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the fall to allow the bees time to cap 

 it. Such stores doubtless would have 

 proven disastrous to long confinement 

 of the bees in cellars, or even on the 

 summer stands. Tliey had frequent 

 flights at intervals of 8 or 10 days, and 

 at such times they would spatter the 

 tops of the hives with a yellow, watery 

 excrement. 



Bee-Hives and Frames In Kentucky. 



In regard to my venerable and re- 

 spected friend, Mr. G. W. Demaree, I 

 ■would saj- tliat when I saw the head- 

 ing of his article on page 184, I read 

 it with great aviditj', as just the infor- 

 mation I wanted. He and my former 

 countyman, Dr. Allen, now of Kansas, 

 have been in the past the Gamaliels 

 and Mentors of the smaller bee-keeiJ- 

 ers of Kentucky. From tliem and 

 other specialists we have learned what 

 little we know about bee-culture. But 

 I was soon greatly surprised to find 

 that with his pen (which he knows so 

 well how to wield) he was after me, 

 because I expressed my fears that I 

 might be a little behind the times in 

 adhering to the 10-frame, 2-story, cot- 

 tage-roof, telescope-body, portico-front 

 Langstroth bee-hive, which Mr. Muth 

 calls his "favorite;" because I con- 

 demned the zinc, slotted, queen-ex- 

 cluding honey-board; because I thought 

 the Heddon break-joint slotted honey- 

 board was a good thing ; because I did 

 not give the orthodox method of win- 

 tering bees in Kentucky ; and, it 

 seems, because I recommended any- 

 thing necessarj- other than an abund- 

 ance of stores for wintering bees suc- 

 cessfully here. 



The fact is, Mr. Demaree's article 

 reminded me very much of a colony of 

 cro.ss hybrids that had not been tamed. 

 They will follow every person, animal 

 or fowl about the premises, tr3dng to 

 sting, saying by their actions, " You 

 have no business fooling around here, 

 anyhow." 



By way of apology, let me tell what 

 inspired me to write. A few j'ears ago 

 I lived in Chicago for about a year, 

 and while tliere, those go-ahe.ad, push- 

 ing Nortlierners, with whom I became 

 acquainted, talked to me after this 

 fashion: "We like the Kentuckians 

 pretty well, but do you know tliat you 

 are about a hundred years behind, 

 down there in Kentuck}- ?" Ever since 

 I returned I have believed this to be a 

 fact, and I havi- an idea that we are 

 far behind in bec-cidture. 



It occurred to me tluit the eilitor of 

 the American Bee Jouknal was one 

 of those who could enlighten me on 

 tlie subject. I meant to iiniuire after 

 the best form of the Langstroth hive 

 for use in this locality. His answer 

 was satisfactory, anil I have laid in 

 another supply of the Langstroth hives 

 of tlie sanu' pattern. 



Mr. Deiuaree misconstrued my arti- 

 cle, making me convey the idea that 

 the Langstroth hive was but little used 

 in Kentuck}'. The vety universality 

 of the use of the 10-franie Langstroth 

 hive that I described, in small patches, 

 compared to the bee-keepers, rarely 

 exceeding a dozen at a place, and 

 more often not more than two or 

 three ; constant reports in the spring, 

 such as, "Half ray bees are dead," 

 " The Langstroth liive will not do to 

 winter my bees in ;" talk, by intelli- 

 gent men, of going back to tlie box- 

 hive, etc., impressed me with the be- 

 lief that we were, as my Eastern 

 friend said, "A little old-fogy and Ije- 

 hind." in bee-culture as well as other 

 matters. We Kentuckians are dread- 

 fully " sot in our wa5's," and inclined 

 to follow in the footstepts of our 

 fathers. They are likely to continue 

 in the same old rut, if they follow Mr. 

 D's advice, that "An abundance of 

 stores is all that is necessary in Ken- 

 tuck}'," and read his severe criticisms 

 against any who take the trouble to 

 inform bee-keepers of methods of suc- 

 cessful wintering, as followed bj' Mr. 

 Demaree, Dr. Allen, and other success- 

 ful bee-keepers. 



The readers of my article referred to 

 by Mr. Demaree, and his own article, 

 will be curious to find any dift'erence 

 between that given by me, and by his 

 method ; except that he condemns the 

 packing in of the brood-chamber by 

 use of the division-boards and chafT, 

 and does not mention that he uses 

 " Hill's device " on the brood-frames 

 to give a passage-way. 



When I shall appear at our next 

 annual bee-keepers' convention, which 

 I expect to attend, I will have a bundle 

 of bee-literature under my arm, and 

 by his own record, condemn Mr. 

 Demaree of contumacy, before a jury 

 of liis peers. I will show that while he 

 condemns " all side-packing in the 

 brood-chamljer, as a positive injury to 

 the bees," on page 167, in answer to 

 Query 524, he said: " My practice is 

 to place the combs on the south side of 

 the brood-chamljcr, and close with a 

 division-board on the north side ;" and 

 ; the evidence of tlie other answers to 

 j to this Querj', and by the editor on tlie 

 I very same page, who says, "To put 

 j the combs in the centre, and a division- 

 j board on each side is preferable, be- 

 I cause of controlling the temperature 

 by the use of absordents on tlie sides 

 I when liees are wintered on the sum- 

 mer stands.'* 



In the American Apiculturist for 

 1886, page 231, Mr. D. said : '" For 

 this climate the best preparation for 

 bees in winter is protection on the 

 north side and west ends of the hive." 

 On page 740, of the American Bee 

 Journal for 1887, in answer to Query 



496, asking if winter passages were 

 necessaiy, he said : "I prefer some 

 strips of wood or pieces of corn-stalk 

 between the quilts and tops of the 

 frames, so that the bees can pass over 

 the tops of the frames ;" and the edi- 

 tor said that the comlsined evidence to 

 the Querj' was, to use " Hills device or 

 its equivalent." 



His brother bee-keepers will surely 

 laugh at him for condemning the 

 method which I pursued in wintering 

 bees here, which method is copied 

 from the plan he and other experi- 

 enced bee-keepers are following. 



My condemnation of the queen-ex- 

 cluding zinc honej'-board was doubt- 

 less hasty, and owing to the faulty use 

 of it, as Mr. D. says ; but I am not sure 

 that it does not injure the bees as they 

 rush through the sharp-edged slots, by 

 tearing their wings and cutting the 

 hairs from their bodies and legs more 

 or less. 



They will certainly laugh at my old 

 friend for condemning the break-joint, 

 slotted honey-board, now so uniAersally 

 recommended. 



In the future I mean to talk in our 

 county conventions more about the 

 necessity of reading up our bee-litera- 

 ture, and ui'ge the bee-keepers to take 

 the bee-periodicals as the best way to 

 improve bee-culture in this State. 



Bowling Green, Ky. 



WINTERING BEES. 



Six months'' Sleep in llie Cellar — 

 Honey-Plants. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY EUGENE SECOR. 



Three weeks before the meeting of 

 the North American Bee-Keepers' So- 

 ciety last fall — on Oct. 26 — I put into 

 winter quarters aliout half of my bees. 

 The remainder were put in on Nov. 8. 

 By winter quarters I mean the cellar 

 under the house. On April 21, 1888, 

 I began removing them to the summer 

 stands, and finished on April 28. 



The longest time of confinment was 

 180 days. During that time they 

 never saw daylight nor lamplight. I 

 visited the bee-room less than usual. 

 I had a thermometer in a convenient 

 position, which I examined every few 

 days. It registered as low as 32°, and 

 as high as SO'-', but most of the time 

 between 40° and 45°. There is no 

 ventilation in the room, other than 

 what is possible through a plastered or 

 stone wall. 



The bees wintered quite well, on the 

 average. Some sliowed signs of diar- 

 rhea, and others not at all. I lost 6 

 colonies out of 40, and all but one of 

 these by starvation. I have packed 



