162 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ever be less so, and apiculture, as one of 

 the many methods of profitable and 

 diversified industry, either on a large or 

 limited scale, does and will continue to 

 hold an interesting and remunerative 

 place among other successful pursuits. — 

 Read at the Michigan State Convention. 



Bee-Keeping on tie Minnesota Praireis, 



S. B. SMITH. 



When I moved to this county in 1880, 

 the country was new, it being only about 

 12 years ago when the first settlers 

 arrived here. The Winters are very 

 severe, there being no timber to break 

 the wind, and no flowers except the wild 

 flowers of the prairie. I thought that 

 bees could not live here, and at that time 

 there were none in the neighborhood, 

 and this confirmed me in my opinion. 



After a few years, one of my neighbors 

 bought a colony of bees which gave two 

 swarms, stored a large quantity of 

 honey, and wintered well. He wintered 

 them in his cellar. 



The next year another neighbor 

 bought 2 colonies, and they also gave 

 2 swarms each, and in the Autumn he 

 put them in his cellar, and 5 out of the 

 6 colonies wintered in good condition. 



Seeing that bees could be kept on this 

 cold, treeless prairie, I bought a colony 

 in the Spring. They were in a 10-frame 

 hive, with 2 empty frames. The frames 

 were nearly full of comb, but had only a 

 small amount of honey in them. The 

 bees were Italians, and good workers, 

 and I got 50 pounds of comb honey from 

 them that Summer, but no swarm. 



I had always wintered my bees on the 

 Summer stands, but the Winters are so 

 long and severe here, that I was afraid 

 to winter them out-of-doors. I was also 

 afraid to put them in my cellar, where I 

 had vegetables, so I put them in a small, 

 tight building that I use in Summer for 

 a milk-house, and gave them ventilation 

 in the top of the hive. About the middle 

 of February, I found my bees all dead, 

 and on examining them, I found all the 

 comb in the center of the hive, covered 

 with frost, and over 30 pounds of honey 

 remaining. Will some one tell me what 

 was the cause of my bees dying ? 



There was a very large number of 

 drones, more than I had ever seen be- 

 fore. Through the month of September, 

 it seemed to me that there were more 

 drones than workers. Was there any- 

 thing wrong in this, or is there ever any 

 danger of there being too many drones 

 in a colony ? 



My experiment in wintering bees, as 

 above, did not prove a success, but I had 

 obtained honey enough from them to 

 pay for 3 colonies, so I was not discour- 

 aged. 



I next bought a colony in the swarm- 

 ing season. I furnished a hive, and paid 

 $4.00 for the colony. I have got them 

 yet, and think they are cheaper at $10 

 than some colonies would be as a gift. I 

 wintered them in my cellar last Winter. 

 They gave me 2 good swarms last sea- 

 son, and I have put them in the cellar 

 again this Winter, where they are win- 

 tering well so far. I put them in on 

 Dec. 1, but it has been such a mild Win- 

 ter so far, that I might have left them 

 out-of-doors. 



I bought a colony of bees last Spring 

 in an old-fashioned box-hive, they had 3 

 swarms, but did not work like a strong, 

 healthy colony. There was something 

 wrong about them, but what, I could not 

 tell, as I could not examine them. I let 

 them remain on the stand until after the 

 honey season had passed, and then 

 smoked and examined them as well as I 

 could, but there were but few bees to be 

 seen. I took off one side of the hive, and 

 found more than a pint of bees, and no 

 queen, but about 30 pounds of honey. 



I had 2 other weak colonies, which I 

 doubled up according to the best of my 

 ability, but being a novice in this de- 

 partment of apiculture, I only made a 

 partial success of it. 



Keeville, Minn. 



The frost killed the bees, mentioned in 

 the 5th paragraph. In the 9th, the 

 colony was evidently queenless. — Ed.] 



Cellar ts. Oat-Door Wintering. 



DE. A. B. MASOJf. 



The intelligent bee-keeper no longer 

 dreads the cold of Winter, for the so- 

 called wintering problem was solved 

 years ago ; but, like other matters that 

 to observant and thoughtful persons 

 have become axioms, the successful 

 wintering of bees is yet to many the 

 subject that most interests them. 



This subject of wintering, like that of 

 foul-brood, seems to me to have been 

 worn almost, if not quite, threadbare, in 

 the bee-periodicals, and still both sub- 

 jects are quite frequently placed on the 

 programmes of bee-keepers' conventions. 



Had the subject assigned me been 

 " In-Door vs. Out-Door Wintering," I 

 should probably have had nearly every 

 one on my side, for but very few bee- 



