1889 



GLEANINGS IN 1JEE CULTURE. 



67 



afraid, however, that I should conclude, if I 

 tried it, that I could not see any very great 

 difference. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS, 



WINTERING A HIVE ON A SUMMER STAND WITH- 

 OUT A BOTTOM. 



'HILE I was at the convention at Albany 

 last winter, a gentleman, I do not remem- 

 ber his name (he was on the platform at 

 the left of the president), said that his 

 hired man had a hive of bees in a box hive, 

 standing on four posts three feet high, with no 

 bottom in the hive, and it stood outdoors all winter, 

 and the thermometer had been below zero several 

 times during the winter, and that the hive of bees 

 came out better in the spring than his own bees 

 that he had put in his cellar, as he supposed, in the 

 best possible shape. He was asked by some one in 

 the convention if the hive was high enough so it 

 did not get snowed under, to protect it from the 

 wind. He said it was about three feet from the 

 ground, and did not get covered with snow, but 

 that the whole bottom of the hive was open all win- 

 ter. Now, my theory is that there was no conden- 

 sation, as the temperature outside and inside of the 

 hive was nearly alike, except, perhaps, in the 

 cluster of the bees a little warmer. I also think 

 that there was no circulation or current of air, but 

 instead there was a penetration of fresh air. or, in 

 other words, the air formed an equilibrium of tem- 

 perature by penetration of the free and open bot- 

 tom of the hive; and when there was a change in 

 the temperature outside, there was a correspond- 

 ing change inside also. As I am only a novice in 

 bee-keeping, I will not make any suggestions. 

 West Troy, N. Y. A. E. Clute. 



Friend C., I can not recall to mind now 

 the name of the gentleman you mention, 

 but perhaps some of the other members 

 present can do so. Through the back vol- 

 umes of our bee-journals we have had a. 

 good many reports such as you give ; but 

 instead of having the whole bottom of the 

 hive open, I think the effect would be still 

 better if they had an opening from four to 

 six inches square. To prevent mice from 

 getting in at this opening, it had better be 

 covered with wire cloth ; and when we get 

 down to it, a good-sized entrance properly 

 protected with the cloth, in such a position 

 that it is not likely to be closed up with 

 snow or ice, pretty nearly fills the bill. In 

 fact, I have always favored the idea of hav- 

 ing the bees enter the hives from under the 

 bottom. A Simplicity hive, pushed for- 

 ward on its bottom, gives us just exactly 

 this kind of entrance. Now, after having 

 fastened the hive so it can not slip forward 

 on the bottom-board, tip it up as illustrated 

 on page 25 of our last issue, and you have 

 an opening that lets all the dead bees fall 

 out. and gives every advantage of a hive 

 without a bottom. If you put wire cloth 

 over this large entrance, however, to keep 

 out the mice, the dead bees can not fall out 

 as they would otherwise. Some years ago 

 the matter was.pretty strongly talked up, of 



having hives as tight above as they could 

 possibly be made, and no bottom-board at 

 all, during the winter tim*. 



SIZE Ol' SECTIONS, AGAIN ; M. A. KELLHY RENEWS 

 THE MATTER WITH DR. MILLER. 



Please allow me to thank Dr. Miller for his able 

 reply concerning the "size of sections;" also to 

 answer his question, "Why does the 434x4& section 

 seem to you too small?" Simply, sir, because, in 

 ordinary seasons, it will not hold one pound. I tried 

 to make this plain, as a careful reading of my letter 

 will show. To call it a 1-lb. section is a misnomer, 

 and to sell it as such is something worse. True, as 

 you remark, no size will give uniform weight; but 

 the variation should embrace 1 lb. between its ex- 

 tremes. But how is it with the so-called 1-lb. sec- 

 tions? With me they average from 13 to 15 oz. only. 

 Taking 2 oz., then, as an average variation, it 

 should be from 15 to IT oz., thus giving some 

 chance to strike a general average of one pound. 

 In giving your experience with various widths, 

 you stop short with 8 to the foot. Tell us how 

 much your 7 to the foot and ti to the foot or I],; 

 sections weigh. Did you ever have a single super 

 of the sections in question in which they would 

 average 17 ounces each? Have you nol had 

 hundreds of supers of the same size of sections in 

 which they would average not more than 1"> oz. 

 each? Doubtless your own experience will indi- 

 cate the truth of my assertion, that the 4?ix4J4 is 

 too small. This may seem to be. but it is not, a 

 small matter, (iiving good weight maintains a 

 good reputation, which is no small matter. 



Milton, W. Va., Dec. 31, 1888. M. A. Kellky. 



Friend K., you seem to overlook the fact 

 that the Simplicity sections are made now 

 of a good many different widths. I believe 

 1 put the first Simplicity sections <>n the 

 market that were ever heard of. They 

 were arranged so that eight would fill a 

 Langs troth frame, and, as originally made, 

 they were plump two inches. Now, with- 

 out separators, and as I first used them, 

 they average more than a pound. The 

 same sections with separators average a 

 trifle less than a pound ; but as it is entire- 

 ly out of the question— at least, so far as I 

 know— to produce sections weighing even 

 very nearly a pound, we always sell them by 

 weight ; and if we sell them by weight we 

 are just about as badly off to have them run 

 over as to have them run under. To be 

 very exact, perhaps we should not call them 

 " one-pound sections.'' Giving good weight 

 maintains a good reputation, no doubt ; 

 but I do not believe it advisable to give 

 very much more than a pound. Honey is 

 sold by weight the world over, so far as 1 

 know. In California they sell apples and 

 potatoes and coal, and almost every thing 

 else, by weight ; and I think it would be 

 well if we should follow their example in 

 many things. 



IS HONEY VINEGAR AS GOOD FOR PICKLING As 

 CIDER VINEGAR ? 



Reading the articles in regard to honey vinegar in 

 November and December Gleanings moves me to 

 make some inquiry of the feminine portion of 

 Gleanings' readers concerning it. 1 will first 

 state that wt- have for a number of year mud. 



