268 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



THE GROUNDS AND SHADE OF THE 

 APIARY. 



of shade being well known, of 

 rs to the bee-keeper to place his 

 the shade of low, spreading trees. 

 Upon doing so he finds that, taking the year through, 

 the unprotected hives do just as well as those com- 

 pletely shaded at all times. The facts therefore 

 seem to be these : 1. Sunshine is very profitable to the 

 bees a portion of the time. 2. Shade is very profitable 

 a portion of the time. The two about balance each 

 other, if at odds; but can we not have both in their 

 proper time ? A small shade, so arranged that the 

 morning and evening sun will look around behind 

 it, is the solution usually recommended at present. 

 The following are some reasons why we should not 

 accept this as a finality : 



1. On blazing afternoons, the sun looks around al- 

 together too soon. 2. In actual practice, part of the 

 top and one side of the hive is apt to be exposed to 

 the very hottest of the sunshine. 3. We have some 

 fiercely hot spells before the grape, or anything else 

 usually used for small shades, gets foliage enough 

 to be of much use. 4. Very many noondays are cool 

 enough so that sunshine, rather than shade is prof- 

 itable to the bees. We err a little by thinking too 

 much of our own sensations. We want our apart- 

 ments at 70°, while the bees want theirs at about 100°. 

 A man, therefore, if inclosed in a dry-goods box, 

 would want it shaded much more of the time than 

 the bees want their hives shaded. Put a thermome- 

 ter in an empty hive and expose it to the sun. 

 Whenever the mercury rises to nearly 100 degrees, 

 hives should be shaded; otherwise, probably not. 

 With the air outside at— say 60°, sun shining and 

 honey in the fields, it is desirable that as many bees 

 as practicable should go out and gather. If the 

 hive is shaded, bees may be kept at home for no 

 other purpose than to keep the brood nest warm by 

 animal heat. Every degree of heat obtained from 

 the sun at such a time releases bees to go after hon- 

 ey. This thought is recommended to the fraternity, 

 as a very important one. Don't make your bees 

 stay at home to warm up the hive to its needed 100 

 degrees with their idle bodies (consuming honey as 

 fuel) when the sun stands ready and willing to do 

 the warming. Of the 2000 working hours of a bee's 

 year, probably less than 100 hours are so hot that 

 shade is urgently needed, while 1500 hours are so 

 cool that heat is a benefit. If this be correct, all 

 fixed shades, including vines, annuals, and trees, 

 come too near to doing as much of harm as they do 

 of good. The number of days in a season, when 

 bees suffer serious harm from the heat, being quite 

 small, if the right kind of a shade was at hand, ready 

 to be pulled on if needed, it might be left untouched 

 for weeks at a time ; and the amount of time abso- 

 lutely required to attend to the matter need not be 

 very great. 



The writer has not worked out the details of the 

 problem, but he believes they can be worked out so 

 that one can pass through the apiary just at the 

 proper time and turn on the shade. One pull of the 

 hand should suffice to shade a whole group of hives. 

 At night, the same shades should be set so as to act 

 as reflectors to catch and throw down the rays of the 

 morning sun. We don't want loose boards. It is 

 too much fuss to handle them, they warp, a gale 

 sets 'em flying, and they hit too hard. Some combi- 

 nation of post and hinge and handle, with muslin on 

 a frame of heavy wire or slats, looks the most prom- 



ising. Single muslin makes a very poor shade, as 

 any one may know who has walked under an um- 

 brella on a hot day. Part of the rays of light and 

 heat struggle through, and another part heat the 

 fabric so hot that it directly sets up in the radiation 

 business, sending heat downward profusely. By 

 making the muslin into an endless band, like a roll- 

 er-towel, and then springing it over a frame made 

 of inch strips of wood, we would have a double shade 

 inclosing an inch of air. The lower thickness of 

 muslin would catch the radiation of the upper thick- 

 ness and impart most of it to the inclosed air. Such 

 a shade would be cool, very light, and not very cost- 

 ly. As good muslin can be bought for one cent per 

 square foot, while boards can not be had for that 

 money, the double muslin shade would not cost 

 much more than a board shade of the same size. 



Somebody will say, first perfect, practice, and 

 prove these things, and then come and preach them 

 to us. The writer pleads in reply that his bee expe- 

 rience is somewhat unusual, he having had charge 

 of bees a considerable part of his life, yet never 

 owning a bee, and that he is not in position to try 

 extensive experiments. At the apiary here, aspar- 

 agus was set last year for shade ; and, as it was not 

 expected to be very rank the first year, pole beans 

 were planted in addition. The decision was that 

 neither asparagus nor beans were a sufficient shade. 

 Sunflowers are being tried this season. The sun- 

 flower makes a dense shade, and will throw its great 

 leaves well over the hives, and yet it cannot tangle 

 things up and become a nuisance like grape vines. 

 Just imagine an apiary set 6 feet by 6 with rank 

 Concord vines, and neglected a few weeks in the 

 growing season ! Why, the whole thing would be a 

 jungle chin deep in vines ; and the hives, invisible 

 dens of yellow-jackets down in the unknown depths. 

 The vines should not be neglected, certainly; and 

 there are a few men so fortunately organized that 

 all they attempt seems to be attended to in season; 

 but the most of us would better not leave any need- 

 less gaps open, lest trouble ride in on neglect's back. 

 Sickness, or unexpected press of work, may compel 

 even the most careful persons to neglect many 

 things, at times. 



Let us relegate the grapes to the border of the 

 apiary; have the high, tight, board fence around the 

 whole, and trellises up the fence, on which the lus- 

 cious grape can climb and flourish; but keep the 

 center just as clean as possible, fteferring to the 

 plan given in the previous article, let the broad al- 

 leys be a clean sod, kept close with the lawn-mower, 

 and the squares, on which the groups of hives are to 

 stand bare beds of beaten saw-dust. Perhaps two 

 inches of gravel, with a half bushel of salt spread 

 over it would make a neater bed, and would be suf- 

 ficiently barren. This would not be in danger of 

 taking fire from the smoker. Possibly, it might be 

 worth the while to cover the squares with a thin 

 pavement of some sort of concrete. Then, to crown 

 all, let each hive, or group of hives, have its own re- 

 flector and shade, neat, light, reversible, removable, 

 but not blow-away able, and we would have an ar 

 rangement that even the bee-keepers of Utopia 

 ought to be satisfied with. E. E. Hasty. 



Bodley, Ohio. 



The Colorado Rxiral Life has the following: 

 Lately, on a farm in Boonsville, O., a congress of 

 bees assembled, thirty swarms having settled on one 

 apple tree. The old ladies say it's a sign that the 

 end of the world is near! 



