1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



15 



tion, and I conclude that dark colors attract 

 the heat, from which this advantage comes, 

 and are best adapted to northern latitudes 

 and cool locations. In a hot sun-visited lo- 

 cality the white hive might be best. I choose 

 the blue because it suited my taste. It seems 

 to please the bees also. 



As you probab y do not hear very often 

 from this quarter of the globe I am enclosing 

 a snap-shot of my apiary of 22 hives. It is 

 not a very large showing, it is true; yet it is 

 the largest, I oelieve, in this Gem Island of 

 the northern gulf. 



Charlottetown, P. E. I., Oct. 23. 



[That darker colors usually absorb more 

 light than lighter ones must be admitted; and 

 yet it is a fact that hght blue, yellow, etc., re- 

 ilect the light and heat almost as much as a 

 pure white. The engraving from the photo- 

 graph of the apiary illustrates this very nice- 

 ly, tor it would be difficult to pick out the 

 hives painted blue, showing that the blue 

 color reflects practically as much light as the 

 white. 



Mr. Lovell, in his experiments described 

 in the Sept. 1st issue, as above mentioned, 

 demonstrated that his bees preferred the 

 blue paper. Is it not possible, then, that the 

 bees in this case, preferring the blue color, 

 naturally "drifted " into these hives? If all 



the hives were painted blue it is doubtful 

 whether there would be any advantage. — 



HOUSE-APIARIES. 



Something More Concerning their Advan- 

 tages and Disadvantages. 



BY B. M. CARAWAY. 



I have had just four years' experience 

 with a house-apiary, and, taking every thing 

 into consideration, I think that the disadvan- 

 tages more than offset the advantages. My 

 building stands north and south, with the 

 hives facing the east and west, the alley be- 

 tween running through the center. On each 

 side there is room for ten hives. 



When I built this shed I thought it would 

 be a good plan to have doors that could be 

 let down during the winter; but I have found 

 that, in this southern climate, this is not a 

 good plan The temperature may be down 

 to the freezing-point in the morning, and at 

 noon it will be so warm that the bees will be 

 trying to get out. For this reason I keep 

 the doors propped up all the time. 



The building proper is 32 feet long, 6 feet 

 wide, and the side walls are 6 feet high. The 



MR. B. M. CARAWAY'S HOUSE-APTARY IN TEXAS. 



Mr. Caraway believes that, if he were starting anew, he would put his money into better bees and fixture^ 

 rather than.into a house-apiary. 



