REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 269 



Hive in a Wood Shed. 



Many inquiries having been received from the city, where space is scarce, about the 

 possibility of keeping bees in sheds, we tried last season by placing one in a wood 

 shed. A small hole, 6 inches by 6, was cut in the side wall of the shed, on a level with 

 the floor, facing the south. The entrance of the hive was close to this. From 15th 

 April to 1st May bees from other hives tried very hard to rob this hive ; so the entrance 

 was contracted so as to allow only one bee to pass in and out at a time. This hive and 

 the swarm which it gave produced 93 sections of honey. This hive has been left in the 

 shed for the winter. (See Experiments in wintering, 1896-97, No. 5.) 



Hive Kept on Scales to Show Daily Gain. 



Records of the daily weighing of one colony were kept during the summer. This 

 was a first swarm secured on 13th June, and yeighed at that date 6| pounds. It was 

 put into a hive with four frames of drawn comb and four frames of foundation, placed 

 alternately. 



1st week from 17th June, gain 22f lbs. 



2nd " 24th « " 20* " 



3rd " 1st July " 12^ " 



4th « 8th " " 15f «' 



5th " 15th " " 15| '« 



6th " 22nd " loss . , 4^ lbs. 



7th " 29th " gain 



8th " 5th August " llf " 



9th " 12th " loss ilb. 



10th " 19th " " 2 lbs. 



11th " 26th " " 1 lb- 



98| lbs. 7i lbs. 



Making a total gain in weight of 90f pounds. Ninety-four sections of honey were 

 taken from this hive. Some of the difference represents the weight of brood, &c. 



The largest gain on any one day was 6| pounds, on two occasions, one during the 

 clover flow and the other during the basswood flow. 



Returns. 



The total returns of the Central Farm Apiary for the season of 1896 show an 

 average of 50 sections, and 16 pounds and | ounce of extracted honey for each colony. 



The Bee Cellar. 



The winter quarters are a chamber boarded off from the cellar of a private house. 

 In former winters, it was found to be too cold and damp and the ventilation was 

 not satisfactory. There was only an upright ventilator, 3 inches by 3 inches, passing 

 through the ceiling up to a stove pipe, and provided with a damper with which to 

 regulate the draught ; but no air could be let in from the outside. 



Several important improvements have been made in this cellar during the last 

 summer : a cement floor, shelves and an entrance from the outside. It is also larger 

 than before, being 11 feet 6 inches by 15 feet, which allows 3 tiers of shelves above 

 each other, and two passages. It is boarded off from the remainder of the cellar by a 

 partition of tongued and grooved lumber. The floor is concrete over 8 inches of small 

 stones The lowest shelf is 18 inches from the floor, the second 20 inches clear above, 

 and the third a^ain 20 inches clear above that ; neither the hives on the third shelf nor 

 the uprights supporting the shelves reach the ceiling, so that no vibrations can reach the 

 hives from the ceiling above. 



