TH® mmLisMiv^n mmm jQ'Wmh^ci^. 



167 



1. When the hive is protected by 

 ehaff, etc., on the outside, I work the 

 combs to one side of the hive, and use 

 one division-board. If not so pro- 

 tected, I use two division-boards, and 

 paclc between the division-boards and 

 sides of the hive. 2. By reversing. — 

 A. B. Mason. 



1. I use two division-boards, as it 

 nialces nearly a dead air space on each 

 side of tlic hive', and protects the col- 

 ony from the cold or sudden changes. 

 2. When I do not use foundation, I let 

 the bees do as they please. — Mks. L. 



HAliRISON. 



1. In the middle, provided the col- 

 ony was to be wintered ont-doors, and 

 not packed. If packed, or in the cel- 

 lar, I would put them to one side. You 

 see the reason, of course. 2. I know 

 of but one practical way to get frames 

 full of combs, foundation or no foun- 

 dation, and that is by reversing. That 

 secures them so, and keeps them so. — 

 James Heddon.j 



1. I use two division-boards when 

 there is room for them, and the rea- 

 son is, that it " economizes heat." 2. 

 I secure it wlien I use the combs for 

 extracting purposes in the second 

 story of the hive ; that is, over the 

 brood-nest, during a good hone3--llow. 

 — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Yes ; here in the South, when it 

 is necessary to contract, we work the 

 coniljs to one side, and use a wooden 

 division-board. 2. I would not do 

 witliout foundation. A few years ago, 

 before the "foundation days," I either 

 used a i or 5 iuch strip of natural 

 comb, or a triangular guide added 

 after the frame was built out in comb. 



— P. L. VlALLON. 



1. I have, and I practice both ways. 

 I think it about as well to use one 

 division-board. If we pack well and 

 warmly above, I think we need not 

 minil side-packing very much, es- 

 pecially if bees winter well. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



1. I have in use a brood-chamber 

 having about the same capacity as six 

 Langstroth frames, and I vnW transfer 

 the greater part of my bees to such 

 brood-cliambers in the spring. I shall 

 not need to use division-boards in 

 these hives. 2. I invert the brood- 

 chamber. — G. L. Tinker. 



1. It is better to use two division- 

 boards. But if the frames are full of 

 comb, contraction is of little value. 2. 

 I let the bees do as they please. Thej- 

 do not want brood-comlos attached to 

 the l)ottom-bars. If the combs are put 

 in an upper stor}-, and filled with 

 honey, they will generally be built 

 solid. — M. Mahin. 



If the bees are to be wintered in a 

 cellar, I would place the combs on one 



side, using one division-board. For 

 out^doors, I would use two. Tlie dead 

 air space or packing is, to some ex- 

 tent, a non-conductor of heat. 2. It 

 can be done by inverting, or inserting 

 pieces of comb. — C. H. Dibbern. 



In winter, I work the combs to the 

 centre of the hive, using a division- 

 board at each side of the cluster, and 

 filling the intervening space with dry 

 maple leaves, chaff, or some equally 

 as good an absorljent. After absorb- 

 ents are removed in the spring, I 

 usually confine them to the south side 

 of the hive, to get the warmth from 

 the sun, using but one division-board. 

 2. I use full sheets of foundation ; 

 hence I have no rule to obtain full 

 combs otherwise. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. I have never wintered bees on 

 the summer stands. If I should, and 

 should practice contraction, I would 

 prefer the combs in the centre, and 

 the division-boards on both sides. I^ 

 would then pack some dry absorbent 

 and non-conducting material between 

 the division-board and the outside of 

 the hive. 2. I know of no way to se- 

 cure that result without inverting the 

 hive or using it above another for ex- 

 tracting from. The latter will not 

 alwaj's accomplish the object sought. — 

 Eugene Secor. 



1. My practice is to place the combs 

 on the south side of the brood-cham- 

 ber, and close witJi a division-board on 

 the north side. This plan is decidedly 

 best for this climate, as the bees get 

 the benefit of the warmth of the sun, 

 at intervals through the winter, and 

 especially in the spring. 2. I do not 

 care to have them built solid to the 

 bottom-bars, except where they are 

 used for taking honey from the combs. 

 In that case some narrow strips of 

 comb are pressed between the lower 

 edge of the comi) and bottom-bars, at 

 their first use for extraction, and the 

 bees will make them solid for all time. 

 — G. W. Dejiaeee. 



1. To put the combs in the centre 

 and have a division-board on each 

 side, is preferable because of controll- 

 ing the temperature by the use of 

 cushions or absorbents on the sides, 

 when bees are wintered on the summer 

 stands. 2. As the bees evidently do 

 not desire " the building of the comb 

 solid to the b<ittom-bars of hanging 

 frames," we see no reason in trying to 

 " secure" such. We prefer the use of 

 comb foundation. — The Editor. 



Apiary Register.— All who intend to 

 be systematic in their work in the apiary, 

 should get a copy of tlie Apiary Register and 

 begin to use it. Tlie jn-ices are as follows : 



For SOcolOQies (120 pages) $1 00 



" 100 colonies (2'-;o pag-ea) 125 



'■ 200 colonies (420 pages) 1 50 



CmRESPOMDEMC 



HIBERNATION. 



AVIiat i!« Hibernation, as Applied 

 to Bees i 



Writttn for the American Bee Journal 

 BV J. F. LATHAM. 



As an ausw er to the interrogatory 

 on page 42. "What is hibernation?" 

 I wotdd say, analogically, the term 

 signifies to pass the winter, Latin 

 hicmo, to winter, and hybeniia, winter 

 quarters. In the roots hi-bern{i)a{tion) 

 we have the material from which lin- 

 guists have constructed the word, and 

 assigned its modern position in ety- 

 mology, which, when interpreted in 

 the sense justified by the original, in- 

 definitely conveys the idea of its sub- 

 jects' passing the winter in winter 

 quaters. In the accredited scientific 

 acceptance of the term, hibernation is 

 used to designate a condition ; in the 

 common acceptance it is used to desig- 

 nate an act. 



The actual question is, which of the 

 two definitions most correctly describes 

 the general phases accompanying the 

 passage of the hive-bee through its 

 period of winter confinement in North- 

 ern latitudes ? Bee-keepers in cold 

 climates know from observation that 

 their colonies pass the winter, in win- 

 ter quarters of some kind ; but they 

 are not as positive in regard to their 

 physiological condition during that 

 period ; nor is it possible that they can 

 be, so far as optical evidence demon- 

 strates the actual hibernal condition. 

 Therefore, it would seem admissible to 

 say, in th«> scientific appellation of the 

 term, that the hive-bee does not hiber- 

 nate. 



It is a well-known fact that, in the 

 temperate zones, the hive-bee is in- 

 fluenced, in a greater or less degree, 

 by the periodical changes of the sea- 

 sons ; and, in experiencing those 

 changes it must conform to natural 

 circumstances, or "laws" governing 

 the principles of life, animation, growth, 

 disintegration and suspension, as well 

 as the revivifying efflux of .successive 

 rounds of development in an androgy- 

 nal asi)ect. But when the chemical 

 process by which tlie flame of life is 

 stimulated to activity, becomes inac- 

 tive, the organic mechanism — the vis- 

 ible machine — which constitutes the 

 livin"', moving, growing animal, or 

 veo'ctable, ceases to exist as such ; and 

 dissolution follows, leading . to the 

 fact that, a total suspension of func- 

 tional activity is preceded by a total 

 absence of calorific combustion, the 



