1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



313 



and half of the bees dead. As it was at the 

 furthest corner of the cellar from the door. I 

 forgot to look after it the last few weeks. 



A very bad stench arose from the hive as soon 

 as opened, and the combs were wet and moldy, 

 the dead bees wet and soft, probably caused by 

 the excitement of the poor bees being shut in. 

 and the vapor from their bodies being shut in 

 the hive; while from hives that were open, the 

 dampness passes off. 



INVITING CHOLERA. 



A few such hives, it seems to me, would in- 

 vite cholera to our homes in warm winters; and 

 even in cold winters the fumes must more or 

 less penetrate our rooms above. I found the 

 bees in that hive in much worse condition than 

 are the dead bees upon the floor. I think the 

 bees upon the floor should be swept up once in 

 two or i-liree weeks— by all means as soon as 

 they begin to mold, which in some cellars would 

 be sooner than in others. There are but very 

 few dead bees upon the cellar floor this winter 

 —the least I remember of ever seeing, showing 

 that healthy stores make healthy bees. 



Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Roseville, 111., March :{, 1SU3. 



[There is no doubt that it would be better 

 for you." as well as for many others in equally 

 cold climates, to winter bees in the cellar. Our 

 own experience, as well as that of others, proves 

 that it pays to give something more than the 

 ordinary entrance for indoor wintering. For 

 experiment, we tried a few colonies one winter, 

 leaving the ordinary entrance, and neglecting 

 them on purpose. The result was, as in the 

 case mentioned by you, that nearly all died, and 

 the inside of the hives was positively filthy, and 

 the stench was unbearable. No wonder the 

 poor bees died. By lifting the hive up from the 

 bottom-board, or, as is more feasible with the 

 most of us, taking the bottom-boards oft' entire- 

 ly, and placing the hives four or five inches 

 apart, one over the space between the two be- 

 low, ample bottom ventilation is afforded.] 



HALF-STORY BROOD-CHAMBERS 



AS EXTRACTING -SUPERS. 



In looking over your latest catalogue, Mr. 

 Editor. I find that you now keep in stock half- 

 story frames which you recommend for ex- 

 tracting-supers. Of course, they will also an- 

 swer nicely for brood-frames; and your offering 

 them for sale will enable any one of your cus- 

 tomers, at little expense, to fit up a few half- 

 stories and give them a trial as brood-chambers, 

 according to my brief recommendation in 

 Gleanings, No. 1, 1892. I have used them now 

 for several seasons, as an auxiliary in the pro- 

 duction of comb honey, and I can say that I 

 am getting to be more and more pleased with 

 them. Others also seem to take interest in 

 them, and wish to know more about them, 

 judging from a number of communication? 1 

 received from different parties since I first 

 wrote about the advantages of the half-story 

 brood-chamber; and for this reason it might 

 not be out of the way to enlarge a little on 

 what I wrote then. But right here I want to 

 caution every reader of only limited experience 

 to try them on but a small scale at first. 



The most essential feature of these brood- 

 chambers is, that brood -frames and wide 

 frames, which hold the sections, are of the 

 same size; that is, both kinds may be used in 

 the same chamber, and this feature will enable 

 us sometimes to secure a few sections of nice 

 honey when it would be nearly impossible in 

 any other way. I believe it even possible to 



realize a small surplus from the hard-maple 

 bloom, for the yield from this source is often 

 wonderful. Sometimes whole combs (usually 

 drone combs) are built out and filled with brood 

 and honey, as we have had occasion to notice 

 in cases where a comb was left out by over- 

 sight. Of course, not all our colonies can be 

 expected to be strong so early in the season, 

 but perhaps a portion of those wintered in chaff' 

 will be. Then, again, the weather is not al- 

 ways favorable. But if it should be warm 

 when the maple is in bloom, and we remove 

 half of the brood-combs from the upper half- 

 story, insei'ting at the same time one or two 

 wide frames having the sections filled out with 

 foundation, then closing up with a dummy to 

 fill out space and to crowd the colony, we may 

 have the pleasure of getting a taste of the fine 

 maple honey. 



During fruit-bloom this operation works ad- 

 mirably, as we have at this time more strong 

 colonies; however, to make the thing a perfect 

 success, metal excluders between brood and 

 sections had better be used, although more 

 often I have taken my chances without regret. 

 If the weather is fair while apple-trees are in 

 blossom, my other plan will also work well — 

 that of taking away all the brood and giving 

 the colony a half-story brood -chamber, with 

 foundation-filled frames, upon which a super 

 is placed, and sections also filled out with foun- 

 dation. An excluder will be found necessary; 

 and if a dummy is used at each side of each 

 super, in place of a removed wide frame, all the 

 better. 



Quite a number of years ago I made up a lot of 

 double-tier wide frames holding eight sections 

 each. These I used for several years in my 

 brood-chambers of full size (had no half-stories 

 in use then); but it was difficult to get the 

 lower tier of sections completed. For this and 

 other reasons I discarded them finally. By the 

 half-story method we can have brood below as 

 well as on the side of the sections, and no trou- 

 ble will be experienced — bees not entering sec- 

 tions so placed, no matter what strain of bees is 

 kept. 



It must be borne in mind, however, that, 

 when we contract early in the season, we do it 

 at the future numerical strength of the colony; 

 and, as soon as possible, the removed brood- 

 combs should be returned with a frame of some 

 inferior honey from the year before, such as we 

 are often enabled to obtain in the fall from 

 buckwheat, asters, honey-dew, etc.; for our 

 aim must be to have our bees ready for the 

 basswood season about July 15. 



My treatment of swarms, etc.. I have given 

 before, so I need not say any more on that sub- 

 ject. 



In addition to the above I wish to say that 

 these shallow half-story frames are very nicely 

 adapted for nucleus hives; for a nucleus colony 

 is in much better shape when on more but 

 smaller frames than when on fewer but large 

 frames. 



For rearing and fertilizing queens in upper 

 stories over excluders. <t la Doolittle. these 

 half-story chambers will also prove to be just 

 the thing. I now use no others. 



Naples, N. Y., March, 1893. F. Greinek. 



[It seems to us, that, if we are going to have 

 shallow extracting-supers, they should be made 

 the same depth, and be identically the same as 

 those used for holding single-tier 4'4 sections. 

 Accordingly, as there seemed to be a demand 

 for shallow extracting-frames. we placed in our 

 catalogue this year, not exactly half-depth 

 frames, but frames that would go in the half- 

 depth dovetailed body. or. what is the same 

 thing, a dovetailed super. As there are thou- 



