THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



245 



that I should like to build a bee cellar, shop, 

 houey-house and house-apiary all combined. 

 Mr. Heddon has a two-story building over 

 his bee cellar. The lower story is used as 

 an extracting room and honey house, the 

 upper story as a store-room. R. L. Taylor 

 has a bee cellar, houey-house, shop and 

 store-room similarly arranged. 



I have had but little occasion to use artifi- 

 cial heat in bee cellars. I have always used 

 an oil stove. If obliged to use one very 

 much I should have a pipe arranged to carry 

 off the gases. Some very good authorities 

 say that when artificial heat is needed it is 

 better to have an ante-room connected with 

 the bee cellar, and to have the stove in this 

 adjoining room. As I understand it, they 

 would warm the air in the ante-room, then 

 allow it to pass into the bee room. The 

 special advantage to be derived from this 

 arrangement is not clear in my mind. 



What about arrangements for ventilation ? 

 This is a point that I take up with a feeling 

 that I wish I knew more about it. It has 

 been most thoroughly discussed in the Re- 

 view, and the weight of the testimony was 

 that so far as furnishing pure air is con- 

 cerned no special ventilating arrangement 

 is needed, that ventilation has a bearing 

 only as it influences temperature— and yet, 

 somehow I am not satisfied with such a de- 

 cision. Years ago, great things were ex- 

 pected from sub-earth ventilation, but nearly 

 all, if not all, who provided their cellars 

 with sub-earth ventilation, have abandoned 

 it. In some cases it was thought to be an 

 injury. I have never wintered bees more 

 perfectly than in a clamp where they were 

 buried under two feet of frozen earth. All 

 these facts are stubborn things, and, if I 

 were building a bee cellar I should not go to 

 the expense of furnishing it with sub-earth 

 ventilation, and yet— I wish I knew more 

 about it. 



All you who have bee cellars, and can add 

 to what I have written, let's hear from you. 



Electric Swarm Notifiers. 

 Some one in the C B. J. advises that each 

 hive in the apiary be placed upon springs 

 that may be adjusted on thumb screws. 

 When a swarm issues the hive will be so 

 lightened that it will rise and complete an 

 electric "circuit" that will cause a bell to 



ring and thus give notice that a swarm has 

 issued. Bro. Hill, of the Guide, copies the 

 article and then comments on it as follows: — 



"The plan would do very well where only 

 a few colonies are kept, but in large apiaries 

 too much expense and trouble. A better 

 way would be to remove all trees that the 

 bees would be likely to cluster on when 

 swarming and put up in their places several 

 slender poles, on the top of which should be 

 fastened a wire cage containing a few bees, 

 or perhaps a bunch of dried mullen stalks 

 tied up in the shape of a cluster of bees, 

 would usually be sufficient to attract all 

 swarms to light in the desired places. These 

 cages or bunches of mullen should be sus- 

 pended from the top of the poles by a 

 spring in such a way that the additional 

 weight of a swarm clustered thereon would 

 connect the wires and sound the alarm. A 

 half dozen poles could be so placed as to 

 catch swarms that would be likely to issue 

 from a large apiary, and it could be so 

 arranged that the dollar battery could oper= 

 ate all the swarm-enticers. This would 

 save all adjusting, because when once prop- 

 erly arranged in working trim they would 

 all remain so throughout the season if the 

 battery were kept in order. The alarm 

 could be sounded at any place or any dis- 

 tance from the apiary necessary. The bees 

 seem to prefer to cluster about fifteen to 

 twenty feet high, and will usually avail 

 themselves of a convenient place at this 

 height in an open place, even if there are 

 plenty of trees, but no trees should be 

 allowed to stand very near an apiary on any 

 condition, unless it be on the north side. 

 The sun should have full sway east, south 

 and west to produce the best results. Well 

 trimmed grape vines or shade boards, small 

 trees with thinned tops so the sun shines 

 through them, are all the shade that should 

 be tolerated in or around an apiary. There 

 can be no objection to removing everything 

 that would interfere with the cages of bees 

 or bundles of mullen. The arrangement 

 would be both cheap and practical and 

 profitable when we consider the time that is 

 often consumed in watching an apiary." 



When we remember how successful Mr. O. 

 R. Coe was in causing swarms to cluster on 

 caged bees, there is little doubt that the 

 plan proposed by Bro. Hill might be made a 



How to Prevent the Warping of Covers. 



I have had very little trouble from the 

 warping of covers, but it is possible that in 

 a hot climate there might be trouble from 

 this source. E. J. Baird, of Florida, writes 

 to Gleanings a plan for its prevention. He 

 says: — 



"With your permission I want to tell the 

 readers of Gleanings a good thing in rela- 

 tion to the flat covers of the dovetailed hive. 

 I have tried the hive this year, and can see 



