300 



GLEANINGS IN J^EE OuLTUliE. 



Apr. 



A NEBKASKA APIAKY. 



RIPENING HONEY, WINTERING, ETC. 



T HAND to you a photograph of my chaff-hive 

 ^ apiary. If you could simply glance at the orig-i- 

 iir nai a moment you would soon decide that the 

 "*■ artist has made a truthful picture. It was 

 taken Nov. 30, 1885, soon after the leaves had 

 fallen, and the bees had been prepared for winter 

 quarters. It then comprised an apiary of 10(1 col- 

 onies, 72 of them being packed in our summer and 

 winter chaff hive, which we will briefly describe 

 further on, and as shown in the cut. The apiary is 

 situated on a slight elevation, gradually descending 

 to the east. If the observer will take the pains to 

 turn himself about, facing the west, holding the 



of the room warm, and of a degree necessary to 

 cause the honey to he thick and of a well-ripened 

 state for the market. Again, we find that honey 

 put in shallow vessels in this kind of a pl-ace will 

 rii)en with nearly the same rapidity that it is ripen- 

 ed in tbe hives. Durih^.the winter months this 

 upper half-story comes quite handy for storing 

 away, until another season, all surplus honey, 

 cases, and all other apiarian supplies that may be 

 made during the season of rest for the apiarist. 

 The lower part of this building is used for the 

 manufacture of all our bee-hive work. 



After several years' experience in wintering 

 bees we have learned that bees, if wintered on 

 their summer stands succeWsfuUy, must have pro- 

 tection against the extreme temperatures of our 



GJeanin^sm Btt Culfure 



APIARY OF J. M. YOrNG, HOCK KLUFFS. NEI'.KASKA. 



picture before him, he will get a correct idea of 

 which is north, south, east, or west. The cut in- 

 cludes nearly all the apiary, with the exception of a 

 few hives left out at the left-hand corner. 



The building, as seen in the background, is the 

 work-shop and honey-house combined. It is in 

 size 13 X 18 ft., and a story and a half high, al- 

 though it looks from the engraving to be consider- 

 ably smaller than it really is. The upper half-story 

 is used for nearly all purposes, but more particu- 

 larly for storing comb and extracted honey during 

 the summer and fall months. From several years' 

 experience in raising honey we have come to the 

 conclusion that this is just such a place as is need- 

 ed for ripening comb and extracted honey, from 

 the fact that the sun's rays strike the roof of the 

 building almost directly, always keeping that part 



cold winters. With this object in view we have 

 constructed our summer and winter chaff hive 

 as shown in the cut. Since its introduction we 

 have wintered with no particular loss. In fact, 

 wherever it has been used by other bee-keepers it 

 has given good satisfaction. 



In preparing the bees for winter we remove all 

 surplus frames from the upper story, fill in with 

 dry leaves, or, what is considered best in this local- 

 ity, dry oats chaff' packed down very closeli' with 

 the hand. If they are supplied with plenty of good 

 honej' they will not need any further protection or 

 attention, from the time honey ceases in tbe fall 

 until it comos again the ni'xt season. 



The small hives, as seen in the foreground, are 

 queen-rearing hives. They are made to hold three 

 frames of the regular Simplicity size. Nearly all 



