Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-05-02

by inches wide and 81 inches high out
side. Two nice white pieces Of comb should
be attached to the top before the box is
nailed together, to induce the bees to COM
meuce and guide them in building straight
combs lengthwise Of the box. Such combs
being the most suitable size for the table.
When ready to ship to market these boxes
should be made tidy in appearance by re-
moving all propolis, and if the glass side of
box is badly soiled it should be removed
and replaced by clean one. Cases should
be made with open sides, that the quality Of
the honey may be seen at glance, and
large enough to hold twelve boxes. In these
carefully pack the boxes, three in width and
four in length, and on one end mark the net
weight, with the owners initial letters. Oc-
tober and November are the best months to
ship to market.
After the honey harvest is past and all the
boxes removed, the bee keeper should again
60 over his hives to see that all have an
abundance of honey for winter. If any
hive is found that is lacking in food it should
at once be supplied, or else the stock must
be broken up later in the season and united
with some other colony. If there is def
cheney of bees in any hive they must be sup
piled with brood from hives that can spare
it, or else they must be stimulated by feed
ing to rear young bees, or two or more such
united, Also at this inspection the age of
every queen should be noticed. If any
queen is found that is three years Of age or
nearly, it should be destroyed aud replaced
by young queen. A queen three years of
age may winter well, but is apt to fail early
the next spring, which is very injurious to
the prosperity Of the colony. prefer after
the harvest to destroy all old queens over
two years of age, and give the colony young
one instead. If hive contains a young
fertile queen, an abundance Of young bees
hatched the last of the summer, and plenty
Of honey, it possesses the most essential re-
quisites for successful wintering. Comb two
or three years old is preferable to new comb,
as it is warmer
suppose more bees are lost through win.
tering than from all other causes combined.
An old bee keeper told me he had kept bees
for forty years or more, but he knew no more
about wintcring bees than when he first be.
gan, and fear this is true of the majority Of
bee keepers, for the more they do for their bees
the greater the loss. "Extremes meet" and
little knowledge is said to be dangerous
thing. These proverbs are most emphatically
true in bee keeping. Too much warmth in
winter will affect swarm of bees in much
the same manner as too great cold. Yet
the lowest temperature that we ever expe-
rience will not injure good swarm Of bees
in common board hive if they have enough
food and air, and the combs are kept dry
and no draft Of air through the hive allowed
One morning in January the thermometer
indicated temperature below zero l then
opened hive on its summer stand and placed
the thermometer in the center of medium
sized swarm, when the mercury gradually
rose to eighty degrees, while the combs were
quite dry and free from frost.
Now how can this condition be secured,
viz, enough air for respiration and dry combs,
without draft of air through the hive? l
have heretofore wintered my bees almost Who'll
ly in the cellar, but now prefer to winter
out Of doors on their summer stands, as they
seem to come forward earlier in the spring,
and the hives become full of bees by the
time clover is in bloom. As soon as the
ground freezes, or little before, | remove
the honey board from the top of the brood
chamber and place over tho combs an old
woolen cloth or old carpeting or if these are
not at hand l use cotton cloth. Over this
l pack chaf or sawdust with little ventila.
tion above the chafi. This packing permits
all the moisture to escape, while it retains
the heat. Where hives are shallow it is de-
sirable to lay over the combs a few cobs Or
sticks before the packing is put on, that the
bees may pass over the combs as they love
to cluster close to the warm wooden and saw
dust. Only one hole should be left open
from the brood chamber for the bees to fly
out in warm weather, and it need not be large
Care should be taken that this entrance does
not get filled by dead bees or other litter
from the hive, as the bees finding themselves
imprisoned would worry themselves to DEATH
This mode of wintering bees has gwen me
perfect satisfaction.
have not mentioned the moth worm,
about which most persons who keep bees
seem to be much troubled. Those who keep
bees as have indicated in this paper will al
most forget that this worm ever does much
harm except to combs outside of hives. These
combs in warm weather should be looked
over often aud the worms destroyed, or else
submitted to the fumes of burning sulphur.
Perhaps some one will expect me to say
something with regard to the profits of the
apiary. The profits will depend very much
upon the skill, experience, and tact of the
apiarian, as well as the season and section
in which he resides. have yet to learn of
one person who has cared for his bees intel
ligently and has given up the business be-
cause it does not pay.
In conclusion would say that l have
tried very briefly to give the outlines of bee
culture as practiced by myself, and believe
largely by many other successful apiarians
throughout this country, without entering in
to particulars, as it would require volume