tS77 



^LEAJsnnsrGS in bee cui-Tm^E. 



Mt 



i ivresinnc you have heard ol" the ■dcstiHUitivc torna- 

 • lo which p^isse<l through our vUlage March >Otli. 

 ■«VcH, I had «ay bees in tiie -cellar, a«d il so happene*! 

 >! hat thes' vpere on the very oiitskiits of Uiat tcrrtble 

 storwi. fShoj), hmiher -jkkI c«i jity hd-vee iverc e«altercd 

 -:iU abo4?t ; 2»;iiotiBe8 were ik'stroyed, and ^ liv«s tost. 

 I was in Wie maiii path of tdic whirlwind, was buried 

 ill theru-bWsh, yet was bvA sligiitly hurt. 



The Iwlkiing tiinl fell about, me was 38x48 fect^ anU 

 IT leet to the coiling, with tiiubcrs in its construction 

 C-' incl>e8 sqw&re by 30 feet l-oaig. It wa? the grandest 

 >ight I «vcr saw— y<;s, feai'luUy grand— I don't want to 

 -ee auother one. Tiic afternoon of the above day was 

 •'iuite war«i; I was ;wjxious to put tny bees out,, but 

 had no ltHje«nt«l About the lastdityof March— Biiives 

 ■in all. 



We have bad -a good saimraei" for bees ; £ in>ci'ca«ed 

 iio i:{, jiod realiced 250 lbs. of honey. One aew swarm 

 iravc 50 14?s. of <;oi!ib honey— all black beee— no extract- 

 •;-iL fhe tofnatlo made <a>e heajis of work this 6««i- 

 uier. I scarcely had time to attewi bees", I took the 

 iJioney boarils oil", put -caps on teii inches <leep, with 

 li<i like a triwik, and let the bees have their own way. 

 Some tilled the upper story full. Found no biood in 

 'the upper siorj-. Expected the queen would go «p 

 .-.tud lay b«t was !\greeably disapiiointe'l. All are box 

 Siives, with jjlenty of room to get «p. How do yo'ji 

 ■'locouat for BT. ? 



I'uring the sutnaicf I ttietl to raise artificial 

 ' lueens, aad fiiiled, cotdd see brood but no eggs ; tried 

 cirtilieial swarming and got along very well ; tried to 

 ^•reveot swarai absconding by giving each new natu- 

 nal swarEiacard or two of comb containing brood. 

 I like that plan iirst rate — intend trying it again aext 

 >iaiimer. vll lay well. A neighbor ha'l a colony ;of 

 i'QCs weigh-ing^ lbs. picked up by the storm.Jand not 

 ji speck or trace remained to be seen. 



Our main dependence for i>aBtwrage If I'ruit blos- 

 soms and w iiite clover. I am caltivating what is here 

 •railed wikl ewe umber. It lasts about a month (and 

 ends alKHit the first of Sejitenilier. Bees like it rc- 

 ruarkably well, and seem to prefer it to catnip. 



Hazel <ii-een. Wis., Dec. 14, '76. Jo65«I'U;M.*.s<«n, 



FASTENING BEES JN THEIR IJIVES. 



I'lease tell mei-f I shall close the entrance? to my 

 (!<ce hives. I have placed 25 in the cellar but as fast as 

 a bee conies out it drops, falls, or is piishe< I Oitl' on the 

 •cellar bottom an<l chills to death. What harm is there 

 an keeping them in ? Can sugar syrup be fed to bees 

 ;i!iy lime Ihrotigh the winter, in the cellar, as well or 

 CIS safely as candy ? A7.k.\ W^if.uKK. 



>^andwich. Ills., Nov. 2otb, ]S7t!. 



FEEDING BEES IN WINTEK. 



1 need some information iu regard to wintering 

 5>ecs in dry cellar. Will it do to conilne them or is it 

 i/etter to leave entrances open ? If left open many 

 Mill get out on warai days und die on the cellar 'x)t- 

 ;oin. I wintered two stands of bees in the same ccl- 

 Jar last winter; they did well. 1 had to confine them 

 < r I think they would have come out and died. They 

 3iad no honey when I put them in th3 cellar, and I fed 

 ihem syrup made of A coffee sugar. They came out 

 .stronger in the spring, than they were in the fall. l>o 

 you think it requires more honey to winter on suranier 

 stands than in a cellar ? Thom.^s Mn.r.s. 



I'ana, lilt., Nov. 21st, 1*>7«. 



We fastt'ned our bees in their liivts with 

 wire cloth one winter while iu the be*.- house, 

 and we could not, discover that the result was 

 materially different. With tht LaD'.r.stroth 

 Lives, we simply fastescd wire cloth oyer the 



porti-co and had the satisfaction if nothing 

 more, of having a cleasi i)1oo5' ; b<ut we foi«id so 

 •many dead bees about the wire cloth, that we 

 concluded little if any t'hiii^ was saveil. 



Fri-tMid Mills, if you suc<.'ee<led in feeding two 

 colonies t-yrup all winter while confined to 

 their hives, you did ^something that would be 

 considered difficult by almost any v-eteran, and 

 we hardly think yoti will suticecd as well next 

 time. All seem to agre<^! that candy may be 

 f<xl at any time, yet very few have su-occeded 

 in feeding syrup in winter. Perhaps if very 

 thick, it might cause no injury, but it is pretty 

 sure to induce •dysentery. There is almost no 

 end to the troubles that have been reported by 

 those who have fussed with winter feeding. 

 Where there are but one or two colonies, it is 

 not so much matter, but with an apiary of 

 coosi'derablc size we know of few things more 

 discouraging ; au<.l the owner is quite likely to 

 wish he ha^d never seen or heard of a bee. It 

 has been estimated that from 5 to 10 lbs. of 

 hou'ey is saved by wintering in dry frost proof 

 cellars, but those who use the chaff i>acking, 

 claim but little more is consumed than in the 

 cellar. This is a matter that we are at present 

 testing. 



You say the nails for keeping frames fiom swinging to- 

 gether have been voted a nuisance, and so they are in 

 some respects .; but how do you adjust and keep your 

 frames at equal distances without them? Why would 

 not a fraute sup^iorted by nails driven into ends of top 

 bar and resting on metal rabijets be cheaper and equally 

 as good as the kind you use ? I have not made this sub- 

 ject a hobby, but ask for information and hope you ^wili 

 give me the whys and wherefores as I am going to make 

 several Isuadred new frames soon, and wish to adopt the 

 best method for supporting them. W. E. Foebes. 



Plainwell, Mich., Dec. Sth, 1876. 

 Bless you friend F., we don't have them at 

 equal distances. If you used nails, you would 

 have to use heavy clumsy pieces of wood, or 

 the nails would never hold ; and again, no one 

 can drive nails sufficiently exact to have the 

 frames hang straight down as frames always 

 should do. When we take a frame out, we 

 move those on each side a little away, that we 

 may remove it without injury to the bees or 

 combs, but if they were kept at fixed distances, 

 this could not be done ; besides, scarcely any 

 two combs will be of the same thickness, or if 

 they are at one season they will not be likely 

 to be the next, consequently we vary them ac- 

 cording to circumstances. It is true that the 

 Q. closed end frames are at fixed distances, bat 

 unless they are put back in the hive every 

 time just as they were built, one comb will be 

 almost sure to mash into the next, bees will 

 be killed, and the little fellows will have an 

 immense amount of labor to go through with 

 in cutting down and building up. Combs 

 built on the fdn., are a great saving in this 

 respect, for the base of the cells is flat and lev- 

 el ; but with our best natural comb, even after 

 the most careful pruning, we can only get 

 them level at the surface, while the base may 

 wave from side lo side almost the entire thick- 

 ness of the comb. 



My bees are all in their winter quarters; each 

 hive in a box, packed in shavings by itself. I have 

 uo fear but that they will winter salely. This is the 

 fourth winter that I have wintered in this way; no 



