FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 25 



them in the cellar, and at some time in the winter I went to a 

 beekeeping neighbor, James F. Lester, and with no little anxiety 

 told him that some disease had appeared among my bees, for I 

 found under them a considerable quantity of matter much re- 

 sembling coarsely ground coffee. He quieted my fears by tell- 

 ing me it was all right, and nothing more than the cappings 

 that the bees had gnawed away to get at the honey in the sealed 

 combs. 



In the spring I sawed away that portion of the barrel not 

 occupied by the bees, and when the time for surplus arrived I 

 bored holes in the top of the hive and put a good-sized box 

 over. There were holes in the bottom of the box to correspond 

 with the holes in the hive. I made three box hives, after the 

 Quinby pattern, with special arrangement for surplus boxes, 

 and they were well made. 



"TAKING UP" BEES. 



When the bees swarmed I hived them in one of the new 

 hives, and later on "took up" the bees in the barrel. Alto- 

 gether I got 93 pounds of honey from the barrel and am a little 

 surprised to find it set down at 121/2 cents a pound. Perhaps 

 butter was low just then, for in those days it was a common 

 thing for honey to follow the price of butter. 



I left one of the hives with a farmer, and he hived a prime 

 swarm in it, for which I paid him five dollars. In the remain- 

 ing hive I had a weak swarm hived, paying a dollar for the 

 swarm. I bought a colony of bees besides these, paying $7.00 

 for hive and bees. 



WINTERING UPSIDE DOWN. 



The bees were wintered in the cellar, and according to 

 Quinby's instructions the hives were turned upside down. That 

 gave ample ventilation, for when the hives were reversed the 

 entire upper surface was open, all being closed below. I doubt 

 that any better nieans of ventilation could be devised for win- 

 tering bees in the cellar. There is abundant opportunity for 

 the free entrance of air into the hive, without anything to force 

 a current through it. Equally good is the ventilation when all 

 is closed at the top and the whole bottom is open, as when the 



