573 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1&19 



honey than an eight-frame, couldn 't we af- 

 ford to do a little more lifting? 



A Unique Scheme for Ventilating Hives. 



Mr. Crowder showed Mr. Stone and me 

 his scheme of ventilation, that is about as 

 unique as anything we have seen for mov- 

 ing strong colonies in hot weather — and they 

 have a lot of that to do in California. Mind 

 you, the weather is hot, and the colonies 

 two-story and strong, just off the orange 

 and ready for another flow after moving. 

 Well, here is the scheme: 



He makes all his brood-nests with per- 

 manent bottom screens. While the hives are 

 in service' a removable floor-board slides 

 over this screen, leaving, when in place, the 

 usual %-inch space between the bottoms of 

 the frames and the floor. It will be seen 



available by drawing out the floor-board, 

 and this ventilating-frame between the two 

 stories, are enough. The half-tones will 

 make the idea plain. 



A Caution About Large Hives. 

 Before closing I wish to enter a caution. 

 Large hives, particularly the Jumbo ten- 

 frame, are selling as they never did before. 

 I believe that in districts where swarming 

 is common the restriction of egg-laying or 

 breeding is one of the most common causes 

 of swarming. A large hive, ten-frame 

 Jumbo, thirteen-frame Langstroth, or a 

 thirty-frame Long Idea or a two-story eight- 

 or ten-frame Langstroth, when the Demaree 

 plan is practiced, should give plenty of 

 breeding room, with the result that swarm- 

 ing is almost entirely cured. 



Fig. 11. — lu this aiumy oi Ziimin rmni \ ( rowder is an exjual number of teu- and twelve-frame hives; with 

 the asual number of swarms froiu tlie ten-frame colonies, and almost no swarms from the twelve-frame. 



that the hives must be made enough deeper 

 to allow placing the screen below the remov- 

 able floor-boards. When the board is re- 

 moved a lath closes up the entrance that is 

 an inch and a half deep. This scheme of 

 providing bottom ventilation may be ob- 

 jected to because of expense and of making 

 the brood-nests deeper than the supers. 



But really the ' ' unique ' ' part of the 

 scheme is the ventilator placed between the 

 two stories. This, inasmuch as it can be ap- 

 plied to any two-story hive, is certainly 

 good. It consists of a sort of framework 

 about three inches deep, the sides open, and 

 covered with wire cloth for ventilation. In 

 extremely hot weather, or where the colo- 

 nies are very strong, a top screen can be 

 used; but ordinarily, says Mr. Crowder, the 

 bottom screen already on the hive and made 



The caution I wish to enter right here is 

 this: There is a question whether these 

 big brood-nests are adapted to the produc- 

 tion of comb honey; and even for the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey they are not 

 suitable for all localities and for some bee- 

 keepers. There is the objection of their 

 greater weight; and in some localities where 

 the seasons are short a small hive will ac- 

 tually give more surplus, where a large 

 hive would have that surplus turned into 

 bees that come too late for the harvest. I 

 most strenuously advise trying only a few 

 hives at first. Try out your locality and 

 yourself. The idiosyncrasies of human na- 

 ture are so varied that what is all right for 

 one man is all wrong in the same environ- 

 ment for another. The ten-frame Langstroth 

 can tit either. 



