Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-12-02
AGRICULTURAL.

SUCCESSFUL BEE sea-
son 4 ! had three swarms of bees. In No
yemberl two of them died, leaving no
honey in either hive. On examination.
/ found the third swarm alive, but their
honey was nearly gone. Being anxious
to preserve my stock, I determined upon
an, experiment in feeding. obtained
twenty three pounds of Southern honey
for this purpose, costing seventeen
cents per pound. My hive was
of the Langstroth pattern. In place
of the surplus box, 1 put box contain
ing part of the Southern honey. AS
the bees emptied the box, it was re-flled,
until in three days they had disposed of
the twenty-three pounds. The swarm
wintered well, and from the 18th to the
30th Of last June the bees swarmed
three times. During the summer and
autumn, / took from the old swarm two
boxes of honey, weighing eighteen
pounds, and from the first new swarm six
boxes of honey, weighing ffty-eight
pounds. Thefou hives are large and are
now filled with comb and honey-ffty
pounds or more in each hive-makipg in
all two hundred and seventy-six pounds
of comb and honey. Last season. one of
the most disastrous to the bee keeper OF
any l have ever known, my neighbors'
bees all died-one of them losing TWEEN,
ty-two swarms. Forty-four swarms died
in our neighborhood last autumn and
winter, most or all of which, in my opin-
ion,a might have been saved by feeding.
Cor ~ E. Farmer.
WINTERING BEES IN THE GROUND
Tn response to the inquiry in your Sep
tember number, 1 would say that low
and uniform temperature, dryness. dark
ness, tranquility, security against mice.
and slow renewal of air, are conditions
required for wintering bees in ground. l
use the mode which experience has
proved successful.
In we'll drained sloping ground, I dig
a ditch half a foot deeper than my hives
are tall, and one foot wider than they
are broad. / drain that ditch for great
ersecurity. If fearing the falling in of
the earth, 1 stay the ground with some
old planks. Then lay in the bottom
two AKA inch beams. Upon these place
my hives, having previously raised
them from their bottom boards by in
serting strips of half inch laths. re-
move top boxes and leave open all the
holes in the honey-boards to give the
bees plenty of air. Then with plasterer's
laths 1 frame pipes or fues, the longer
ones descending to within four or five
inches of the bottom the shorter ones to
be placed in the roof. l place one of
these hues at each end of the ditch, and
another after each third dhive-alternating
long and a short one. Finally, pre-
pare support for double-sloping roof
of old boards; and then cover the root
with straw nearly foot high, and place
on that layer of earth equally thick
making together eighteen or twenty
By these means bees are maintained
in low temperature, and remain dor
mant for months. consuming little honey,
and are all alive and active in the
spring. zsz ssassts s-ss1t-ag
This is the best way to preserve feeble
and poorly supplied stocks.
Last. year / wintered some third
swarlns in the ground, giving them hon.
ey:in boxes, which remained untouched
the small quantity Of honey they had
in their hives having been sufficient for
their support.-CAarles Dadant. Ham.
ilton, Ill.,, in Bee J0uruaI.