1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



345 



SEALED COVERS A FAILURE. 



AVINTEKING IN THE DOVETAILED CHAFF HIVE: 

 SUCCESSFUL MOVING OF BEES. 



Friend Root: — As I had some correspondence 

 with you, and also with Capt. Hetherington and 

 Dr. Miller relative to moving: my bees during 

 the month of March from Bloomtield, Ky. 

 (latitude 38°), to this place (latitude 37°) by 

 freight, it may be that your friends, and the 

 readers of Gleanings generally, will be inter- 

 ested to know as to th(! success of the move, 

 methods adopted, and lessons learned in the 

 school of experience. I am very sure that, 

 prior to moving them, I should have been de- 

 lighted to possess just such information as I am 

 now able to give from experience. 



I reached Bloomtield March U. The bees had 

 a good flight that day and the next. I found 

 my 34 colonies. 1.") in chaff and 1".) in single-wall- 

 ed' dovetailod hives, (jW alive. I had packed .30 

 of them in October for the winter, using a de- 

 vice, similar to Mr. Hill's, above the brood- 

 chamber, over which I placed, in a super, sever- 

 al thicknesses of burlap. Four of them I left 

 with "sealed covers," all on their stands. It 

 will be the last of " sealed covers" with me. 

 These four were by far the most depleted, and 

 were all suffering from dysentery. The fifteen 

 in Dovetailed chaff hives were in the best con- 

 dition I have ever found my bees in the month 

 of March, during an experience of 12 years in 

 different localities. All honor to the Dovetailed 

 chaff hives. Undoubtedly it is a superior hive 

 for all localities and seasons, being warm in 

 winter and cooler in warm weather. Those in 

 the single-walled Dovetailed hives were in ex- 

 cellent tix, except the four under ■' sealed cov- 

 ers." I prepared 20 of the colonies for shipping, 

 according to the suggestions in the A B C, using 

 the wire screens on top only. The remaining 

 ^six I aiTanged with thin pieces of wood, fV of 

 an inch thick, under the corners of both bottoms 

 and covers, securing the latter with two 2-in. 

 screws in each. On reaching their destination 

 I found more dead bees in these six on which I 

 had not used wire screens than in all the other 28. 

 I put a ball of wet rags on the brood-frames in 

 each hive. I shipped in a fruit-car; but as the 

 mercury had dropped to 28° the morning I ship- 

 ped, I closed all the ventilators except the two 

 front windows, which were near the floor of the 

 car, on the sides. The hives occupied the rear 

 half of the car. They were placed in the car 

 with frames parallel with the rails. The'chaff 

 hives were placed in the lower rows. Across 

 the tops of these, and parallel with the ties, I 

 placed two strips of lumber (2 x 1 in.), securing 

 the strips with one five-penny nail, just where it 

 crossed each hive, driven into the frame of the 

 wire screen in front and rear. The second tier 

 of hives was placed on these strips, which af- 

 forded ventilation to the hives below: and the 

 cleats of the bottom-boards, exactly fittiuff over 

 the strips, prevented the upper hives from being 

 jostled either backward or forward. 



The bees reached (xlasgow. a distance of ]f30 

 miles, the next day. in splendid condition. Mer- 

 cury rose to 40° that afternoon. Not one comb 

 was broken down, not a quart of bees had been 

 killed by the trip. Many of the combs were 

 new last season. Most of them were on improv- 

 ed Hoffman frames, which are good enough for 

 me. I would not, however, object to the thick- 

 er top bar. 



The prospects are exceedingly bright for a fine 

 season in this section. Thn fruit-bloom is very 

 heavy, and white clover abundant. Some colo- 

 nies have already become so stiong that I have 

 been compelled to put on one super for fear of 

 swarming fever. 



I find myself admirably located for queen- 

 rearing, to which I am giving special attention. 

 There are only two colonies of bees within a 

 mile of me, and not half a dozen within three 

 miles. I shall hav(! little difficulty in keeping 

 my stock pure. 



As to the question asked in Gleanings re- 

 cently, concerning the hardiness of the proge- 

 ny of Southern queens, let me say my experi- 

 ence has been decidedly favorable. Much of 

 my present stock was reared from a Southern 

 queen, the remainder from a queen purchased 

 from you season before last. They stood the 

 test last winter equally well, where the ther- 

 mometer ranged from zero to 10° below, often 

 for a week and sometimes ten or twelve days 

 consecutively. I have now a queen, purchased 

 recently for breeding purposes, from Mr. A. F. 

 Brown, of Florida. 1 shall have an opportunity 

 to test the matter moi'e fully, as to this climate 

 at least. F. G. Railey. 



Glasgow, Ky., April 12. 



SEALED COVERS AND ABSORBENTS; A DIFFER- 

 ENCE IN FAVOR OF THE LATTER. 



In regard to wintering bees, I would say that 

 all of our 13 colonies came through all right. 

 We have not lost a colony since we began the 

 business, but can't say how soon we may; how- 

 ever, there was quite a difference in the condi- 

 tion of our bees. March 7th, part came out 

 with nice dry combs; but most of them showed 

 that dampness had collected to quite an extent 

 on the inside. Even the combs of some were 

 wet. Now, the most were under sealed covers 

 in large chaff' hives; part were in your Dove- 

 tailed chaff hives, and were prepared for winter 

 by fitting thin boards loosely into the bottom of 

 a super. We next put in a thick quilt, and 

 filled the super up with chaff', and set it on top 

 of the hive. Now. between these and the oth- 

 ers with sealed covers I could notice no partic- 

 ular difference. One thing seemed a little 

 sti-ange. One colony was set into one of those 

 large chaff hives quite late in the fall. The 

 cover was not fastened down at all. There was 

 also a hole bored through the cover, and the 

 chaff cushion placed on top, the same as the 

 rest, with a piece of old carpet on top of that. 

 Well, what of it? Why, this colony came out 

 just as dry and bright as a silver dollar— no 

 dampness 'in the least. My neighbor has a 

 hive with a telescope cap made perfectly tight. 

 When this cap is let clear down for winter there 

 is a •■^8 -inch space over the frames. To experi- 

 ment, he left the honey-boards (that cover the 

 top of the frames) off. and <'very one so treated 

 came out dry and in good condition. I noticed 

 one thing, that hives with thin covers under 

 the cushions came out dryer than those with 

 thick covers. S. Farrington. 



Corunna, Ind., April 10. 



CONFINING THE BEES WITH AVIBE CLOTH IN 

 CELLAR WINTERING. 



I put my 34 colonies into the cellar the latter 

 part of November, with sealed covers, but put 

 a two-inch rim lietwcen the hive and bottom- 

 board. This rim was made with an entrance 

 one inch high and as wide as the hive, so as to 

 afford bottom ventilation, and also for conven- 

 ience in cleaning the bottom during winter, 

 which I did three or four times without dis- 

 turbing the liees. As my cellar is not mouse- 

 proof. 1 nailed some wire cloth to pieces of 

 blocks, and actually closed the bees in the 

 hives. I could not see that this closing them 

 in bothered tliem in the least, for they were 

 more satisfied than any previous winter with a 

 j?^-inch open entrance and top ventilation. 

 They were put out on the summer stands April 



