40H 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



M a v 



certainly makes a very great difference in 

 the yield of honey, this getting rid of drones 

 entirely, when none are wanted. 



ORNAMENTAL HIVES. 



STOVER S TENEMENT HIVE, AND HOW IT 

 LOOKS AFTER COMPLETION. 



§INCE the publication of the sketch of the ten- 

 ement hive, March 1, 1887, I was frequently 

 reminded that other bee-keepers were inter- 

 ested in ornamental hives, as I received let- 

 ters from different parts of the country, 

 asking- for further description. For the benefit of 

 other bee-keepers who have time or taste for the 

 ornamental part of bee-keeping, I send you a pho- 

 tograph of the hive. There are four colonies of 

 bees in it, doing well, but not any better than in 

 single hives. The spire is fastened with hinges, 

 and is used to store chaff cushions in the summer. 

 For :i contrast, the straw skep was placed in the 

 foreground while taking the picture. It was made 

 by my father, 64 years ago, when 19 years old. He 

 is still living, and also keeping bees. He has had 

 from two to twenty colonies since his boyhood, but 

 his bees are still governed by a " king." 

 Brookville, O., April 25, 1889. Levi Stover. 



SIXTY YEARS AQO AND NOW, SIDE RY SIDE. 



CELLAR WINTERING. 



FRIEND DOOLITTLE THINKS DAMPNESS AND CLAY 

 SOILS NOT NECESSARILY DELETERIOUS. 



TF this article is a little out of season, I hope the 

 OS: readers of Gleanings will excuse, for I feared 

 W that, if I did not give it now while it is fresh 



**■ in my mind, it would never see light at all. I 

 see, on page 296, that Prof. Cook thinks that a 

 bee-cellar in sandy soil is better to winter bees in 

 than one in clay soil, and that you, Mr. Editor, 

 agree in the same thought. Well, this maybe so; 

 but I wish to say that no one need be debarred 

 from wintering bis bees perfectly in a cellar, even 

 if the soil is the worst kind of a clay. The soil 

 where my bee-cellar is situated is of a mixture of 

 clay and what we call "hard-pan," the same hold- 

 ing water even more tenaciously than all clay, if 

 possible, yet my bees have all come out in the very 

 best condition possible. There has been so much 

 moisture in the cellar the past winter that it has 

 stood in drops all over the roof on the inside near- 

 ly all the time; while on the door, which is painted, 

 it has run down so as to stand in puddles at the 

 bottom. Besides this, mold has formed about the 

 .sides, so that some handsome specimens have 

 reached the length of two inches in the center, 

 while the base of some of the largest patches is six 

 or more inches in diameter. Now, I feel almost 

 like asserting that dryness or dampness, ventila- 

 tion or no ventilation (except that which will pass 

 through the surrounding surface), has nothing to 

 do with the bees wintering well, but that the whole 

 thing rests on the right temperature. I can not 

 see bow the professor's cellar should be so cold un- 

 less he has a room above it. 



Nov. 5th I commenced to place my bees in the 

 cellar, putting in a few each day till the 11th, when 

 all were in. A week after this, the temperature in 

 the cellar stood at 45°. It very gradually lowered, 

 till, on the middle of January, it stood at 42'4°. 

 Here it stood till about the middle of March, when it 

 gradually rose, so that, on the 10th of April, it. 

 stood at 45° again. On the 15th of April I com- 

 menced to put the bees out, putting a few out each 

 day when the weather outside was right, till the 

 24th, when all but eight were out. It now came on 

 rainy and cool, so that, as I write, the eight are 

 still in the cellar. Although we have had the mer- 

 cury as high as 82° in the shade during this month, 

 and I have had the doors open to a certain extent 

 while carrying the bees out, still the thermometer 

 has not been above 45° in the cellar after the same 

 had been closed an hour after setting bees out. I 

 have just been to the cellar, and find all just as I 

 have described above, with the bees in the eight 

 hives still remaining as quiet as they were last De- 

 cember, and occupying from five to eight ranges 

 between the combs. In one colony, nearly a pint 

 of bees hang below the combs; and after watching 

 them quite a while I failed to see one of them stir 

 a single bit till I breathed on them, when they 

 readily told me that they were all alive. As these 

 colonies that are still in the cellar are those that 

 were set in first, it will be seen that, when five 

 more days pass by, it will be just six months since 

 they saw the light of day; and yet if damp and 

 moisture are detrimental to bees wintering, and if 

 they can not winter without special ventilation, 

 they should have been dead long ago. An exam- 

 ination of those set out of the cellar shows thaj 



