344 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 5. 



success in the production of comb honey. At 

 what expense, for the sake of the hiver, must 

 we be to accomplish all this? Success in every 

 one of these particulars demands that the 

 apiarist have constant knowledge of the con- 

 dition of the colonies with respect to swarming, 

 queens, and the occupancy of the lower hive 

 without swarming. This involves the almost 

 herculean labor of lifting each hive with its 

 supers off the hivers about twice every weelv 

 during the entire swarming season. Tliey must 

 actually be lifted off, for the hivers must be 

 examined carefully for superseding queens as 

 well as for old queens deserted by their swarms; 

 and this must be done in the sun of the hottest 

 summer weather. One need ti'y it but once to 

 become satisfied of the magnitude of the oper- 

 ation. If any bee-keeper mourns because he is 

 out of work he may now cheer up: let him at- 

 tach tlie newest pattern of hiver to his colonies, 

 and from that time forward he will ha,ve no 

 cause for complaint. 



These are some suggestions, hardly more 

 than hints, at the inadequacy of the hiver. 

 One might enter more particularly into the 

 measuring and weighing of its disadvantages; 

 but as they seem so absolutely to smother any 

 possible hope of advantage, it is scarcely neces- 

 sary. R. L. Taylor. 



Lapeer, Mich., April 19. 



M I W 



PACKING VERSUS SINGLE-WALLED HIVE. 



AN EXPEKIENCE THAT SEEMS TO FAVOR THE 

 LATTER. 



An old farmer once said to me. "Keep your 

 bees dry and they will not freeze." While his 

 statement may not be strictly true, there may 

 be suggestions in his ideas. My experience this 

 winter very much inclines me to the belief that 

 bees should not be surrounded with any sort of 

 packing that will absorb and retain moisture. 

 This March I had occasion to change a colony 

 from one chaff hive to another, to widen an en- 

 trance for spring. When I took the bottom out 

 of the hive in which the bees had wintered. I 

 found the chaff a wet, soggy, half- rotten mass. 

 Another colony was in a shell set inside of a 

 larger shell, no packing except on top. The 

 brood-nest was contracted, and two new chaff 

 division-boards put in at the sides of the frames 

 inside of the inside shell — no connection with 

 the outside, except the entrance. The ii;side 

 shell rested on a sheet of tarred paper on the 

 bottom of the outside shell or case. This colo- 

 ny had the greatest mess of dead bees, mold, 

 and dirt, on the bottom-board, of any colony. 

 The two chaff division-boards were, I might 

 say, soaking wet. This overhauling I am speak- 

 ing of was done in March. I cleaned out this 

 hive with a little fire-shovel. Other hives were 

 cleaned out the same way. 



Finding my chaff-packed colonies in such rot- 

 ten messes, I took my shovel and hastened to 

 the colony that had no chaff packing, to shovel 

 the dead bees and dirt out of it. I raised the 

 quilt, blew in a little smoke, and took off the 

 quilt. T was astounded. Instead of moist-look- 

 ing, sickly bees like the others, they had that 

 dry. glossv. chipper look you see in fine weather. 

 There hung the combs, dry and bright, with 

 that glossy appearance you would expect to see 

 later in the season. I began talving out the 

 frames, and set them aside so I might shovel the 

 mess off the bottom-board as I had done the 

 others. I looked down, and was again struck. 

 There was nothing to shovel out. The bottom- 

 board was almost as clean as in the summer. I 

 had worried more or less about this colony all 

 winter, because it was so poorly protected. I 

 covered it down again, and went into the house 



and told my wife we need not worry about that 

 colony, even if all the others died before good 

 weatlier. This queen was a daughter of an im- 

 ported queen, the same as the others^ in the 

 yard. Her mating might have had something 

 to do witli her wintering, scarcity of chaff hives 

 was my reason for risking i^ees in this hive. 



In order that others may with me further test 

 this matter. I will give details. 



This hive was a solid box, made of heavy 

 pine boards, l>s in. thick, heavily painted white, 

 with good dry cover of % i)ine. Inside the ends 

 was nailed another board, about % thick, 

 against the ends, with no paper or dead-air 

 space. This inside board was to hang the 

 frames on. making the ends of the hive about a 

 solid two-inch planlc. The sides were just the 

 outside boards. The bottom was painted, cleat- 

 ed % stuff, not nailed to the hive; but the 

 joints were probably filled with dirt. etc. The 

 entrance was full width, but contracted by loose 

 blocks set against the outside; open entrance, 

 about 3 inches by %. 



Early in the fall the brood-nest was reduced 

 to six combs, spaced summer spacing. The 

 chamber was contracted l)y two % pine close- 

 fitting division-boards. The openings along 

 the tin rabbets had a small muslin rag stuffed 

 in them. Behind the division-boards were old 

 rags down at the corner at the entrance, to keep 

 the cold from getting behind the division-boards 

 througli the entrance that would be otherwise 

 open. No attempt was made to stuff behind 

 the boards for warmth or protection, except as 

 spoken of about the entrance. 



On top of the framos were laid two or three 

 sticks to insure space over the top-bars. Over 

 this was carefully adjusted a piece of duck that 

 had been thoroughly waxed by the bees in sum- 

 mer, making practically a sealed cover. On 

 this quilt was laid some kind of a cotton pad 

 nearly % of an inch thick, that some old lady 

 had probably made at one time for a back-rest 

 on a rocking-chair. On this pad were thrown 

 some old coats, pants, or something like that. 

 You can readily see how necessity was my mas- 

 ter. I mourned during the cold weather be- 

 cause this colony was not packed in chaff. 



This one test is not conclusive. Colonies for 

 comparative experiments should be with queens 

 from the same mother, from tlie same batch of 

 swarming cells, put into winter on the same 

 number of combs, about the same amount of 

 honey, and fixed for winter on the same day, 

 very early in the fall, so all cracks can be sealed. 

 Also try one colony of the same, but to be 

 changed to a new chaff hive, too late to be sealed 

 or propolized, and put in brand-new chaff divi- 

 sion-boards at the sides of the contracted brood- 

 nest. See how wet those division-boards are 

 in the spring, if the winter is a hard one. That 

 colony will probably be dead, with the" absorb- 

 ents" all around them. 



My experience convinces me the ten-frame 

 hives are not much if any too large. I am satis- 

 fied the eight-frame hive is a mistake. Most of 

 my queens use nine and some of them ten 

 frames. They must have some room for stores. 



While watching my weak colonies building 

 up this March and April, I think I should like 

 to have our brood-frames shortened at least one 

 inch, and that comb surface added to the bot- 

 tom, thus making them just a little shorter 

 and deeper. I should want the same comb sur- 

 face as now. 



I had another colony in a home-made box that 

 had tar paper between the two end-boards. 

 This colony came through in very bad condi- 

 tion. But it was so poorly protected on top that 

 it was no test. I am afraid we do not want tar 

 paper. But I am not sure yet. 



Ingram, Pa., April 20. Philo S. Dil worth. 



