1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



11 



A VISIT TO G. M. DOOLITTIiE. 



FlllEND STEPHENS()N TELLS WHAT HE SAW AND 

 HEARD. 



Editor Gleanings— D<a) S/»;— Possibly a short 

 description of Doolittle's apiary may be interesting 

 to you and such of our bee-friends as have never 

 visited Borodino. After leaving Medina I proceed- 

 ed to Niagara; and, as sunshine favored me, next 

 morning I turned it to excellent account with my 

 camera, and got some views of the Whirlpool, 

 which I failed to get on my former visit. These, on 

 development at Eastman's, turned out most satis- 

 factorily, and you shall have some prints later on. 

 The drive from Skaneateles to the village of Boro- 

 dino was pleasant, the country rolling, and the 

 road for some distance skirted the shore of 

 Skaneateles Lake, a fine body of water some Itt 

 miles long, abounding ia lake trout, and at this 

 time haunted [by flocks of duck and wild geese. 

 Mr. I). '8 house is located on the edge of a I'ich alluvi- 

 al plain. About 30 rods off is a fine basswood grove, 

 etc., which our friend purchased for a windbreak 

 as well as for the purpose of supplying food for his 

 bees. Mine host was absent with his rifle on my ar- 

 rival; but the honors of the place were amply per- 

 formed by his Irsxrr half till his return, and then, 

 indeed, 1 had a treat. We adjourned to the work- 

 shop, amply furnished with engine, buzz-saw, and 

 all, the various accessories for hive-making, and 

 then began a most Interesting lecture on bees in 

 general and queens in particular, rendered all the 

 more graphic by an inspection of the apparatus 

 that has been so ably described by the originator 

 himself from time to time in the pages of Gi>ean- 

 iNos, and in his book, " Scientific Queen-Rearing." 



I was particularly well pleased with his division- 

 board feeder, which, as you may remember, is prac- 

 tically a frame with sides built up of thin stuff to 

 an inch or two of the Itop, much on the principle 

 of your Miller feeder. Another thing that attract- 

 ed my attention was a comb-foundation machine 

 consisting of a pair of plaster dies fitting over one 

 another, and inclosed in a box which opened and 

 closed like a book, f witnessed the operation of 

 making some foundation in it, and I think that, for 

 small operations, it is a very desirable machine. 



Next in order came the bees themselves. Most 

 of his hives were still on their summer stands, pro- 

 tected by chaff packing and top cushions contained 

 in an outer box. Some of these will.be [removed to 

 a bee-cellar later on. The hives had a decided tilt 

 forward to keep out moisture, a la Muth. The 

 bees, of which I saw a few specimens under their 

 quilts, were the yellowest Italians I ever saw. On 

 one of them I counted five yellow bands. Indeed, 

 the golden color extends nearly from the thorax to 

 the tip, and the black bands are quite small. The 

 yellow was more of an orange, like that of the Cyp- 

 rian, though without admixture of Cyprian blood. 



The bee-cellar was well contrived, with top and 

 sub-earth ventilation. The floor is occasionally 

 sprinkled with sawdust, to keep down damp, and 

 the entrance is closed by three doors, one within 

 the other, so as to form dead-air spaces, thus secur- 

 jng a mild even temperature. 

 Boston, Mass. H. Stephensqn. 



Perhaps I should explain, that, although 

 friend Stephenson writes from Boston, 

 Mass., his present residence is in England. 

 IJe has, however, been Jiving for some time 



in Charlamont, Bedford Co., Va.— The plas- 

 ter dies alluded to have been frequently 

 mentioned in Gleanings, as our older 

 readers will remember. My impression is, 

 that they are not much used now. — In re- 



§ard to the five yellow bands, I think friend 

 tephenson must refer to the downy fur or 

 covering. I have never seen more than 

 three distinct yellow bands, as we define 

 them in the ABC book. It is also my im- 

 pression that friend Doolittle had decided 

 to use his sub-earth ventilators, either very 

 little or none at all. Will he tell us about itV 



AVINTERING BEES. 



HAVING AN EMPTY AIRSPACE BEI.OW THE liHOOD- 

 COMBS, ETC. 



One of the most important requisites for winter- 

 ing bees in the North is the proper temperature. 

 We have to observe, that the temperature of the 

 air surrounding the cluster only has any effect in 

 this respect. This is many times overlooked. We 

 may have in a cellar a comparatively low temper- 

 ature; but inside of the hive the temperature may 

 be just right, if no or very little ventilation is al- 

 lowed. Another time the cellar may be much 

 warmer; but by full ventilation of the hives the 

 temjierature inside of them may be too low never- 

 theless; so if we want to find out the proper tem- 

 perature for the bees, we should always speak of 

 the air surrounding the cluster, to get comparable 

 results. 



In fact, I do not know what is the best tempera- 

 ture here. What I could say would be guesswork 

 only; but 1 know that some hives are of such a 

 construction that this best temperature is always 

 secured automatically, and this for many hundred 

 years. The reader may be astonished, but it is as 

 true as it is simple. 



If we keep our bees in a shallow chamber just as 

 large as it is necessary for the colony, and not 

 larger, packed as warm and as tight as possible, 

 and give no ventilation above, the temperature 

 of the air in this chamber will soon get warm 

 enough by the consumption of honey, the entrance 

 to this chamber being just under the cluster of the 

 bees. Under this chamber and under the entrance 

 is a second chamber, not quite as large, but empty. 

 A similar arrangement is known here in the United 

 States as downward ventilation, except that, usual- 

 ly, the entrance is on the bottom of the lower emp- 

 ty chamber; but this difference is important. We 

 will suppose, now, by the breathing of the bees the 

 temperature of the air surrounding the cluster will 

 get warmer; the warm ;air will always rise, and so 

 the upper chamber will get warmer by and by. 

 The entrance is open, and so if the air in the lower 

 chamber gets warmer than the outside air, it will 

 pour out by the entrance, and cool air will gel in 

 till the air in this lower chamber has nearly the 

 same temperature as the outside air. The bees are 

 entirely quiet, so long as the temperature is cor- 

 rect. Now, if the temper^turelin the upper cham- 

 ber gets too warm, the beeB;commencejto extend.the 

 cluster, and consequently are moving. This causes 

 some disturbance of the air, and cold and fresh air 

 from below is mixed with the warm and impure air 

 from above, and so the proper temperature and 

 ventilation are secured 'again. The air in the low- 

 er ctiarnber is somewhat warmer now than before, 



