458 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July 15 



Single-corab observatory hive with side panels removed, showing the sections above the brood-frames. 



■will begin to ferment, and soon the capping 

 will appear watery or greasy. About the 

 same condition prevails while it is in the 

 hive. From experience I am led to believe 

 that air is more essential in the hive than 

 the average bee-keeper apprehends, especial- 

 ly in localities where the main honey-flow 

 comes in settled warm weather. 



When I first began bee-keeping I used 

 very small entrances, and my bees would 

 store only a few pounds of honey from the 

 cotton-plant. It would ferment in the comb 

 as fast as they stored it. It would all be 

 sour by the time the flow ceased, and about 

 half of it capi)ed, which would have a wa- 

 tery appearance. Since I have adopted 

 large entrances, allowing a current of air to 

 pass, my yield from the cotton-plant is far 

 greater, and the honey is thick and very 

 wholesome, and the cappings are light and 

 very dry. I contracted the entrances of a 

 few hives this season, and found that the 

 same conditions prevailed as in former 

 years. 



A bee-kee])er near one of my apiaries from 

 which I always get a good crop of honey 

 has 25 colonies, and does not get enough 

 honey for his own use. The only way this 



can be accounted for is that he has very 

 small entrances. 



Large entrances with a current of air pass- 

 ing under the frames check loafing as well 

 as swarming to some extent, and overheat- 

 ed brood and other difficulties which we 

 bee-keepers have to contend with in these 

 low, damp, hot sections are done away with. 



Cordele, Ga. 



EXHIBITING BEES AT FAIRS, 



BY H. H. ROOT. 



Within the last few years exhibitors have 

 learned that live bees create more interest at 

 a fair than almost any other one thing. Too 

 often, however, the bees are not displayed 

 to the best advantage. If a colony is placed 

 in an ordinary-sized hive, having glass sides, 

 very little ,can be learned of the bees and 

 their habits on account of the fact that the 

 visible parts of the outside combs are not at 

 all representative of the combs inside. Fur- 

 thermore, the few bees on the outside are 

 generally running around trying to get out 

 and acting more or less demoralized. 



