ENTRANCES TO HIVES. 



157 



ENTRANCES TO HIVES. 



be practiced to advantage in winter during 

 a very cold spell. As soon as it has warmed 

 np, the bees could push the obstruction 

 away. 



KNTKANCES PROPERLY CONTRACTED FOK 

 WINTER 



Tlie accompanying illustrations will show 

 the modern Dovetailed and Danzenbaker 

 alighting-boards having cleats nailed on 



DETACHABLE ALIGHTING-BOAKD AND HOW 



IT MAY BE U^ED TO VARY THE SIZE OP^ 



THE ENTRANCE. 



them permanently. When the board is I 

 pulled out entirely it gives an entrance li I 

 inches deep by the width of the hive. When i 

 the plain side is inserted, the entrance is I 

 reduced to 8 by i inch; and this may be fur- 1 

 ther reduced, if necessity requires it, by | 

 putting in a i-inch strip of wood of sufficient I 

 length to bring the entrance down to the ! 

 point required. i 



PLURAL ENTRANCES AND SWARM CONTROL. 



While it is true that a plurality of entrances ' 

 may be a detriment in a brood-chamber, ' 

 it does not necessarily hold good during the ' 

 honey season when the hive is tiered up two 

 or three stories high. It then becomes '. 

 difficult, and wasteful of bee eneigy that 

 might be better employed, to ventilate the | 

 whole hive from one entrance, however large ' 

 it is in the lower story, for the bees have to ' 

 maintain a current of cold air rushing in, 

 and another going out at the same aperture. 



If queen-excluders are used the case is made 

 worse. It almost goes without saying, that, 

 during the period in which the honey is 

 evaporated while in the combs, there ought 

 to be more than one entrance to the hive— 

 at least two, and, during very hot weather, 

 more, one to each btory, with the cover or 

 roof slightly raised at the back to furnish 

 additional means for the fetid air to escape 

 at the top of the hive. 



It is said by those who have tried th's 

 method of air control that it is a great pre- 

 ventive of swarming, and this looks reason- 

 able; for the brood-chamber is far le.-s 

 crowded, since the field workers arrive 

 and depart from the upper entrance to a 

 great extent, saving overcrowding of the 

 brood - chamber, which surely leads Id 

 swarming. 



On the other hand, it may be said that 

 there is danger of the honey-chambers being 

 rendered too cool by so many entrances; but 

 against this may be stated that, if this is the 

 case, it is also too cool for honey-gathering, 

 and the upper stories should be removed. 

 If the colony is weak, upi)er entrances are 

 unnecessary; and in that case, also, the 

 honey-chambers should be removed, as such 

 a colony does not gather a surplus of the 

 honey In any event. It is too weak. 



Some of our well-known writers on bee 

 culture heartily commend upper entrances— 

 notably so Dr. C. G. Miller, C. P. Dadant, 

 11. r. Iloltermann, W. K. Morrison, and, in 

 early times, Adam Grimm, who, with the 

 money he made with his bees, establislied a, 

 bank. 



Dr. C. C. Miller, writing in Gleanings in 

 Bte CvUure for June 1, 1907, writes: " Prof. 

 Cook says, p. 312, that bees ventilate so 

 effectively at the entrance that it is best to 

 have only one opening to the hive, evi- 

 dently meaning at all times; and W. K. 

 Morrison, page 6Hfi, asks if I subscribe to 

 that doctrine. Emphatically, no. If run- 

 ning for extracted honey I would generally 

 have one more opening than the numlier of 

 stories in use— the regular entrance and an 

 opening at the top of each story. Each year 

 for years I have had one or moie piles thus 

 ventilated, and none has ever swarmed. 

 Many years ago I learned from Adam 

 Grimm to have an opening for ventilati(in 

 at the toj) of the brood- chamber at the back 

 end when running for comb honey. I gave it 

 up because it interfered with the linishing 

 of the sections near such openings. Hut I 

 have gone back to it again, believing tliat 

 such disadvantage is overbalanced by the 



