THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



297 



Comments on a Beginner's Day Book, 

 No. 11. 



E. E. HASTY. 



BELIEVE I managed to get through 

 my second month of bee-keeping with 

 out any very serious "fool capers." Mal- 

 adroit performances are not restricted to be- 

 ginners by any means. There is a pathetic 

 entry on my day-book which is certainly not 

 so much as a thousand years back in the 

 past, and which reads — 



" Licked the Bingham & Hetherington honey 

 knife 1 time. Going to do so more, timeB.'' 



For the benefit of any chance non- bee- 

 keeping reader it may be remarked that the 

 blood thirsty razor which Bingham puts out 

 as a honey-knife has two edges. If you make 

 a safe lick in one direction the unruly mem- 

 ber is sure to sprawl off over the opposite 

 edge. 



"Nov. tjth, 1879. Finished taking off surplus 

 honey. Total 675 pounds ." 



This seems small from 63 colonies ; but as it 

 was all comb, and the apiary had been run up 

 to the number mentioned from 24 in the 

 spring, it was not so very bad — 28 pounds 

 each, besides the heavy increase. At any rate 

 I didn't do it, I only bought it. I did exten- 

 sive figuring on this my initial crop to ascer- 

 tain whether the blacks or the hybrids were 

 ahead, and whether the Gallup frame or the 

 Langstroth was more conducive to weighty 

 results; but, as figures seldom do anything 

 else but lie, I think I will not present my 

 results. Finishing the harvest in November 

 necessarily will look queer to some, but it's 

 all riglit. The present year my bees seemed 

 bringing in honey the last day of September; 

 and I finished extracting Oct. 13th; but con- 

 siderable of the honey was unsealed and too 

 thin for first quality. 



"Nov 12th Finished painting ten chaff hives. 

 Reconstructed a Galluii liive into a chaff hive. 

 John highly approves— as I do myself. Mean to 

 reconstruct them all." 



Yes, paint your hives in the months when 

 the bees let you have leisure— good plan. But, 

 say, I don't know where my paint brush has 

 gone to. I haven't seen it for many a year. 

 I got to using bindings instead of paint; 

 and the tooth of Time has gnawed my bind- 

 ings off mostly. More recently I got strijjed 

 building paper to bind things anew; but, 

 alack-a-day, it stands in the shanty still, and 

 has not been put onl What shall be done to 

 the bee man that makes himself a warning 

 instead of an example? 



The reconstructed hives had the second 

 wall of front and rear put on outside. One 

 side was given a permanent second wall in- 

 side while on the other side a temporary 

 second wall was to be used, located just to 

 suit the size of winter chamber I wanted. 

 These chaff hives have done tolerably well; 

 but they have one serious fault, inch boards 

 next the cluster on two sides. The experi- 

 ence of years has made me feel sound on 

 one thing; the wall inside the chaff should be 

 the thinnest film of wood that will answer 

 and stand the knocks it will be subjected to. 

 If inch boards get wet and soggy in winter, 

 as they are liable to, they will not dry out till 

 settled warm weather; and their sogginess 

 sadly depresses the colony that must abide 

 within a few inches of them. A thin wall 

 quickly gets dry, when it has half a chance, 

 at any season, and everything is " warm as a 

 toast" again. 



"Nov. 13th. Hauled three loads of sawdust 

 from Albon's mill." 



I was an enthusiast on the method of hav- 

 ing each hive rest on a mound of sawdust, 

 and continued so for most of my bee-keep- 

 ing history; but of late I hesitate. It now 

 seems to me that I should much prefer to 

 have each hive on a piecfe of sawed stone 

 flagging if the cost would admit. Certain 

 insect enemies which I feel seriously appre- 

 hensive about would be badly bothered, I 

 think, by putting the house upon a rock. 

 The enemies in question may have taken 

 passage to come to me in these identical 

 loads of sawdust— if so I had rather the saw- 

 dust had been exported to "Pontiac." But 

 when I get ready to open fire on these little, 

 white, helpless - looking, harmless - looking 

 villains I shall want more than the space of 

 these comments. 



"Nov. 2r)th. Mild day, thawing a little. Coat of 

 paint on 1 1 reconstructed chaff hives. Packed for 

 winter the first colonies, 12—6 and 12 — 7." 



Theoretically it would seem that I have 

 packed my bees for winter too late; but some 

 how I have not yet been made sensible of it. 

 My favorite style of packing moves half the 

 colonies to a new location, and is thus ill 

 adapted to be used until warm weather is 

 over. 



" Nov. 26th. Packed tliree colonies in one 

 large chaff' hive— raining part of the time." 



Putting three children in one bed cold 



winter nights is great economy of comfort 



and heat. With bees, the details are a little 



difficult to arrange; and it makes lots of 



work, and opens chances to bungle things, 



