THE WISCONSIN FARMER.



  Gum all the inside angles and joints of the
honey boxes with wax and rosin, so that they
way be made as nearly air tight as possible,
excepting the large openings for the passage
of the bees from below into them; in which
case the warm and peculiarly scented air from
the breeding chamber will be confined in the
boxes as it rises into them, and no upward



current will be formed for the constant escape
of this vitalizing atmosphere of the breeding
chamber, and the bees will feel as much at
home in the supers as among the combs below.
Hence, if this arrangement be made, and the
boxes placed on the hive as soon as a little



ing accomplished their work as moths and are
now ready to spin their cocownu and go into
the chrysalis state, hereafter to become the
miller, and then to deposit their mothiproduc-
ing eggs. Hence it is of vital importance to
have perfect control over every bee and cell in
the hive, which can only be had by usepf
movable combs, by the aid of which, also, ma-



turing brood can be given to strengthen weak
colonies,-and newly laid eggs or young larves
furnished to queenless colonies, thereby giving
them the means of rearing a queen and pre-
venting their otherwise certain destruction.
                          J. M. STEBBINS.



warm air can be spared from the breeding    APPLETON, June 10, 1863.
chamber in the spring-or, on a new swarm, |itel Management of lees.
within not less than two nor more than four |
days after they are hived-the queen will de-  FR1END HOYT:-As the FARMER
is a meds-
posit eggs in cells as fast as they are furnished um of communication of
thought, of practical
below, and the surplus honey will be stored results and experiments, perhaps
the result of



above. In the latter part of sum mer and fall,
after the height of the breeding season passes,
the queen not occupying all the cells with eggs,



the bees will rapidly fill them with honey for
their winter use. Thus all the honey the bees
can be induced to store above can generally be
taken from them with safety.
  Should moths infest the weak colonies (81rong
ones they never injure), be not deceived by
the idea that a trap can be used to exclude the
miller or catch the worm, and thus prevent
their ravages, for every such device has thus
far proved either a "bee-killer," or a "'moth-
b'reeder. " Moth eggs can, and do, get into
any "home of the bee." And while strong
stocks will remove and destroy them in their
embryo state, weak ones cannot thus effectual-
ly guard all portions of their domicils, and the
worms get a foot-hold among the combs, feed-
ing upon their natural food, which is beeswax,
and weaving their silken galleries among them
to the great discomfiture of the bees and the
final destruction of the hive, if timely assist-
ance be not afforded them, which can only be
done by removing the worms and all their tra-
ces from among the combs, and not by destroy-



ing them when found on the bottom board of
the hive, in nine cases out of ten already hay-



an experiment in the winter management of
bees, that I have been trying, may be of inter-
est to some of the many readers of the FARM-



ER.



  The American people are somewhat peculiar
in their habits. For instance, if wool growing
proves profitable, all must at once launch into
the business of sheep raising, regardless of the
prices I aid or the knowledge possessed of that
branch of husbandry.   All must engage in
that pursuit, should it require the clip for the
next five years to liquidate a debt contracted
under the excitement of a high speculative fa-
naticism. So it is, to some entent, at the pres-
ent time in relation to bees. There can be no
reasonable doubt that either branch of hus-
bandry may become not only a pleasant but a
profitable business, if managed prudently and
understandingly; but to suppose that by pur-
chasing a few stocks of bees, and then expect-
ing that their possessor in a few years will roll
in affluence that an Astor hardly dare dream
of, is like the dog in the fable-catching at
the shadow and losing the substance. Now to
some the pursuit of the apiariaa is both a
pleasant and a profitable business. But in or-



der that we may meet with suocess in this de-
partment, we should understand the nature



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290



?,