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NEBRASKA. 



The Apiarian Exhibit at the 

 Slate Fair. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY J. N. HeItEK. 



I have sent a picture of the building 

 erected by the Nebraska State Fair 

 Association expressly for the bee and 

 honey exhibit. The building is 20x30 

 feet, with a bee-yard 20x24 feet. The 

 interior of the building is arranged 

 with tables on one side for the , honey 

 exhibit, on the other side for imple- 



Upon looking at the picture, one 

 would no doubt ask who the parties 

 are, standing in front of the building. 

 The one at the corner with heavy side- 

 whiskers is the Superintendent of the 

 Bee and Honey Department of the 

 State Fair, Mr. E. Whitcomb, Friend, 

 Nebr. , and to whom every bee-keeper 

 and lover of honey in this State is in- 

 debted perhaps more than to any 

 other person, for securing permanent 

 quarters, and so neat and convenient 

 a building on the grounds of the 

 Nebraska State Fair Association. 

 When the bee-keepers in convention 

 last winter recommended Mr. Whit- 

 comb to be appointed superintendent 

 of this department, we requested him 

 to endeavor to secure for us a perma- 

 nent location, and, if possible, a build- 



House for the Apiarian Exhibit at the Nebraska State Fair. 



ments with an elevated platform the 

 full length of the implement tables, 

 for exhibitors to stand upon and ex- 

 plain their wares. 



A high, tight board-fence is at the 

 rear of the building ; this is the bee- 

 yard, which is entered from the build- 

 ing through double sliding-doors, the 

 inner one covered with wire-netting. 

 There is also wire-screen windows all 

 the way around the fence, which per- 

 mit persons to see inside the enclosure 

 with safety. The fence is 8 feet high, 

 which compels the bees to fly high in 

 the air when going to and from the 

 hives, passing over the heads of the 

 people. 



The State Fair Association have, we 

 think, been very liberal with us in 

 putting up so neat a building for our 

 use, and they still further promise to 

 revise and enlarge the premium list, 

 and make the bee and honey show a 

 permanent feature of our future fairs. 



ing, not thinking that any one would 

 be able to accomplish so much in our 

 interest. 



The middle gentleman is Mr. M. L. 

 Trester, of Lincoln, the President of 

 the Nebraska State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, and the modest fellow stand- 

 ing in the door is the writer, your 

 humble sei'vant. 



Columbus, Nebr. 



UNDER THE SNOW. 



The Wintering of Bees Under 

 the Snow, etc. 



Written, for the American Bee Journal 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



As winter has again put in its ap- 

 pearance, and the time of snow is at 

 hand, I thought it best to write a word 

 of caution about wintering bees under 



a snow-bank, as we have often been 

 advised to do, in our bee-papers and 

 elsewhere. I know that there are 

 some who seem to have success in that 

 way, but with me, whenever I have 

 tried it, either by purposely doing so, 

 or by getting caught with a deep snow- 

 bank over a part of my bees ithen I 

 did not expect to be so caught, the re- 

 sult has alwajs been one of disastrous 

 wintering. Whj' this should be so I 

 do not know. 



All seems to go well for a short time, 

 say three or four weeks, when the bees 

 get uneasy and begin breeding, which 

 brings on bee-diarrhea, resulting in 

 the soiling of the hive and combs, and 

 finally death ensues. If any of them 

 get through to spring, they are taken 

 with spring dwindling, so as to be 

 nearly worthless as colonies for stor- 

 ing honey. What causes such a state 

 of afl'airs, I do not know, unless it is 

 because the bees get too warm ; for I 

 always find the snow all thawed away 

 from the hive, enough so that a small 

 dog or cat could go all around It at 

 the bottom, with no frost in the ground. 

 As my hives are only three inches 

 ofi' the ground, that may have some- 

 thing to do with the matter ; and I 

 would here ask those who are success- 

 ful in wintering bees under snow, to 

 tell us how much above the ground 

 they have their hives when under the 

 snow. 



To illustrate the condition I always 

 find my bees in, when I have tried to 

 winter them under snow, and to show 

 that I am not the only one who cannot 

 succeed by this plan, I will quote a 

 little from an article found on page 

 409 of the American Bee JoUR>f al for 

 1885, written by L. H. Scudder, of 

 New Boston, Ills. He says : 



" Fifty colonies left on the summer 

 stands were in Langstroth hives in a 

 row along the east side of a hedge, 

 and about four inches from the ground. 

 Soon after winter set in, the snow 

 drifted until it was level with the top 

 of the hedge, thus completely buiying 

 the bees under a snow-drift from 3 to 

 5 feet deep. It looked like cold com- 

 fort for the ' little busy bees,' but as I 

 had frequently heard that plan of win- 

 tering recommended, I concluded to 

 let them alone ; however, after allow- 

 ing them to remain in that condition 

 for some three or four weeks, I thought 

 I would see how they were doing, and 

 accordingly I opened up a trench in 

 front of 16 hives, and found the bees 

 all alive, and apparently in good 

 condition. 



" By this time I was tired of shovel- 

 ing snow, and being satisfied that I 

 could not improve their condition, I 

 quit work, leaving 34 colonies under 

 the snow unmolested until March 1, 

 when it commenced thawing. I then 



