1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



356 



piercing winds from blowing in directly 

 on the cluster of bees, and I therefore 

 deem their use an advantage Unless some 

 untoward circumstances shall show other- 

 wise, we shall use these next season. 



But this can not be denied: That with 

 them the bees still come out, and, alighting 

 on the snow, die there. These bees are 

 not superannuated nor diseased, as I found 

 by picking up dozens of them that were 

 chilled through and warming them with my 

 breath. As soon as they revived they would 

 take wing and tly direct to their entrance. 

 Quite a number I smashed to see if the dis- 

 charge from the intestines showed the least 

 diseased matter; on the contrary, it seemed to 

 be perfectly healthy — proving conclusively, as 

 I believe, that, had there not been any snow 

 on the ground, they would have added greatly 

 to the prosperity and strength of the colonies 

 to which they severally belonged. 



I am thoroughly convinced that the flying- 

 out of bees, no matter how warm the atmos- 

 phere, when snow is on the ground, is at- 

 tended with considerable loss. This loss 

 is greater in mild climates, subject to occa- 

 sional thaws, than in those localities where 

 winter comes snug and cold, and continues 

 so until spring arrives, which, when it does 

 arrive, continues to be warm. In a locality 

 such as we have here in Medina, we have 

 warm and cold weather off and on all through 

 winter. It is these bright sunny days when 

 the snow is on the ground that causes con- 

 siderable mortality. 



This brings me to the question, ' ' Should 

 we not keep the bees shut in the hives until 

 warm days?" You will remember that I 

 tried this two winters ago, shutting them in 

 with wire-cloth porticos, and then removing 

 them on warm days. But the result was 

 disastrous, for apparently a few bees would 

 attempt to escape during the time of their 

 confinement — that is to say, a few superan- 



to ward off the cold would consume largely 

 of the stores, and this would lead to dysen- 

 tery. I don't know that this was what hap- 

 pened; but I surmised it from indications. 



FIG. 3.— PAPER WINTER CASE AND HALTER 

 STORM-DOOR. 



nuated or diseased ones would try to get 

 out of the hive, which, failing to do, would 

 stir up the whole colony. The cluster would 

 expand, become chilled, and in the attempt 



FIG. 4. — VriNTER CASE OF SECOND-HAND 

 WRAPPING-PAPER AS USED AT MEDINA. 



Even though I removed the porticos on bright 

 suitable days, mischief had been done; and 

 most of the hives on which these porticos 

 were attached, the same being removed when 

 the weather favored, resulted in the death of 

 the colony. 



THE WEBER ENTRANCE-CONTROLLER. 



It will be remembered, also, that on page 

 96 we illustrated the Weber device. This is 

 a contrivance to let the air pass through 

 freely into the hive through darkened pas- 

 sageways and at the same time confine the 

 bees within the hive. When the operator 

 desires to let them have a flight, on suitable 

 days he can do so by lifting a slide so that 

 the bees of the colony may pass out direct. 



The question may arise whether or not 

 while confined at other times they would not 

 stir up a commotion within the colony, re- 

 sulting in disaster, as was explained in the 

 case of the porticos just mentioned. But in 

 the Weber device all rays of daylight are en- 

 tirely shut out, and the only way by which 

 the bees would know their entrance would 

 be from the direction of the fresh air which 

 would pass through wire-cloth partitions, 

 closing the darkened passageways. Right 

 here, I suspect, is a vital difference between 

 the Weber device and the wire-cloth porti- 

 cos which allow the light from without to 

 pass freely into the entrance. 



As explained on page 96, we had put some 

 of them into use; but so far we have been 

 unable to come to any conclusion, as there 

 are no indications at present that would 

 seem to warrant us in forming an opinion 

 either way. 



