We mentioned last month that we gave the bees in the forcing house a brisk fly on the 17th, to accomplish this more effectually we removed the covers to all the hives, and this was one reason why only four bees remained on the sash. They saw their comrades just beneath them and of course “hopped down” among them. To avoid giving any erroneous impression we may remark that we spend the greater part of our Sundays with our books and papers in the forcing house, and on sunny days even the rest of the family find it an agreeable sitting room. Of course we do not mean to work with our bees on the Sabbath and should be very sorry to have any of our readers get such an opinion of us, yet it must be admitted that it so came about, that the bees instead of being allowed to rest on the Sabbath, rested six days, and on the seventh were expected to turn out and have a fly if nothing else. If they would not otherwise, we uncovered the hives etc., as above. Very likely friend Bolin will expect this treatment to kill them whether or no. Never mind; they would probably submit with resignation if they knew it was solely in the cause of science. On the 23rd, we warmed the house in the afternoon and made search in nearly all the hives for eggs, but none could be found. We were anxious to report brood in Jan., in our Feb. No., and so kept the room at a favorable temperature all day the 24th, and next day were delighted to find that the Queens had laid profusely, even to the lamp nursery which contained less than 100 bees with the Queen at this time. By the way we can see no difficulty in wintering any number of Queens with a tea-cupful of bees each, in this way. Our last form was to be printed on the 27th, and to get larvÆ before this time required careful work, so we kept the room warm until the last item was set up, but “not a larvÆ” could we see, and we dolefully sent you your papers with hardly a parting note in regard to our experiment. On the 28th we looked again and were cheered with the sight of whole patches of larvÆ, so large it seemed we must have been hasty the day before. And now for pollen. Few of the colonies had any at all, some of them positively none, and the worst of it was the bees would take no notice of the spot where they had worked so industriously on it in Dec. They seemed to take their flights close under the glass. On the 31st we were rejoiced to see the sun come out full and clear, and by 10 o’clock the room was abundantly warm without any aid from the stove, but not a bit would they notice the meal. We had read in the Fruit Recorder that plants, especially strawberries, must be placed close up to the glass to thrive. Was it not so with bees? In a twinkling the Simplicity hive cover containing the heap of meal was suspended from the sash within about a foot of the glass. Our better half here interposed that it was long past church time and we bent our steps churchward with about as much alacrity as did we when in the woods with the wild Touch-me-nots. We were late, and what is more were rebuked by having the minister pause in his discourse until we could get seated. Never mind we deserved it and will try and do better next time. May our path through life never lead, where the influence of such as he is unknown.

Do you wonder that we were in a mood to rejoice more fully, with the bees, when we found them happy as in June, dancing about our heap of meal, and now and then scampering into their hive as fast as their padded legs could carry them. Yet this was a cold wintry day outside, and the sun scarcely thawed the snow on the south roofs of the houses.

We should have said before, that our second sash were put in place about the middle of Jan. It has not yet been closed up warm and secure by any means, but it does excellent service in keeping the ice from the glass and preventing the attendant drip.

Feb. 1st—To-day we had sunshine again, and brood rearing is going on beautifully. The only drawback is the drunken bees that blunder about and finally fall on the floor; these we gather up in the evening and put in the lamp nursery where they revive and at least a part of them go through the same programme next day. Not all, however, for the lamp nursery is getting built up thereby. We forgot to mention that one colony was found Queenless; search showed her dead in bottom of hive. As she looked natural and perfect, and as the bees were healthy, we cannot think it any fault of our own that we now have 67 colonies instead of 68.

Feb. 8th—I hope and trust that I have many warm friends among our readers, many who have followed my efforts, in years past, and very likely who feel that they know my weak points almost as well as those who have held daily converse with me, face to face. If I have gained any hold upon you, and if you have any confidence in my truth and candor, please listen, and do not turn away, even if I talk a little to you on these pages, on something, that does not directly pertain to Bee Culture.

For a little time back a great light has been breaking above me. This light might have come sooner had it not been for several things which stood in its way; prominently among them, a vain pride and ambition in regard to this very Gleanings. I worshipped worldly things first, and my Maker, (when I worshipped Him at all) afterwards. In fact when this great light commenced to reveal itself, I debated whether it was best to mention the matter at all, here; whether it would be—well, profitable. When these thoughts arose, the old darkness threatened to come back, until I could truly say, “I will do my Creator’s work first whatever it may be, and bees and all else afterwards.” Dear readers do you know that this is one of the first tasks shown to me, to use my influence whatever weight it may have, in all possible directions, to induce imperfect mankind to say with me Thy will our Heavenly Father, not ours be done.

Do you say you have no duties that you are aware of, left unperformed? just as I did a very few days ago? Go read your Bible, read the commandments and see. When you have tried to live up to these, when you have tried to love your neighbor as yourself, and find you cannot do it alone, admit your helplessness and call on your Heavenly Father for aid, but first be sure you can freely give up all or everything in this world for His sake, and forgive all your fellow beings, as you hope to be forgiven. With a sincere prayer that God will enable these few words to reach you just as they were intended, I still remain more than ever your old friend A. I. Root.

Feb. 12th—Reports come in from all sides in regard to the extreme severity of the weather, and brood rearing in the forcing house is again suspended on account of the thick coat of ice that covers the sash and prevents even the noonday sun from penetrating and warming it up. Instead of feeling like being dissatisfied with such weather ought we not rather to take it as a lesson that our climate is uncertain, and that we should in building our wintering houses, cellars etc., make proper calculation for such extremes.

Feb. 15th—Still zero weather. The forcing house is so completely covered with ice that even the noonday sun scarcely has an effect on it. In Jan. Am. Agriculturist, Mr. Quinby describes the behavior of bees in cold weather, and also reiterates the statement made last season that the solid portion of the honey they eat during winter is evacuated in a dry state, and may be found on the bottom board of the hive, when the bees are in health. As soon as the paper was received we commenced some experiments to determine (as we supposed) the truth of the matter. We soon decided that Quinby was utterly wrong in both, and prepared to write a severe criticism. We are sincerely glad we did not for the spirit that was then prompting, was more a disposition to show that Mr. Q. was in error, than to get at the truth whereever it might lie. What we did was to raise a hive up from the bottom board, remove cover and quilt and subject them to severe cold weather. Although the colony (nucleus rather) contained not more than a quart of bees, they seemed to bear this without detriment. A sheet of white paper was placed under the cluster, and after a few hours the brown particles that had accumulated were examined. We thought then there was nothing there but bits of comb, propolis etc., but a more candid examination since has convinced us that, in some hives at least, the bees do void their excrement in a dry state, and perhaps they always do in perfect health. The second point was to see how the bees behaved when it was cold; strange to tell they did not behave at all. They were simply, perfectly still, “dead as door nails,” as Gallup used to say. We approached on tip-toe, and examined them by day light, and by lamp light, but it was all the same. We fixed our eye on a single bee, and watched it until our teeth chattered, but it seemed perfectly comfortable on the outside of the cluster. When the temperature became lower, quite a hum came apparently from the center of the cluster, but we could see no movement that should produce this; the bees that were visible, did not move their wings, and did not change places. Now then, when do these bees get food, and if they change about, why could we have not seen just one in the act of so doing? We confess we do not know, will some one else help? During the experiment once or twice, a bee would crawl out of the cluster and fly off in the cold and fall down and die. We then took a distant position, and saw the same phenomena, and from the number of bees found scattered about, we think it occurs about the same whether they be disturbed or not. A bee that is sick crawls out of the cluster, and out of the hive if he can, and dies. As they die thus, most in the forcing house, we may infer that brood rearing aggravates the trouble, or what is more probable to us is, that sudden and wide changes of temperature, such as we always have in the spring are severe on bees as well as on vegetation. The forcing house varies from 40 to 70°, now, almost daily. If this be true, our bees had better be kept in doors until April, or even later, if we can manage to do so; and those using the cold frames, should keep them covered and dark, except at intervals, until the days get pretty warm. All colonies have a pretty fair patch of brood, in the forcing house, it is true, but the old ones are dying off so fast, we fear we are gaining little.

Feb. 16th—Found Queen in lamp nursery dead on bottom. The bees looked bright and all right, and she looked natural, except that her body was somewhat distended. Our utter helplessness, in the matter is illustrated in the following:

During the last three winters, I have suffered heavy losses, and the matter has been a great puzzle to me. My reports of the last three seasons would have been much better, had my bees wintered well. I have for the last six winters kept my bees in an exceeding dry cellar, with an average temperature for the whole time of about 37°. For three winters they did well, then came disaster. To my mind, none of the causes and methods or theories advocated cover the whole ground or seem absolute remedies for this fatality in wintering. I firmly believe that it was an epidemic (or perhaps more properly an “apidemic”) sent by Providence for purposes His own. The most curious part in my experience is that stocks so nearly alike that I could detect no slight difference in quality, were affected so differently—one dying or becoming very weak while the other wintered in fine condition.