GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



the bees are at liberty to go in and out, thus 

 not allowing the sun and light to shine into 

 the inner hive, preventing, in this way, the 

 bees from being drawn out by the sun or 

 light to take a flight. Only the warm tem- 



perature would cause this. In other words, 

 only the atmosphere of 60 to 70 degrees Fah- 

 renheit would cause them to take a flight, 

 and thereby prevent them from becoming 

 chilled. 



When the weather becomes very severe, 

 below zero, you move the metal slide so that 

 the entrance becomes closed, so that there 

 is perfect night darkness in the hive. This 

 darkness will keep the bees quiet. The se- 



vere weather will not affect them, with the 

 direct entrance closed up, while a steady sup- 

 ply of fresh air through the air channel at 

 each end will make the hive more comfort- 

 able for them. 



► When the weather moderates, remove the 

 slide to the side again, so that, when the tem- 



perature becomes warm enough for the bees 

 to take a flight, then they could do so. 



The entrance-controller should be closely 

 fitted to the sides of the bottom-board so that 

 no light will shine into the inner hive through 

 the space which perhaps is made by not hav- 

 ing it fit closely enough. If any such space 

 is left it would have to be filled. Putty will 

 answer this purpose the best. 



You will be astonished when using this 

 method to see how small a number of bees 

 you will lose. Spring dwindling is mostly 

 overcome. 



Cincinnati, Ohio 



[This is the second year, if we are correct, 

 that Mr. Weber has tested a device of this 

 kind; and so satisfactory has been its opera- 

 t on that he secured a patent, the same being 

 granted Sept. 24, 1907. The device, as will 

 be seen by consulting the illustrations, con- 

 sists of a general scheme for gradually con- 

 tracting the entrance, allowing daylight to 

 penetrate in moderate weather, when the 

 bees can fly without being chilled to death; 

 and later, when chilly or cold weather comes 

 on, it permits of the closing of the entrance 

 in such a way as to let in the air and yet 

 shut out the light. 



By referring to Fig. 4 you will see that the 

 whole arrangement is turned upside down, 

 although the illustration does not show cor- 

 rectly the true relation of the parts, but yet 

 enough so to enable the reader to understand 

 the general principle. When the entrance is 

 closed entirely by the zinc slide in the cen- 

 tral partition the air passes in at the point 

 marked "bee-route," through the wire-cloth 

 screen around the ends of the partition, back 

 through the screen, and finally into the hive. 



It may be questioned whether thus shut- 

 ting in the bees so they can not get out would 

 not, in some localities especially, result dis- 

 astrously to the colony. AH the experiments 

 that we have conducted in our locality toward 

 shutting off the light, and yet letting in the 

 air, have resulted in heavy losses of bees, 

 providing the bees themselves could not get 

 out of the hive. It is our opinion that it 

 would be better to omit the wire cloth in this 

 controller entirely, because we believe that 

 simply shutting off the direct rays of the light 

 would keep all the healthy bees inside, wMle 

 those that are diseased could escape, thus 

 avoiding a general disturbance if they were 

 confined, demoralizing the whole colony. 



It will be noted that in moderate weather 

 a wooden slide on the outside, in connection 

 with the zinc slide in the slot of the central 

 partition, can be staggered in a zigzag order 

 in such a way as to exclude the direct rays of 

 the light, and yet allow the passage of the 

 bees back and forth. 



It will be remembered that nearly two 

 years ago Mr. A. J. Halter, of Akron, Ohio, 

 following out the suggestions of Mr. Doolit- 

 tle, made some time before, showed how in 

 this climate he leaned a board up against the 

 hive, shutting out the direct rays of light, 

 and yet making it possible for the bees to 

 pass inland out at any time (see illustration). 

 His theory was that, if the light were shut 



