4,38 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[November, 
Bee Notes. 
BY L. C. BOOT, MOHAWK, N. Y. 
Bees should now be in proper condition for winter 
quarters. It is surprising that some beekeepers still 
winter their bees out of doors. Circumstances may re¬ 
quire out-door wintering ; to prepare the bees for it, re¬ 
move the honey-board, and place over the frames a piece 
of coarse canvas or sacking large enough to cover the 
entire top. Over this place a mat or quilt made of heavy 
unbleached cotton cloth and cotton batting. Each quilt 
should bo of the exact size of the top of the frames, and 
contain about half a roll of cotton, and be lied in half a 
dozen places to keep the cotton in place. That the bees 
may he sure of a passage from comb to comb, lay a strip 
of wood i inch square, and long enough to reach across 
all the frames, under the canvas on top of the frames. 
Fill the cap with straw and place it over the whole. Un¬ 
less they stand in a sheltered place, they should be well 
protected from the wind. 
I strongly advise in-door wintering in all cases where 
it is possible. We have practiced several different meth¬ 
ods of protecting them out of doors, but find none wholly 
satisfactory, and have adopted in-door wintering entirely. 
Probably no one thing has embarrassed beekeepers so 
much as the general failure in wintering. While most 
agree that in-door quarters are preferable, there is much 
difference of opinion as to proper location and form of 
repository. Some build above ground, filling thick walls 
with sawdust or straw. Others build partly underground, 
covering entirely with earth. The principal objection 
to these different plans, is the absence of artificial heat. 
We have bought bees quite extensively for the past 
few years, and in doing so have visited a large number 
of apiaries each spring. We found those that wintered 
best were kept directly under a room where there was a 
constant fire, or were otherwise aided by artificial heat. 
The following seems to me to meet the absolute necessi¬ 
ties for in-door wintering, with least trouble and cost, 
and avoids the expense of extra fuel for the desired heat, 
and does not require any special excavation for the pur¬ 
pose. This location is a dry cellar directly under a room 
where a constant fire is kept; a proper and uniform 
temperature is indispensable to success. The room must 
be secure from the changes of the weather outside, 
either by heavy walls well banked, or by extra partitions 
and air spaces. I would advise a casing inside of the 
wall, leaviug a space of two feet between it and the wall. 
To supply the bees with pure air, carry a trunk or tube 
made of boards, through a window down to, and around 
the bottom of the cellar-, letting the air pass out 
through small holes in the sides of the tube, in different 
parts of the cellar. If the trunk could be passed for a 
distance underground before reaching the cellar, it 
would give the double benefit of being warmed in cold 
and cooled in warmer weather. For upward ventilation, 
pass a pipe through the floor above, directly back of the 
stove, and attach it to the stove-pipe as short a distance 
above the stove as possible. This will draw the impure 
air from the cellar, which will be replaced with pure air 
from the tube below, keeping all in a healthy condition. 
The racks or shelves to set the bees upon, should not 
be attached to the sides of the room, to the floor, or 
above. To avoid all jarring from above, or from open¬ 
ing and shutting the door when entering the room, let 
them be made firmly, and rest only on solid ground at 
the bottom. Arrange the shelves so that the lower tier 
of hives will be at least two feet from the bottom of the 
cellar. A room 10 x 18 will hold 100 colonies. Arrange 
both lower and upper ventilators to open and close from 
without. The cold-air tube can be regulated outside the 
building. The upward ventilating pipe can have a shut¬ 
ter under the bottom, attached to a wire, passing up 
through a hole in the floor. Prepare bees for in door 
wintering same as for out doors, except that the cap 
should be left off when carried in. If the Quinby hive is 
used, make an extra bottom board (fig. 1) 12 inches wide 
and 19 inches long, with a piece of hoop iron nailed 
across one end, projecting over f inch to hook the 
frames on, same as in the hive. In the other end make 
a li-inch hole. Our method is, to remove the hive 
from the stand, and put an empty one in its place. In 
this, place the above described bottom board with the 
hole over the entrance. Then with an assistant remove 
the combs bodily from their hive and place upon this 
board. Tie a stout cord around frames and panels, 
place the quilt on top as already directed, and leave all 
in the hive until ready to remove to winter quarters, 
when bottom board and all, (fig. 2), can be lifted out and 
the hive left on the summer stand. Pursue this process 
Fig. 2.—HIVE PREPARED FOR WINTERING. 
until all are ready. The time when bees should be put 
into the cellar varies with the locality. In Central New 
York they are usually put away from the 1st to the mid¬ 
dle of November. Great care should be taken to keep 
out rats and mice. Keep traps and poison between 
the walls, where they will find them before getting into 
the bee-cellar. There is much difference of opinion as 
to the best temperature. Most writers advise 40° to 45°. 
Our experience indicates 48°. Thus, to sum up, the 
requisites for successful wintering are: a properly ar¬ 
ranged cellar, bees in the desirable shape, suitable ven¬ 
tilation, proper and uniform temperature, total darkness, 
and perfect quiet. As evidence of its success, I last win¬ 
ter put 121 colonies in such a place, seldom visited them, 
ascertained the temperature frequently by means of a 
small thermometer attached to a string and dropped 
through a hole in the floor, and took out 120 stocks in the 
spring. 
“Walks and Talks” Correspondence. 
Clawson Wheat. —“ W. B. P.,” Washington, Va., 
writes: “ I want your opinion of the Clawson wheat, 
and if you think it will suit this state?”—Arcs. The 
great merit of the Clawson is its hardiness. It is a while 
wheat, but not of the highest quality. The Diehl is no 
whiter than the Clawson, but the berries are rounder and 
plumper, and, I think, of a finer quality. If the Diehl 
would stand our winters, I should raise it in preference 
to the Clarvson. In fact I am still raising it. The Claw- 
son is a remarkably vigorous, strong growing, hardy 
variety, and will be very valuable in sections where the 
finer varieties can not bo grown. 
The Southern Pea. —“ G. W. C.,” Southern Illinois, 
writes : “ We have a pea introduced here from the south. 
I procured a few-, and planted hi acre to try. They are 
yielding abundantly, and stand up (Sept. 12th) waist high. 
I am better pleased with them than any other crop on 
the farm. If you will pay expressage, I will send you 
half a bushel for trial, as I think I have got pay for them 
in Walks and Talks. They are said to fatten hogs equal 
to corn. One farmer who had his corn killed last year by 
Chinch Bug, planted 20 acres of these peas, and fattened 
his pork exclusively on them. I think you would like 
the crop. You could cut them with your reaper.”—I do 
not think the southern pea would do well with me. It 
is a useful crop in the southern states, and one which 
could be grown there to a greater extent with profit, both 
for feed and manure. It is, or might be, the great reno¬ 
vating crop of the south. 
Draining with Boards.— A. S. Tipton, Howard, 
Penn., has a farm in the lumber region, where boards or 
slabs are cheap. He digs his ditches in the 
usual w-ay, within a few inches of the hot- . 
tom. He then narrows them in, using, I 
presume, a narrow draining spade or long- 
handled scoop, and lays a plank or slab (a) 
to cover the drain, and then fills up with 
earth. Tic has never known one to fill up 
by the sides caving in. He says he has not 
seen this method described in the books. I 
think it is described in all the treatises on 
draining. It is a very old plan, and a very 
good one when there is a stiff clay sub-soil, and where 
the work is skillfully done. 
SiiEEr in the Lumber Regions.— Mr. Tipton is clear¬ 
ing 23 acres where he has been cutting timber, for “I 
deplore,” he writes, “the wholesale slaughter of the 
timber in this county, but if wo would thin up the stand¬ 
ing young trees, and clear the land and ditch the swamps, 
I think the country would be improved instead of impov¬ 
erished.”—What immense flocks of sheep and cattle the 
cut-off timber lands of these mountains would support, 
if cultivated in the available spots 1 I should think, at 
any rate, it would pay well to sow grass seed as soon as 
the timber is removed, and while the land is soft and the 
surface covered with organic matter. 
Wants to Learn Farming.—A young man in Ohio, 
18 years ot age, writes to me that he wishes to be a farm¬ 
er, and he wants to go where he can study and earn his 
board and clothes at the same time.—I get a great many 
similar letters, and would much like to help such young 
men. I would recommend him to go to an agricultural 
college, il possible ; or to go to some good farmer in his 
own neighborhood. 
Different Varieties of Potatoes. —“C. P. F.,” 
Kent Co., Mich., writes: “I have Extra Early Vermont 
which is full as good as Early Rose , perhaps earlier. I 
discovered no difference when we commenced using 
them, but afterwards noticed that it died down when 
fully ripe about a week earlier than Early Rose. Brown¬ 
ell's Beauty with me is very promising, both as regards 
quality and productiveness. Peerless , after several years’ 
trial, is with me a total failure ; not productive, and al¬ 
ways soggy, even on light, good potato soil. White 
Peach Slow, good, but very late in ripening, even when 
planted as early as possible. This variety is seemingly 
not so good as formerly. Please let me know through 
the American Agriculturist the results of your observa¬ 
tions on the different varieties?”— Ans. I am not pre¬ 
pared to give an opinion. I will raise all the kinds I have 
another year on a larger scale. They all seem to be good. 
Snowflake is very handsome. Brownell's Beauty is cer¬ 
tainly very promising. The Deacon thinks there is 
nothing so good as the Peerless. He has grown it for 
some years, and thinks the quality equal to the Peach- 
Blow, while the yield is far greater. I think more of the 
Late Rose as a main crop than any other I have grown. 
Pitting Potatoes.— 11 R. S.” I dig a shallow pit, say 
eight or ten inches deep, on some high, dry land, where 
the water can run off. Round up the potatoes in the 
form of a roof until the center is two feet or more above 
the level of the ground. Then cover with a layer of 
straw, eight or ten inches thick. Then cover the straw 
with earth from the sides of the pit until not a particle of 
straw is visible. Then put on another layer of straw 
about six inches thick, and cover it carefully with earth. 
This layer of straw between two layers of earth, holds 
“dead air,” which is the best of all non-conductors of 
heat, and will effectually exclude the severest frosts. If 
you will build a rail fence around the pits the snow will 
be likely to settle in the pen thus formed and help to 
keep out the frost. If you are short of straw, you may 
use potato-wines for the upper layer, but they should be 
put on thicker than the straw, and greater care taken in 
covering them with earth. Every particle must be cov¬ 
ered with earth. If this is done, the potato-vines will be 
as good as the straw, or better. I would use plenty of 
dry straw to cover the potatoes. It absorbs moisture. 
Pitting Mangels.— “R. S.” I pit mangels the same 
as potatoes. But you can make the heaps wider and 
SECTION OF MANGEL-PIT. 
higher, say six or eight feet wide and five or six feet 
high. In a largo heap, make chimneys, with a little 
straw every six or eight feet, for the escape of the mois¬ 
ture. I find that the mangels are more likely to be in¬ 
jured by frost just on the level of the ground-at a, a, in 
the accompanying figure, and also at the top of the heap 
at b. I do not object to having a few frozen ones on top. 
If we cover so thick on top as to make sure of excluding 
frost in such a winter as the last, we should be very liable, 
in an ordinary winter, to have some of the mangels rot 
from want of ventilation. But at a, a, we may exclude 
the frost by plowing around the heap, throwing the fur¬ 
rows all towards it, so that there shall be a foot or more 
of loose earth on top of the undisturbed soil at a, a. 
Root Cutter. —“ R. S.” I have had one of Gale’s root- 
slicers for some years, and find it a very useful and effi¬ 
cient implement. It cuts the mangels into thin slices or 
sections. For cows this is all that is needed. But for 
sheep, and especially lambs, it is desirable to cut the 
roots into narrow strips about the size of the finger. I 
wrote to Mr. Gale and he made me a machine that is 
just what I wanted. 
Corn and Cob Meal.— W. P. Tate, Clearfield, Pa., 
says he feeds a good deal of corn and cob meal, and has 
