1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



737 



Heads of Grain 



front Different Fields 



Sealed Covers, and Eliminating the Clustering- 

 space Above. 



After much study of the matter of outdoor win- 

 tering I would offer the following for discussion. It 

 would seem that there should be a correct solution 

 lit every problem, and this among others. 



Considerable difference of opinion exists in regard 

 to the arrangement of the top of the hive for win- 

 ter, one man advocating making it air-tight, so far 

 as he understands that method, while the next 

 man says put on loose stuff and raise the cover K 

 inch, and there are many others. 



Let us study the conditions. The bees maintain, 

 under favorable conditions, a given temperature 

 within a space proportioned to their numbers. If 

 their numbers are less, their ability to warm a giv- 

 en space is proportionally less. The logical thing 

 to do is to make the space suitable to their num- 

 ber, but this can not always he done. 



We know the bees try to make their winter home 

 air-tight, and there can be no mistake in following 

 nature's teaching: but there can be no half-way 

 business about it. for the following reason: If there 

 are any vacant spaces left in the arrangement on 

 top (whatever that may be), into which the moi.s- 

 ture-laden air can penetrate and there condense its 

 moisture, it will be seen at once what the condition 

 will be. Now. if the covering or packing be suffi- 

 ciently porous, .so that a current of air can pass 

 through, however slowly, then the air-current, 

 which will be warmed by the bees, will keep the 

 mass of this porous material above the temijerature 

 at which the moisture will condense — that is, ex- 

 cepting the topmost layer— and may be even that If 

 there are enough bees below o furnish heat. 



But think a moment what such a current of air 

 means — just that much cold air to be warmed with 

 honey consumed, and. in case of a small colony, a 

 lack of force to accomplish it, with such conse- 

 quences as you can imagine. 



Again, in case of so-called air-tight coverings 

 there has probably been this shortcoming. There 

 may have been, and I am convinced that it is the 

 fact, considerable vacant spaces entirely within the 

 air-tight covering, into which the moisture-laden 

 air of the hive could and did penetrate: and these 

 spaces, being necessarily cut off or separated from 

 any warm circulation, the moisture there con- 

 densed makes the whole mass damp and unwhole- 

 some. 



The conclusion to which I have coine is this: .^ a- 

 ture will be best followed and .served by a compart- 

 ment so arranged as to be air-lioM, non-absorbent. 

 and, consequently, as dry as can be. and of a size to 

 suit the tenants. By means of division-boards, sol- 

 id and close-fitting, we may adjust the size of the 

 winter sleeping-room fairly well. By a -simple ar- 

 rangement consLsting of only two thin boards to lay 

 Hat and tight down on top of the frames, and fitted 

 snugly to the sides of the hive-body all around, 

 leaving a space only half an inch wide between the 

 edges of the boards across the hive at about the 

 middle, and right-angled to the frames, we enable 

 the bees to make their ne.st as tight as they will. 

 This space across the frames is for a highway by 

 which the little people can travel from frame to 

 frame in the warmest part of the house. These 

 boards are just thick enough to take up the bee- 

 space above the frames, and come into perfect con- 

 tact with the super-cover, which is to be tacked 

 down on top with two or four small wire nails. The 

 hive can then be blanketed, as may be preferred, 

 without ajiy possibility of dampness from the in- 

 side. The general idea is to confine all the heat, 

 and afford no place for dampness to collect, there 

 l>eing no absorbent material, and no air-spaces not 

 easily warmed naturally. By this plan the usual 

 necessity for top ventilation is done away with. 

 .\n ample, properly adjusted entrance is the only 

 requirement. Xow please start the music. 



B. Keep. 



[The objection to your plan is that the cluster of 

 bees, as a general rule, stands directly over the en- 

 trance to a Langstroth hive. As the season pro- 



gresses, the cluster moves backward. One vital 

 defect in your plan is that, during the fore part of 

 the season, and the latter part of the season toward 

 spring, the bees would be removed from the gap 

 that would permit them to pass from one comb to 

 the other. It is vitally important that the bees 

 have a space all over the top of the hive by which 

 they can move from one comb to the other. If it 

 were not for this your plan of eliminating the space 

 above the frames might be all right. — Ed.] 



A Suggested Plan for Making Increase ; How to 



take Care of a Weak Colony that is Being 



Robbed. 



Early next spring I wish to increase my apiary 

 artificially. I have read several methods for doing 

 so. which seem to me to be a good deal of trouble. 

 I should like to know what you think of the follow- 

 ing method: Go to the hive you wish to divide (the 

 bees being ready to swarm naturally, and so having 

 queens ready to emerge from cells); set it on a 

 stand a few feet away. Now place a new hive, 

 filled with foundation, on the old stand; open the 

 old hive, and remove about half the combs, bee.s, 

 etc., and put them in the new hive, removing as 

 many frames of foundation as is necessary to make 

 room for those filled with comb and bees. Put the 

 frames of foundation in the old hive and close it. 

 Now close the new hive with the swarm, and it is 

 done. Be sure to have at least one queen-cell in 

 the new swarm so the bees can have a new queen 

 as soon as she is ready to emerge. It does not mat- 

 ter \\hich hive the old queen is in, since either one 

 of the colonies can rear another one. 



When numbering bee-hives, would you paint the 

 number on the hive itself or tack on a tag having a 

 number on it? 



What can I do for a rather weak colony that lets 

 the robbers come in after I have contracted the en- 

 trance so only one bee can pass? It has a good 

 queen and also some brood. The bees are all right 

 in the warm part of the day; but it is in the early 

 morning that they can not keep a robber from go- 

 ing in every now and then. 



Rapidan, Va., Sept. 30. G. H. Latham. 



[Your plan of artificial swarming is all right, with 

 the exception that we would give the laying queen 

 to the swarm. A colony witliout a good queen, ac- 

 cording to our experience, does not do quite as 

 good work as one having a queen. 



It is better to use separate tags, each having a 

 number on it, than to paint numbers on the hives. 

 It sometimes happens that you will desire to change 

 the number on the hive itself. 



A weak colony that will not defend itself when 

 the entrance is contracted down so that only one 

 bee can pass at a time is not of very much use. We 

 would advise you to give them a frame of hatching 

 brood from some vigorous Italian stock. A few 

 young Italians will put new life in the hive. At 

 the time you wrote, possibly your queens had quit 

 laying, and you have no hatching brood. That be- 

 ing the case, we wovild advise you to unite your 

 weak stock with some stronger one. If you have 

 no place to put an extra queen you had better kill 

 the one in the nucleus. — Ed,] 



Boneset as a Honey-plant; an Important Lesson 

 in the Bee Business, 



I am sending you a package of weeds known here 

 as the "fluxweed." Will you please inform me 

 what the botanical name is? In this locality it is 

 the finest honey-producing plant we have. The 

 honey is of the finest flavor, and as clear as that 

 from white clover. 



The bees did nothing here until the last week in 

 August. In four weeks they put in a good strong 

 store for themselves, and all that were strong put 

 up from 10 to 50 lbs. in the supers. Lentil the last 

 week in June I fed about half of my colonies to 

 keep them from starving. Then I learned the best 

 lesson of my life in the bee business, and that is, 

 that all colonies must be kept strong and full of 

 bees if they are to lay up any surplus when the 

 honey-flow starts up. But I did not learn it in 

 time for this .season: but ITl certainly attend to 

 that next year. About half of my colonies were 

 too weak to benefit me this season: but all but two 

 or three have put in enough for themselves. I ain 

 an amateur in the business. I have only forty col- 

 onies, but intend to double that number next 



