340 



October, 1913 



American Vee Journal 



over his progress, is a good time to 

 start planning for next year. If we 

 plan now for next season, we will be 

 ready for the rush when it comes, and 

 our plans will be easily put into prac- 

 tice. Do not think of failure for one 

 moment, but keep your aspirations far 

 above even the chances of failure. 



I have endeavored, and am endeavor- 

 ing, to have a plan in all my work, es- 

 pecially in apiary work. The amount 

 of increase to be made at different 

 apiaries, together with all other needed 

 changes for next season, have already 

 been mapped out. Papers o'f instruc- 

 tions will be finished and turned over 

 to the general foreman very shortly. 

 He will see that all the needed supplies, 

 etc., are gotten and put in readiness. 

 When the time comes for putting the 

 plans in operation, things will be easily, 

 quickly, and well done. 



Dixie's Climate and Opportunities for 

 Bee-Krteping 



In point of climate there is perhaps 

 no section of the country so greatly 

 blessed as ours. The Blue Ridge moun- 

 tains afford great opportunities to 

 those who wish to live in a cool, high 

 altitude, and enjoy the fresh mountain 

 air and the pure sparkling water as it 

 gushes from the mountain side. They 

 can also enjoy the delicious fruits, 

 such as apples, peaches, grapes, plums, 

 etc., which are grown in the valleys. 

 Also, those who desire may live in a 

 warm climate of low altitude, where 

 there is no frost, and the weather is 

 sunny and balmy during all the winter 

 months. They may enjoy the delicious 

 semi-tropical fruits, such as orange, 

 tangerine, grape-fruit, etc. 



No country can be more ideal in 

 point of climate. But what about the 

 opportunities for bee-keeping in this 

 country? Perhaps no country has as 

 great a variety of surplus yielding 

 honey-plants as ours. If it is desired 

 to make bee-keeping a sole business, it 

 can be done almost anywhere with a 

 little capital invested in bees properly 

 cared for. 



1 have just returned from a trip 

 through the Blue Ridge mountains, 

 and was surprised to find so many dif- 

 ferent kinds of honey-plants there. 

 The mountaijis are not barren, but are 

 covered with a dense growth of trees 

 and shrubbery. The greater part of 

 the forests consist of honey-producing 

 trees, such as chestnut, chincapin, lo- 

 cust, sourwood and poplar. There are 

 also fruit-trees in the valleys, and as- 

 ters all over the waste land. The asters 

 are the last blossoms giving a good 

 flow for winter stores. I was also 

 surprised to find so many bees scat- 

 tered over the mountains, and to know 

 that they did so well. The honey is of 

 fine quality; but modern hives, con- 

 veniences and methods are almost un- 

 known to those mountaineers. The 

 cut shows a mountaineer, his apiary, 

 and corner of his apple orchard, the 

 trees of which are laden with fruit. 

 This place is located in a narrow valley 

 on the side of a mountain. 



The Motor Boat Used by Mr. Bver- 



Points in Cellar-Wintering 



(SUBMITTED to Dr. E. F. Phillips 

 what I had written about cellar- 

 ing bees, and am glad to give some 

 interesting comments from him, 

 with some added comments of my 

 own. Dr. Phillips' words are given in 

 quotation marks. 



" If outdoor wintering is preferable, 

 if optional, why not plant an evergreen 

 windbreak? Landscape gardeners have 

 long recognized the advantage of ever- 

 greens over a solid windbreak, and 

 beekeepers are finally learning the 

 same thing. Furthermore, don't we 

 put our bees in the cellar to give them 

 protection chiefly against low tempera- 

 tures, but also against wind ? If cel- 

 lars do not afford this protection, 

 doesn't this argue for a defect in our 

 cellars for which there may be a 

 remedy ?" 



Yes, evergreens would likely solve 

 the problem, or even deciduous trees 

 in sufficient number, as in large or- 

 chards. 



Cellars do afford protection against 

 wind. If they do not against cold to 

 a sufficient degree, we have tlie remedy 

 in heating the cellar. 



"In determining the optimum cellar 

 temperature, a wide range of tempera- 

 ture should be tried. Assuming that 

 4.5 degrees Fahr. is best, a bee-keeper 

 who tested temperatures from 32 de- 

 grees Fahr. to 40 degrees Fahr. would 

 never get it." 



" In your discussion you use the 

 word "quietness " as applying only to 



sound. Perhaps the absence of mo- 

 tion is more important. Bees can be 

 working hard to produce heat with 

 little noise, and after all it is work we 

 are trying to prevent." 



Certainly it is the motion of the bees 

 that is important. The noise is only 

 an inde.x of activity. But I have always 

 supposed that in the cellar the noise 

 of the bees was exactly in proportion 

 to their activity. And certainly the 

 noise is the only thing I have to gauge 

 the;/ activity. I cannot see them : only 

 hear them. If you say "bees can be 

 working hard to produce heat with 

 little noise," and at other times work- 

 ing not so hard but with more noise, 

 I'm ready to take your word for it, but 

 it will be something of a wrench. 



"In your observations on tempera- 

 tures at different levels, the thermome- 

 ter placed on the top of a hive was 

 doubtless influenced by the heat from 

 the colony, and did not therefore rec- 

 ord exactly the temperature of the air 

 at that level." 



Your idea is that the thermometer 

 was affected by the direct conduction 

 of heat from the hive-cover. There 

 was less of that than you might think. 

 The cover was one with a dead-air 

 space, so a very poor conductor. I 

 don't know, but I suppose that very 

 nearly the same difference would have 

 shown if the thermometer had been 

 entirely isolated from the cover. 

 Would not the air be slowly rising 

 with the heat of the hives, and would 

 not each hive add its quota of heat? 

 But most surely the thermometer 

 should have been isolated, which shows 



LEWIS HIVES ;„" 



Are Built Like Furniture 

 E Perfect in All Respects 



Send (or Annual Catalos nhich irill tril 

 you who is your nearest Diatribufer, 

 G. B. I.enls Company. Watertown, AVis. 



