THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



28i) 



detriment to have bees roused up by warm 

 weatlior soon after they were put iu. On 

 the other haud we should put them in before 

 cold snaps begin to kill the bees on the out- 

 side of the cluster and before the hives be- 

 come covered with snow and ice. It is a bad 

 plan, too, to move or handle bees in ex- 

 tremely cold weather. When disturbed at 

 such a time bees will often Hy worse than 

 when it is only moderately cold. 



For carrying bees into tlie cellar I have 

 used various contrivances. Doolittle's plan 

 of a strap to go over the shoulders having at 

 each end a large harness snap with the spring 

 broken out, and the point sharpened so that it 

 will readily catcli on the bottom board, is 

 pimple and good. I have no use for any 

 plan which reiiuires two men to carry one 

 hive. Generally I have used a hand barrow 

 made somewhat as described in your leader 

 only having legs to support it at a convenient 

 height, making it much easier to handle. 

 If you use swinging frames and have to go 

 down steep steps put the hives on the barrow 

 so that the frames run lengthwise. 



My favorite way of carrying bee hives at 

 all times is to put them on my shoulder just 

 as I would a sack of grain, the hive being 

 upside down while it is on my shoulder. Of 

 course this cannot be done with all hives, 

 and if the cellar door is low the hive must 

 be taken down and carried in front of the 

 bearer when the cellar is reached. It might 

 be supposed that hives could not be carried 

 in iu this way without the bottom boards, 

 but they can, and it seems to me that the 

 bees are much less inclined to fly than when 

 carried in the usual way. because they see 

 nothing of the bearer and not much of any- 

 thing else except the sky. Bees are not apt 

 to fly very much even when disturbed unless 

 they see something to fly at — especially 

 something in motion. 



I think you are right in regard to the mat- 

 ter of special topics. While I hope to see 

 this feature continued iu the future as occa- 

 sion may permit, it will certainly be impos- 

 sible for you to go on forever selecting for 

 each issue a special topic worthy of discus- 

 sion. 



I do not envy you the task of reading and 

 assorting the large amount of advice you are 

 likely to receive in answer to your request. 

 Almost everybody likes to give advice, and 

 usually a large share of the readers of a 

 paper think they could run it better than the 

 editor does. As the general result of advice 



is to cause us to become more firmly fixed in 

 ovr own opinions, I hoi)e you have a well de- 

 fined idea as to what will be best for the Re- 

 viKW and its readers. If you have, I think 

 wo may rest easy. 



I heartily commend what you have to say 

 in regard to the Northwestern Convention at 

 Cliicago. There is no city in the United 

 States that offers so many advantages for 

 tlie purpose. Aside from the fact that it is 

 so easily and cheaply accessible to so large a 

 number of practical honey producers, it is a 

 city which a large number of these want to 

 visit at least once a year anyhow, which 

 makes it still easier to attend the convention 

 so that even in poor seasons we can always 

 count on at least a fair attendance and a 

 good time at Chicago. You may expect me 

 to be at each meeting there and I hope that 

 no more of them may be dropped. 



Dayton, 111., Nov. 4, 181)1. 



The Proper Time to Cellar Bees. 



EUGENE SECOE. 



"^jfrN your October leader you have brought 

 ^/ out the main arguments for putting bees 

 into the cellar before vei-ij cold settled 

 weather. 



About the only thing left for us to do who 

 agree with you in this is to give our exper- 

 ience. I have done this, too, before, but as 

 the November number is to be a symposium 

 on the subject, perhaps we may be pardoned 

 for repetition in order that the subject may 

 be treated by all together. 



My bee cellar is under the house where I 

 live and have lived for twenty-five years. It 

 was not built for that purpose, but with the 

 sole view to being frost proof for storing 

 vegetables. It is a cellar within a cellar, so 

 to speak — as " dark as Egypt," with no ven- 

 tilation except the door, until quite recently. 

 When the "sub-earth ventilation" theory 

 got possession of me I had a six-inch tile 

 laid, opening into the bee room, and the out- 

 let some 200 feet from the house. Some 

 nine years ago I put a hot air furnace in a 

 room which corners with the bee room. 

 This draws off a good deal of air undoubt- 

 edly which must be replaced by pure air 

 from the outside. 



I mention these conditions that a better 

 idea may be formed of my cellar conditions. 



I am not sure that my bees winter better 

 since the sub-earth ventilator and furnace 

 were added. 



