GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



EDWARD FRITZSCHE S SHED APIARY, RICHMOND, N. Y. 



SHED APIARIES. 

 Good Protection in siunmer and in Winter. 



-^ KDWArtD FRITZSCHE. 



i am sending you two photos, one of which 

 shows my little daughter Edna, only four 

 years old, holding a frame of bees. The 

 other gives a view of a part of my apiary. 



I have used the sheds shown in the larger 

 picture for the last three years, and have not 

 found them very inconvenient; but I do not 

 intend to place the hives so close together 

 again, as it tends to encourage mixing and 

 fighting. The sheds afford good protection 

 in the summer from the sun, and they are 

 the only and the best thing for outdoor win- 

 tering, as they are a good protection from 

 storms. As soon as snow comes I close the 

 front of the sheds with doors, and always 

 find the colonies in good condition, with 

 plenty of honey in the spring. 



About my little helper, Edna, who is only 

 four years old, I would say that, even if she 

 does get a sting or two once in a while, she 

 is not afraid of them; and even when she was 

 holding the frame she got one sting, but still 

 held the frame till the picture was taken. 

 She also comes and calls whenever the bees 

 are swarming, should I not happen to be in 

 the yard. 



Richmond, Staten Island, N. Y. 



[We are of the opinion that closing the 

 sheds during bad weather in the fall or spring 

 as well as in the winter may be good prac- 

 tice providing that such closing shuts the 

 hives in darkness. The sheds should, of 

 course, be opened in flying weather. Failure 

 to do 80 promptly would more than nullify 

 all the good that had been done. — Ed.] 



MOVING BEES. 



Bees Moved more Safely in Winter than in 

 Summer; Some Experience which Shows 

 tliat December is the Best Month in the 

 Year for Moving. 



BY DOUGLAS D. HAMMOND, 



During the past 15 years I have been so 

 situated as to move a great many colonies of 

 bees from one to several hundred miles. My 

 first experience was in buying colonies at 

 sales in January and February, and moving 

 them to a cellar. At first I thought this 

 would do them great damage; but to my 

 surprise they invariably came out in good 

 condition. 1 once moved 98 colonies in a 

 bobsled during January, and I expected to 

 break some combs; but up to date I have 

 never broken a comb, although I have mov- 

 ed bees every month in the winter. 



If you start in to close the entrances to 

 quite a number of colonies, by the time the 

 last is closed you will simply be astonished 

 to find how the bees will give off heat. This 

 warms up the combs; and if there is any 

 empty space it is at the bottom of the frame; 

 hence there is no jerk or leverage on the 

 place where the comb is attached to the top- 

 bar. In warm weather, on the other hand, 

 the lower part of the comb is full of brood, 

 and is heavy. Just above the brood the 

 comb is very tender from the time the first 

 pollen comes in in the spring until the first 

 cold nights in the fall. It is just at this point 

 that combs are so often broken when the 

 moving is done in the summer. 



Another reason why moving can be so 

 safely done in cold weather is this: Every 

 practical bee-keeper knows that, when the 



