AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



631 



carried in first in as good condition in 

 the Spring (and they are always the 

 last one out), after a confinement of six 

 months, as the colonies taken in later 

 with a confinement of only four months. 

 After the honey season is over, and 

 the nights get cool, you will notice' how 

 sluggish the bees become. Now if put 

 into winter quarters in that condition of 

 sluggishness, and kept in such a state, 

 they will endure a longer confinement 

 than many suppose. It is activity that 

 wears the bee out. The greater her 

 activity, the shorter hor life.— Eugene 

 Secoe, in the Farmer and Breeder. 



Look Out for Mice and Rats. 



Unless the hive entrances are arranged 

 so as to keep out mice, they will often 

 build nests in them as soon as cold 

 weather begins, thus doing great dam- 

 age. A good way to prevent this is to 

 tack a piece of stout wire-cloth over the 

 entrance, the meshes of which are large 

 enough to allow the bees to pass through 

 freely. ^ ^„. ^ 



When the bees are housed for Winter 

 do not neglect to lay some poison in the 

 cellar, or winter repository, to destroy 

 rats and mice. 



If some porous material is used for 

 covering the brood-frames, upward or 

 top ventilation is not needed, either for 

 out or in-door wintering. 



Entrances should open the whole 

 width for in-door wintering, provided 

 the temperature is kept above freezing. 

 For out-door wintering the entrances 

 should be contracted to a small opening 

 when exposed to the cold Winter blasts, 

 and also windbreak provided. 



A good deal has been said about sub- 

 ventilation to bee-cellars. I have tried 

 it, and with many others have concluded 

 that such ventilation is not needed. I 

 have found that upward ventilation 

 will keep the air pure, and also regulate 

 the temperature. The part of the cellar 

 where the stairs enter is partitioned off 

 so that no light can get to the bees when 

 the trap door is open. 



In cold weather I heat the room 

 above to regulate temperature in the 

 cellar. I try to keep the temperature 

 about 40^. If the cellar is damp the 

 temperature should not go below 50°, 

 and 60^ would do no harm, With a dry 

 cellar, however, this temperature would 

 be rather high, unless the bees' Winter 

 stores consist of honey which will keep 

 liquid all Winter, and contains the right 

 proportion of water. 

 If, however, the honey is very thick, 



or, what is worse, granulated, the bees 

 should have water in some way, or they 

 will suffer. This is the reason why I 

 do not like cemented floors for a bee- 

 cellar. I want a cellar that has a warm, 

 humid atmosphere, so that the honey, 

 by absorbing moisture from the air, will 

 keep in a natural condition. 



There is no trouble about the honey 

 getting sour in such a cellar as long as 

 strong colonies are wintered, or no more 

 combs are left them than they can well 

 cover. 



These directions for wintering, it 

 should be remembered, are for sections 

 where the Winters are not warmer than 

 Central New York.— Julius Hoffman, 

 in Farm and Home. 



We Club the American Bee Journal 

 and the Illustrated Home Journal, one 

 year for $1.35. Both of these and 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture, for one year, 

 for $2.15. 



CottTentioBi I^otices. 



^^The Michigan State Bee-Keepers Asso- 

 ciation will meet in Grand Rapids, Mich., on 

 Thursday, Dec. 31, 1891, and Friday, Jan. 1, 

 1892 Geo. E. Hilton, Sec, Fremont, Mich. 



j^"The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will meet in Springfield, Ills^ on Wednes- 

 day and Thursday, Dec. 16 and 17, 1891. 



JAS. A. Stone, Sec, Bradfordton, Ills. 



1^" The Eastern Iowa Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation will meet in DeWitt, lo^a, on 

 Wednesday and Thursday, Dec 2 and 3, 1891. 

 Frank Coverdale. Sec, Welton, Iowa. 



03^ The Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Society will 

 hold its annual convention at the Commercial 

 Hotel corner of Lake and Dearborn Streets, in 

 Chicago, Ills., on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 19 

 and 20 at 9 a m. Arrangements have been made 

 whih the' Hotel for back room, one bed two persons. 

 ^1 75 ner day, each ; front room, $2.00 per day for 

 lach pirson! This date occurs during the Fat Stock 

 IhowVwhen excursion rates on the railroads will be 

 one fare for the round-trip, 

 one laic xu ^^ HUTCHINSON, Sec, Flint, Mich. 



B^TThe North American Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation will hold its annual convention in the 

 Agricultural Hall, at Albany, N. Y., from Dec. 

 8 to 11 1891. The hotel reduced terms are as 

 follows: Globe Hotel, $2 per day : American 

 Hotel, $2; Cox Brothers, No. 4 William st.,$l , 

 W H Keeler, 488 Broadway, European plan, 

 i^n^rn^^O cts 75 cts., and $1: Kimbal House, 

 SwLh'inTton st..$l; Merchants Hotel 497 

 Broadway, $2; T. Keeler, restaurant, o6 State 

 St °Odef Restaurant. 94 State st. Keduced 

 ?ai rolid rates have been secured from Chicago 

 and the Mississippi River and from the South. 

 Every local and State association should send 

 one or more delegates Those who m.tend to 

 be present should send their names either to 

 the^Piesident or Secretary. The programme 

 will be issued soon, giving all ParUcu ais. 

 " P H BLWOon, Pres., Starkville, N. Y. 



C P. Dadant, Sec, Hamilton, Ills. 



