146 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' BE VIEW. 



I tried the rim business pretty thoroughly 

 with my new hive in the cellar, and did not 

 realize from it the beneficial results that I 

 expected. I thought I saw some points in 

 its favor, and believe it will prove valuable 

 in case of severe winter losses. 



I agree with you exactly in regard to chaff 

 hives. No one who has once learned how to 

 handle readily movable hives, and enjoyed 

 the great benefits to be derived from that 

 kind of bee-keeping, would take chaff hives 

 as a gift. 



Ten or twelve years ago I conceived the 

 idea of packing bees in outer cases Jiavmy 

 no bottoms, letting the packing come right 

 down on the ground. I had some fears, and 

 my friends had more than I, that absorjjtion 

 would raise the moisture from the ground 

 clear up above the bottom stand and thus 

 affect the hive, but actual experience dem- 

 onstrated that the moisture did not rise one 

 inch ; and it is all right except that more 

 material is required. 



For three or four years I tried packing 

 eiglit hives together in a clamp, and had no 

 trouble at all with the bees mixing. I just 

 moved eight hives ui) together anywhere in 

 the apiary at any time I pleased, and never 

 had a bit of trouble, either when I moved 

 them together or took them apart ; but I do 

 not like the plan. It is not so handy, nor so 

 quickly arranged as when the boxes are all 

 made, and a box for each colony. 



Well I have found one thing, that is, one 

 idea, not in your leader. Please give me a 

 credit mark. In this part of Michigan, se- 

 vere cold is always attended with copious 

 snows, and I have found it advantageous to 

 cover the boxes with snow, the deeper the 

 better, until the severe spell is jjast. Care 

 must be used, and the hives not rubbed, even 

 with the broom, when banking up the snow. 



Do not pack late. Pack just as early as 

 possible ; as soon as your surplus receptacles 

 are oft'. Let the late business come in at the 

 other end of the deal, the unpacking. I pre- 

 sume you will agree with me in late unpack- 

 ing, but I disagree with you in regard to 

 early packing. I say the earlier the better. 

 I don't know why, but then I believe some 

 things for whicli I cannot account. 



Well, to conclude, I will say that all this, 

 like the most i^erfect cellars, will not always 

 keep bees from consuming pollen during 

 confinement ; and when they do tliat they 

 cannot pass out the residue either by sensi- 

 ble or insensible perspiration : consequent- 

 ly, in spite of the best arrangements, bees 

 may be lost from the one cause worthy of 

 notice — bee diarrhiea. 



Now I wish to say a word about the spe- 

 cial topic of tlie last Review. Ijike your- 

 self, I have changed my mind some since 

 reading all that has been said, but I am 

 more than ever in favor of moving bees. My 

 man and I have been talking it over, and we 

 have both had considerable experience in 

 moving bees. We have carefully noted 

 Bingham's argument, and we both believe 

 we can ship bees 2(M) miles north of here on 

 the cars without the loss of any brood, ijrovi- 

 ded we give them plenty of water and take 

 other precautions. The most valuable mi- 

 gration of all, however, is in moving bees 



from five to fifteen or twenty miles to some 

 field or pasture, the like of which does not 

 exist at the home apiary. For instance, there 

 are some thirty miles difl'erence in latitude 

 between the two sides of our three-mile 

 swamp, in the devclopnipnt and ripeninn of 

 vegetation. Corn, buckwheat, berries and 

 even fall weeds are a week or more earlier 

 on I'/u'.s side of the swamp. After our bass- 

 wood is all over, it is still in full bloom 

 down a')out South Haven. Their fall fiowers 

 yield honey two to four weeks every year after 

 ours are all over. Now, suppose my apiary 

 was five miles south of here ; I would have a 

 much better clover, whitewood and bass- 

 wood harvest, but no fall flowers. Then, of 

 course, it would pay me to move down here 

 for the fall liarvest. But, while the bees 

 were on tlie wagon, it would pay me 

 much better !o go on to within ten miles of 

 South Haven, where there are lots of lire- 

 weed, acres of boneset, and oceans of golden 

 rod. 



We do not know how to compute dangers 

 and expenses, because we have had no expe- 

 rience in overcoming them. But I can see 

 how, with my hive and fixed frames, and 

 clreap fixtures ever ready to clamp them to- 

 gether with, [ could all alone prepare for 

 shipment twenty-five colonies an hour ; and 

 I am now firmly convinced that these short 

 migrations (not the Mississipiii river kind) 

 open up a si)lendid field for prulit to tlie 

 bee-keeper. 



DowAGiAc, Mich., 



Auu'. 1, 1S«) 



Plenty of Bees, Food and Packing- ; and Sev- 

 eral Other Tilings Essential to Suc- 

 cess. A Splendid Art.cle. 



O. (). I'Ol'l'LETON. 



'J^ijr^jEVV A HE aware how short the tirue is 

 ifi:~. since the science of out-door winter- 

 i,JL)L ing of bees in protected liives has been 

 generally Iciiown. It is only al)out a 

 dozen years since one of Michigan's oldest 

 bee-keepers, Mr. J. H. Townley. first de- 

 scribed the principle. I had used essentially 

 the same method for two or three winters 

 previous, and Mr. Townley had still lomier. 

 C-ellar winterinjr hail enKUjjed 1 lie attention 

 of our best bee-keepei-s for numy years pre- 

 vious. It is reasonable to snpnose that the 

 principles of suc(;essful cliall' liive wintering 

 have not \et had time to liecome so (hoi- 

 oughly undeistood as those of the otiier 

 method. 



A few essential requsites to success arc .il- 

 ready known ; the following being the prin- 

 cipal ones : — 



1. Colonies in good condition, and ol' at 

 least medium strength. I liave carried 

 three-frame nuclei thrcniyh all rii:ht, during 

 severe winti rs in nortliern Iowa, but this is 

 oxcei)tional. Strong colonies liave more ad- 

 vantages over weak ones, in out-door winttr- 

 ing, tiian in the cellar. 



2. Good food. My ideas on this i)oint 

 have already been pul)lished on page i;") of 

 the Review for Sep., IN'^H. 



