366 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



support my views, while I knew I 

 was right. Moreover, if it were a 

 fact it would be evidence that the 

 bees could distinguish colors — AND 

 SHADES OF COLOR — and that IN 

 THE DARK. 



At my first opportunity after get- 

 ting home I took out a frame con- 

 taining pollen, and it was the first 

 one I saw; In it I found white and 

 yellow lumps in one cell, and white 

 liounded down on yellow. These I 

 cut out and am sending them to 

 the editor of this magazine while 

 it should not be necessary, for if 

 anyone will watch IN SEIPTEMBER 

 they will have no trouble finding 

 differently colored pollen in the 

 same cell. I say in September, for 



then the bees do not gather free- 

 ly. In the spring it is all dandelion 

 later on it is white clover, then 

 comes the different colored pollen 



from fall bloom, and today my bees 

 are bringing in yellow, white and 

 brown. 



Put a piece of wood or stone on 

 a jelly fish and it is refused. Put 

 on a bit of meat, and it is enveloped 

 and digested. Is this reason? I 

 could give many more examples, but 

 always think of space, so will con- 

 clude by saying that while bees 

 may reason a little it is not at all 

 likely that they do, because tliey 

 do not need to. They are the most 

 highly specialized form of insect 

 life in the world today, but all 

 progress ceased with them ages ago, 

 and because they can live, increase 

 and flourish with the developed 

 instinct peculiar to them why the 

 need of anything else? Where may 

 I ask Mr. Odell does instinct stop 

 and reason begin? This simple ques- 

 tion answered, we are ready to de- 

 bate, not before. 



Wintering of Bees in Clamps 



The location I wish to winter in 

 is near the south end of Lake Mich- 

 igan in loose sand. I have one eel— 

 la,r but it is not large enough to 

 hold all my bees. How does win- 

 tering in clamps compare with cel- 

 lar wintering? How deep and how 

 wide do you dig the pit? Do you 

 make the pit wide enough to have 

 an air space along the sides be- 

 tween the hives and the side of the 

 pit? How many colonies do you put 

 in a pit? How deep do you dig the 

 pit for L hives and how much cov- 

 ering do you use? I have the priv- 

 ilege of building a cellar right at 

 the bee yard but it is not my 

 land. 



The land belongs to an estate 

 and may have to be settled up at 

 any time so I would rather not 

 build on it, altho I can build a cel- 

 lar that will last eight or ten years 

 for about $50.00. Do bees in 

 clamps have to be removed in the 

 spring any sooner than bees in the 

 cellar? I usually take them out 

 of the cellar about April 1st. I 

 expect to spend the winter in the 

 southwest and will not be home 

 until the last of March. The clov- 

 er crop was just 1-5 as much as 

 last year. I have moved all my 



bees to the Calumet marsh, twelve 

 miles from the home yard for the 

 fall flow. I put second supers on 

 25 colonies at one yard of 63 col- 

 onies and expect to do the same at 

 another yard today. I have 225 

 colonies at present. 



Any information you can give 

 will be highly appreciated. 

 Yours truly, 



JOHN C. BULL, 

 Valparaiso, Ind. 



^ ^ * * 



(Answer — Bees winter in loose 

 sandy soil in clamps about as well 

 as in a cellar. We have had some 

 of the most perfect wintering in 

 clamps, and on the other hand we 

 ha,ve lost most all in a clamp. Tlie 

 difference was principally in the 

 stores the bees were wintered on, 

 not the repository, for wie have had 

 the same results both in cellar and 

 out-of-door wintering of bees. Your 

 Lake Michigan loose sand ought to 

 be an ideal place to winter bees 

 either in cellar or clamp. 



Dig your pot up and dowti the 

 hill wide enough for two hives to 

 set in side by side and have room 

 enough to handle them with ease. 

 Place three 2x4rs parallel with the 

 pit, to set the hives upon, one at 



