1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



11 



cover, it will slay straight. But a board can 

 twist, no matter if an iron cleat be immovably 

 fixed on each end, and with any ordinary cleat 

 there is likely to be some turning up at the 

 sides. The Higginsville cover is an improve- 

 ment in two directions. It is not likely to 

 twist, for the two pieces will seldom if ever 

 agree to twist together. The edges are not 

 likely to curl up, for the cover is thinned down 

 at its edges, and, being thinner, is more easily 

 held in place. 



But the Higginsville cover still has the objec- 

 tion of the single board so far as warmth is 

 concerned. And now I have a confession to 

 make. Until after I had written the preceding 

 paragraph I had not read carefully enough the 

 description of the "ventilated gable" cover 

 on page 911 to notice that a flat board fitted di- 

 rectly down upon the hive. Indeed, I had not 

 noticed that there was any thing about the 

 cover that was especially different from covers 

 already in use. After reading carefully the de- 

 scription, and after looking at the picture for 

 some time, and thinking it over closely, I con- 

 fess it's a good cover — in some respects, better 

 than any thing else I've ever seen. 



But the advantages of the Higginsville cover 

 I'm hardly willing to give up. With that I can 

 carry my hives into the cellar and pile them up 

 four or five high. How could I do that with 

 the gable cover? That one item condemns the 

 gable cover for my use. For those who leave 

 hives on the summer stand, there may not be 

 the same objection. But a large number — a 

 number that I think is on the increase — winter 

 in cellar, and the question arises whether you 

 can not combine the advantages of the two 

 covers. 



For perhaps more than a year — at least ever 

 since I first saw the Higginsville cover — I've 

 had in mind a cover much like the Higginsville, 

 only having a thin board or boards nailed on 

 the under side, leaving a half-inch space be- 

 tween the upper and under cover. I suspect 

 that that half inch space would be about as 

 good as a space of several inches. That would 

 leave a cover that would take little room (you 

 see. the room taken up by the gable cover would 

 be decidedly objectionable in the cellar, even if 

 it could be piled), and it would pile up as easily 

 as any flat cover. 



While I don't feel sure about it, I don't think 

 I want any ventilating space between the two 

 parts of the cover. In mild climates I should 

 think it a good thing, and possibly it may be 

 best anywhere; but it seems to me we don't 

 want any thing but a dead-air space so as to 

 keep it warmer. But it would be a mere trifle 

 to put in a strip on each side to close the venti- 

 lation. 



Another item I don't like, and after using it I 

 like it less; viz., the cleat projecting below the 

 under surface of the cover. It hinders rapid 

 placing of the covers on the hives; and if cleats 



are put on the ends of hives for handles, the 

 covers must be made about two inches longer. 

 I agree with H. R. Boardman, that cleats for 

 handles are indispensable, and the cover must 

 conform. It will be an easy matter to nail the 

 thin board under the Higginsville cover, leav- 

 ing a perfectly flat surface to fit on the hive. 

 That done, and the space made a "dead-air" 

 space, I think my ideal of a cover would be 

 reached. 



I don't think I shall ever again get a new cov- 

 er made of a single board, nor one made of two 

 boards with the joint closed by a piece of tin 

 folded and slid into saw-kerfs. Some of these 

 days, if I live, I shall want some new covers. I 

 want them to fit down close, so there shall be no 

 crack between cover and hive, or between cov- 

 er and super, and I think either of the covers on 

 page 911 will fill the bill in that direction. I 

 want the advantage of the air-space, and I 

 want at the same time the advantage of the flat 

 cover. What do you think of my ideal ? 



Marengo, 111. 



[Regarding C. F. Muth's contention that the 

 only protection he wants for his bees on top, I 

 might say he may be all right for his locality; 

 but it would be hardly enough in our climate, 

 or where it is colder, as in Marengo and in many 

 parts of Canada. I remember one time when 

 we were going to the Bee-keepers' Congress in 

 New Orleans (February, 1885) we left Medina 

 in the morning when the thermometer register- 

 ed 10° below zero, and had been at that point 

 for about a week. Snow was on the ground to 

 a considerable depth. Well, in about four hours 

 the train brought us to Cincinnati. There was 

 very little snow there, and what there was to 

 be seen was melting; and I was told that the 

 thermometer had hardly been down to freezing 

 for a week. Now, this is a difference in tem- 

 perature that is often found between the north- 

 ern part of even one State and the southern; so 

 it will be apparent, I think, that top protection 

 would not be enough for the northern part of 

 the State, while it might answer for the south- 

 •ern part very well. 



Our ventilating cover was made for hot cli- 

 mates, and to take the place of the 2()-lb. stone 

 and shade-board in other climates. The two 

 open side spaces can easily be closed up with 

 two narrow strips, and we shall then have, prac- 

 tically, a cover with a dead-air space. 



You id J, of making the Higginsville cover 

 double is good, and it is very possible that we 

 ought to hold ourselves in position to furnish 

 the trade such a style whenever they call for it. 

 But I would insist that the lower cover-boards 

 be let into a groove, for I would never trust 

 nails alone to hold the boards. And that brings 

 us to the question as to whether we shall let the 

 cleats project down on the under side. A good 

 deal depends upon what sort of cover one is used 

 to. Here at the Home of the Honey-bees we 

 have used the flat covers with a cleat project- 

 ing over at each end, and would not have them 

 any other way. You will remember that the 

 sides of the hives are % thick at the top. The 

 ends at the top, by reason of the rabbets, are 

 only %. The cleats of the cover project down 

 and protect this ^^ — that is, they prevent the 

 water from beating or seeping in. Another 

 thing, the down-projecting cleats permit of 

 grooves that will hold the boards securely. To 

 make the covers entirely flat on the underside 

 makes the groove a rabbet, and then nails have 

 to do the whole work of holding the boards. 



