191U 



({LEANINGS IN BEE CULT IKK 



8U1 



Heads of Grain 



from Different Fields 



What is the Matter with the Bee-cellar? when 

 Dampness does Harm. 

 Will you help me out by ansNvering a few ques- 

 tions in regard to my bee-cellar? I have wintered 

 in it twice, and 1 think it is too cold and damp. My 

 cellar is 8 by 12, by 7 feet high, under ground, built 

 up with loose stone covered with cedar posts, with 

 two feet of dirt over a slanting roof. It stands on 

 the east side of a piece of timber land, and in a side 

 hill. The fact that it is close to the woods is what 

 makes it damp, I think. It has a good drain laid 

 with tile, but it gets quite damp toward spring. 

 Here are the questions: 



1. Does it need ventilation? How much? 



2. Shall I leave on the bottoms of the hives? 



3. Shall I leave on the covers with burlap or en- 

 amel cloth? 



My bees are in twelve-frame hives, all Italians. 

 Mohawki N. Y. Chas. P. Brown. 



[In your description of your bee-cellar you state 

 that the roof is covered with two feet of earth: but 

 you do not say whether this earth has a roof over 

 It. Without it, it would become water-soaked from 

 rain and snow, and most of the time it would freeze 

 up, and at other times it would thaw and let the 

 water through into the cellar. The two-foot cover- 

 ing of earth should be covered again with a roof of 

 its own. 



The proximity of the woods to your cellar would 

 have nothing to do with the dampness. The lining 

 inside of the cellar, of matched ceiling, would prob- 

 ably have no effect one way or the other, except, 

 perhaps, to make the cellar a little warmer. 



One thing is sure: There Is a lack of ventilation 

 unless your climate is continuously cold for at least 

 three months during mid-winter. When we say 

 " continuously cold " we mean anywhere from 5 to 

 10 degrees below freezing for two or three months 

 steady. The outside temperature must be cold 

 enough so the inside of the cellar will never go above 

 50** F. On the other hand, it should never go below 

 40". If you can maintain a temperature of not 

 lower than 40° and not higher than 50". you may be 

 able to be get along without much ventilation. In 

 aay event we would have a sub-earth ventilator, a 

 glazed tile 8 in. in diameter, the joints made wa- 

 ter-tight with cement. This should run 25 or 30 ft. 

 away from the cellar, and then come to the sur- 

 face. Be careful that this ventilator be tight so as 

 not to carry water into the cellar. There should be 

 a similar opening up through the roof. During 

 very cold weather this ventilator should be closed 

 from the outside. It will probably be unnecessary 

 to use it except during moderate weather. 



In your case, as the cellar is already built we 

 would advise opening the doors at night and clos- 

 ing them in the morning during warm weather, or 

 any time when the bees are noisy and flying out on 

 the cellar bottom. If the cellar gets too warm in- 

 side, much above 50°, you will lo.se many bees on 

 account of their flying out of their hives. In such 

 cases the only thing to do is to give copious venti- 

 lation. For that purpose we know of nothing bet- 

 ter than a sub-earth ventilator. 



The dampness you speak of in your cellar will do 

 no harm providing the temperature does not go 

 below 40°. Some fine results have been secured in 

 cellars reeking with dampness when the tempera- 

 ture was under control. The only time, apparent- 

 ly, when it does serious harm is when the cellar be- 

 comes too cold. Dampness and cold make a bad 

 combination in any bee-cellar: but dampness alone 

 is not necessarily hurtful. — Ed.] 



A New Kind of Bees instead of Robbers. 



On page 635, Oct. 1. you are wrong In your con- 

 clusions: at least some bees that 1 am troubled 

 with are not robber.s, for they belong to another 

 class, as they are .smaller and different in color. 

 They pounced in on two of my colonies for over 

 two months: and although my bees killed large 

 numbers of them they still kept coming. There 

 was a two-weeks" honey-flow during the time, but 



it made no difference to these strange bees, as the.y 

 came just the same. They certainly do not seem 

 to be robbers, as they have the appearance of only 

 wanting to find a home There are a great many 

 of them living in some of the hives now and can be 

 found on the brood-combs any time, seemingly as 

 quiet and contented as the regular bees. My bees 

 killed them when they were strange; but when a 

 large number of them get into the hive and acquire 

 the odor they stay. Where they come from is a 

 mystery to me. Who can tell ? 



Joplin, Mo. C. W. Powell. 



[Perhaps some of our subscribers who have ob- 

 ser^ ed the same thing can throw a little light on 

 this. Before we determine what these insects are. 

 we should have to have a dead specimen sent by 

 mail. Prof. A.J. Cook, of Pomona College. Califor- 

 nia; Prof, H. A. Surface, State Entomologist of 

 Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, or Dr. E. F. Phillips, of 

 the Bureavi of Entomology, Washington, D. C. 

 could doubtless determine from the specimen sent 

 what it was. In the meantime we suggest that our 

 correspondent secure some specimens and send 

 them in.— Ed.] 



Ordinary Sawdust Not as Good for Packing as 



Looser Material Like Planer-shavings or 



Leaves. 



I have been greatly interested in your articles 

 lately on absorbent and sealed covers. Could you 

 tell me whether the following scheme is practica- 

 ble? I planned to substitute for the regular cover 

 a frame of pieces of wood one inch square, covered 

 with a double layer of burlap tightly stretched. 

 To prevent this fi'om sagging I would nail on three 

 or four cross-pieces. Then the bees would be packed 

 in their winter casing. The space of three or four 

 inches between the hive and sides of the casing 

 would be filled with sawdu.st, five inches of this ma- 

 terial to be put on top of the burlap-co%'ered frame. 

 Is this enough protection? The thermometer often 

 goes down to zero. How big an opening would the 

 bees so packed require for ventilation? Would the 

 sawdust become too damp before the next spring 

 when the hives could be taken out? 



Haddam, Conn., Oct. 15. Berthoud Boulton. 



[Your scheme of winter packing we think would 

 be all right: but instead of using .so heavy a ma- 

 terial as sawdust we would use something lighter 

 and more of it. Sawdust is a little dense, and we 

 should be afraid that in your climate it would be- 

 come damp, especially if you use a burlap cover. 

 It would be our judgment that it would be better 

 for you to put on a tight board cover in place of the 

 burlap, and then put on top about six or eight inch- 

 es of loose packing material like wheat or oat chaff, 

 planer shavings, leaves, or something of the sort. — 

 ED.] 



Wintering with a Suprr of Empty Sections over 

 the Brood nest. 



In preparing colonies for winter, is it a good plan 

 to put a comb-honey super, filled with sections, on 

 top of the brood-nest, and over this a super filled 

 with chaff? or would it be better to leave off the 

 super of sections ? One of my neighbors here ad- 

 vises it; but it would seem to me better to leave it 

 off, using only the super of chaff with a Hill device 

 under it. 



Orwigsburg, Pa. .S. A. Rigel. 



[Your neighbor's idea of putting on the super of 

 empty .sections was probably to afford a clustering- 

 space for the bees; but we think that he would find 

 some such arrangement as the Hill device much 

 better. A space for clustering is all right: but too 

 much of it would not be satisfactory, as the bees 

 would only have that much extra space to keep 

 warm. — Ed.] 



Artificial Bee-bread. , 



Will you please mail me a formula for making 

 artificial bee-bread, or pollen, so that I can keep my 

 bees rearing brood until late in the season? 



Eldorado. Ok., Nov. 5. W. R. Ward. 



[There is no formula for making artificial bee- 

 bread. Meal or bran — preferably meal from peas or 

 beans — makes a very fair substitute. Ground rye 

 is very often used. The meal is spread out in trays 

 in a sheltered location as soon as the bees can fly. 

 We have tried giving the meal in the hives, but 

 never ob.served that the bees took much of it. They 



