

 Pond is preaching " Cheshire," he is 

 further from that gentleman's ideas 

 than is Mr. Hoyle, unless Mr. Cheshire 

 has advanced some of his ideas 

 privately, or otherwise, that I have 

 not seen, which is quite possible. 

 However, the following, which I 

 quote, is. from Mr. Cheshire's pen, 

 having reference to an examination 

 to which a queen, taken from an in- 

 fected hive, was subjected a short 

 time after his article was read before 

 the British Bee-Keepers' Association 

 in July, 1884. He says : 



"All will, I hope, forgive my es- 

 teeming mvself fortunate in having 

 thus been able to make out the only 



