1902 



(rLP:ANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



61 



CON FUSION OK BKKS JUST CARRIED OUT OF 

 THE CELLAR. 



Are you troubled in the spring- about the 

 bees fljnng- out of the hive when you are 

 taking- them out of the cellar? When do 

 you take them — in the inorning- or in the 

 evening? I have always taken my bees out 

 in the morning, and have been bothered some 

 about their flying out when I am taking 

 them out. Wm. Craig. 



Luce, Mich., Dec. 9. 



[Bees will fly out pretty freely when put 

 out of the cellar for the first time in the 

 spring, especially if the day is warm, as it 

 should be for setting out. A good deal of 

 confusion results sometimes by the bees go- 

 ing into the wrong hive; but this hardly 

 makes any serious trouble. It is sometimes 

 advisable, if the weather-report indicates 

 warm weather the next day, to set the bees 

 out the night before at dusk, as they will 

 then be able to calm down; but even the 

 next morning- they will fly out and g-et mix- 

 ed up some. — Ed.] 



ROARING IN THE CELLAR. 



I take the privilege of asking- for infor- 

 mation in reg-ard to my bees. I have had 

 my bees in the cellar under the house for 

 the last month, but they do not seem to set- 

 tle down. They are in a roar all the time, 

 and some of them leave the hive and come 

 up in the house. Not more than half a 

 dozen have done this. The temperature 

 runs from 40 to 50. F. R. Palmer. 



Carlton, Minn., Dec. 10. 



[Roaring- in the cellar is generally caus- 

 ed from want of ventilation. We would ad- 

 vise j^ou to open the cellar at night, after it 

 gets dark, and close it in the morning- be- 

 fore daylight, providing in so doing you do 

 not reduce the temperature too much. It 

 ought not to go below 40 degrees nor above 

 60. The roaring may also be caused bj' 

 too high a temperature. This stimulates 

 an activity of the bees, causing them to 

 consume a larger proportion of oxygen, giv- 

 ing off carbonic-acid gas, and vitiating the 

 air. The i-emedy, as before explained, is 

 ventilation. — Ed.] 



VENTILATION OF BEE-CELLARS; WIDE VS. 

 LONG SECTIONS; SIDE-OPENING FENCES. 



We have just completed a repository for 

 200 colonies. It is 20x20, 7 feet high. It is 

 not a cellar, but an upper-ground aflair. 

 It is packed with 8 inches of clover chaft' 

 on sides, and 14 inches on top. It took 16 

 loads of chaft" (a sixty-bushel wagon-box 

 constituted a load). For ventilation a ven- 

 tilator-box will be placed at the bottom, 

 and a shaft at the top. A damper will be 

 placed on box and shaft, which will be op- 

 erated by an automatic regulator. When 

 the temperature rises above 45, both damp- 

 ers open, the cool air entering at the bot- 

 tom, and crowding the warm and impure 

 air out at the top. When the temperature 



drops back to or below 45, the dampers 

 close — no need of a person opening and clos- 

 ing the dampers. The regulator is sup- 

 posed to do that. 



What objection is there to a section one- 

 third longer than the regular 4%, or a sec- 

 tion three of which will occupy the same 

 space lengthwise in a super that four of the 

 ordinary 4 '4 do? 



We have just been looking over your list 

 to try to decide on a separator. We note 

 what you say in regard to the fence giving 

 freer communication than the ordinary saw- 

 ed or veneer separator. When you first put 

 the fence out we said that was one of the 

 best moves you ever made in the surplus 

 apartment. Now, if free communication of 

 the bees sidewise is good, would it not like- 

 wise be a further improvement if the bees 

 could have free communication endwise or 

 all around? H. C. Quirin. 



Parkertown, O., Dec. 9. 



[Your cellar 20x20, 7 feet high, ought to 

 give fairly good results provided you put in 

 not more than 200 colonies; but there should 

 be a ventilator running up through the roof, 

 at least 18 inches square, and so arranged 

 that it could be closed during very cold 

 weather. See Bingham's article on this 

 subject in December 1st Gleanings, page 

 933. Our cellar, 12x20, 6'4 feet high, has 

 only a six-inch ventilator, and we find it is 

 not nearly larg-e enough, and shall be com- 

 pelled to enlarge it as the bees get uneasy. 



One objection to sections one-third longer 

 is that they would be odd-sized; and, again, 

 the proportion would be wrong. If it is 

 better larger, it should be tall rather than 

 long or wide. 



It would be an advantage to have free 

 communication sidewise as well as through 

 the separators or fences. Mr. Aspinwall, 

 of Michigan, and H. H. Hyde and Louis 

 Scholl, of Texas, have devised separators 

 g-iving lateral communication. While there 

 seems to be an advantage in having the 

 sides open, it weakens the separators or 

 fences to such an extent that they will not 

 stand ordinary usage.] 



QUEENS WHOSE BEES ARE ALL STRAIGHT 

 FIVE-BANDERS. 



I have this night had opportunity to look 

 over Dec. 1st Gleanings, and it is with 

 great surprise that I notice your statement 

 on page 937, that you have never seen a 

 queen that would produce all straight five- 

 banded workers, and that the best average 

 for one queen, perhaps, was 50 per cent, 

 and as a rule 25 per cent of five-banded 

 workers was all that could be expected. 



I aiTi ver}' much surprised at that stat^-. 

 ment. If you have never seen a queen th,at 

 would produce straight five-bandied work- 

 ers, will you please come to Floresville on. 

 the first opportunity presented? We not 

 only have one queei;*,. but we have several 

 straight ones, and <t>ifbe in particular, whose 

 bees are not only gtll five-banded, but ^9ii[ie 



