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Keep the cellar dry and well venti- 

 lated. Keep the hives well ventilated 

 also. Be sure that the stores are well 

 ripened before the bees are put up for 

 the winter. — J. E. Pond. 



First, confine the bees to the num- 

 ber of combs that they can occupy, say 

 six Langstroth frames of comb. Sec- 

 ond, remove the boutom of the hive or 

 give large lower ventilation. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



The best way is to so ventilate your 

 cellar that it will be dry. But why do 

 you care for mold ? If the bees are 

 all right, I think that the mold will do 

 no harm. Things in my bee-cellar 

 mold. Yet my bees winter exceedingly 

 well. I do not fear dampness as I 

 used to. — A. J. Cook. 



Keep the cellar dry. Mold does not 

 always accompany bad results other- 

 wise ; yet I would prefer not to have 

 it. Proper temperature, say 45° to 

 50°, Fahr., with good ventilation and 

 drainage, will usually jirevent any ex- 

 cess of mold in the hives. — J.M.Shuck. 



Make the cellar as dry as possible 

 by cementing the floor. Plaster the 

 walls and ceiling, ventilate the cellar 

 thoroughly during the summer, and 

 whitewash it a few weeks before put- 

 ting the bees in. Leave the windows 

 open until the bees are put in, and no 

 mold will appear ; at least that is my 

 experience. — C. H. Dibbern. 



This trouble of " mold," which 

 means a condition of dampness, is 

 what makes cellar wintering nearly 

 out of the question in a mild, change- 

 able climate like that of Kentucky. 

 Some experiments that I now have on 

 hand, indicate strongly that bees will 

 be wintered in the cellar on a new 

 plan in the future. The cellar will be 

 kept at a low temperature, just above 

 the freezing point, and at intervals of 

 ten days or longer, as experience may 

 fix the time, the cellar will be heated 

 up to a high temperature till the bees 

 by ventilating throw oft" all excess of 

 moisture, and prepare themselves for 

 another winter nap. The " heating 

 up " will destroy the mold. — G. W. 

 Demaeee. 



Dampness is the cause of " mold," 

 but as its presence in a cellar is of no 

 detriment to bees, it is diflicult to see 

 how that can possibly be " the greatest 

 drawback to bee-keeping," as stated 

 in the question. To prevent " mold" 

 in a cellar, give it ventilation ; linae or 

 sawdust could be used to advantage to 

 absorb the moisture. — The Editor. 



A Modern Bee-Farm,' and its 



Economic Management ; showing how bees 

 may be cultivated as a means of livelihood ; 

 as a health-giving pursuit ; and as a source 

 of recreation to the busy man. By S. 

 Simmins. For sale at this office. Price, $1. 



BEE-FEEDERS. 



Historical Reuiini§cence§ Con. 

 ceriiiiig Bee-Feeders. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY J. M. SHUCK. 



What are known as trough feeders 

 have been in use a long time. The 

 earliest practical feeder that I have 

 noticed is described by M. Quinby in 

 " Mysteries of Bee-Keeping Explained " 



to feed at the top of the hive, and was 

 all made of wood, except the glass 

 cover. I have also copied the engrav- 

 ing of this feeder. It will be seen that 

 one side is cut away so as to better 

 show the interior, where the bees may 

 be seen climbing upon the partitions 

 and sipping the feed. 



There is in this feeder also a reser- 

 voir into which the feed is poured, and 

 which the bees cannot enter, but they 

 do enter through a hole in the bottom 

 of the apartment at the other end, and 

 pass over the inner wall which is |- of 

 an inch below the glass cover, and 

 thus get at the feed. 



These two feeders were probably the 

 best form of anj^ in use down to 1870 



QUINBY'S FEEDER. 



— 1855 edition. This was a tin-pan, 

 10x12 inches, and 2 inches in depth. 

 This pan was fitted with wooden parti- 

 tions to prevent the bees from drown- 

 ing, and was then fixed in a hole cut 

 in the bottom-board of the hive just 

 large enough to receive the pan which 

 rested on cleats nailed to the under 

 side of the bottom-board. 



Space was allowed in the end of the 

 pan for a reservoir in which to pour 

 the feed which ran under the partitions 

 and was thus accessible to the bees. 



or later. In 1874 I had some feeders 

 cut with a wabbling saw at Heath's 

 Planing Mill here in Des Moines, which 

 so far as I know were the first ever 

 made by that method. They held 

 about half-a-pint, and were very much 

 the same as those brought out by Mr. 

 A. I. Root, in 1877, and illustrated in 

 September Olennings for that j'ear, I 

 think. I had at this time been for 

 some months perfecting my entrance 

 feeder, and simple as it may seem, it 

 took a long time to get it into shape, 



GARY'S FEEDER. 



This reservoir jirojected behind the 

 hive, and when not used for filling was 

 covered by a board of suitable width. 

 The feeder was thus inaccessible to 

 outside bees, and was probably very 

 cflfectual as a feeder. I have copied 

 the engraving of this feeder as it ap- 

 pears in the book alluded to, and have 

 added only the vessel pouring the 

 syrup, and present it here so that the 

 reader may fully understand it. 



Wm. Gary's feeder was described in 

 the American Agriculturist for May, 

 1808. This was also a trough feeder, 



I which finally was done, and it was 

 patented in 1878. 



I then had a little tilt with Mr. Root, 

 who honestl}' thought I had appro- 

 priated his Simplicity feeder for my 

 own purposes. The fact was that he 

 invented the same thing I had already 

 done, but at a later date. It is scarcely 

 necessary to state that although we 

 got a little ivarrn, a comparison of 

 data enabled us to get along without 

 either bloodshed or a lawsuit. 



In 1880 and thereafter I began to 

 combine these feeder blocks in various 



