1186 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



ditions which are admirably adapted to the re- 

 quirements for success. 



Our cellar is much larger than required for 

 my colonies, and since the temperature often re- 

 mains but a few degrees above freezing for weeks 

 at a time, I built, out of building-paper, a center 

 room (in the center, by reason of its being less 

 affected by the outside temperature), having only 

 a framework to fasten the paper on — one thick- 

 ness of good quality, red or brown building-pa- 

 per being used, fastened by lath nailed around 

 the edges of the paper, each strip of paper over- 

 lapping the adjoining strip, and thus making a 

 practically air-tight room, care being taken not 

 to puncture or tear the paper in putting it on. 



Now, my method of getting the right tempera- 

 ture, and dry, warm, and pure air circulating 

 within this paper room, during the entire winter, 

 is the unique part, and is accomplished by an in- 

 let and an outlet ventilating flue, one connected 

 with the chimney in the house, the other with a 

 room above the cellar. These air-passages I 

 made of paper for the purpose of experiment, as 

 large in diameter as the paper would allow. The 

 inlet was long enough to reach from the floor of 

 the bee-room nearly to the ceiling of the 

 room above. The outlet was connected with the 

 chimney, and it created the draft, causing the 

 warm dry air in the top of the room above to 

 pass downward through the inlet tube nearly to 

 the floor ot the bee-room in the cellar, displacing 

 the cellar air which passed upward through the 

 outlet tube to the chimney. The connections 

 were as nearly air-tight as could be made by the 

 lath cleating. The circulation would probably 

 be stronger if the inlet-tube were left out and the 

 air admitted to the bee-room direct through an 

 opening in the floor of the room above; but such 

 a plan would raise the temperature in the bee- 

 room but two or three degrees, while with the 

 tube extending nearly to the ceiling the proper 

 temperature is obtained. The circulation was 

 barely perceptible, yet adequate for the purpose. 



There were three angles in the tubing, and, 

 though constructed of cheap material, these were 

 not made without some difficulty; but the cost 

 covering the running expense is practically of no 

 account. I could not observe that we burned a 

 pound more coal, nor did the room seem in any 

 wise affected by this connection with the cellar 

 or chimney, and this was probably due to the 

 few degrees of heat required to maintain the tem- 

 perature of a bee-room in a cellar thus construct- 

 ed; and as my increased number of colonies will 

 fill this room half full this winter, I am expecting 

 the animal heat to increase the temperature so as 

 to require a damper or the admittance of cooler 

 air to this room. 



The outlet tube was placed in a partition, thus 

 making no rupture in the appearance of the room 

 above. 



I close the entrance of my hives in winter with 

 a strip of wire cloth after placing on the bottoiri 

 of the hive two sheets of thin paper (the first sheet 

 having a tack or two at the rear), and thus add 

 to the purity of the air in this bee-room by re- 

 moving the dead bees twice during the winter. 

 When only the lower cleat, the one holding the 

 wire cloth is removed, a paper can be withdrawn 

 in nearly all instances without a bee escaping. 



Clarkson, N. Y. 



BEE-KEEPING IN BRAZIL. 



The First Bee Congress in Rio Grande do 

 Sul. 



BY DR. A. L. GREGORY. 



Five years ago, when Mr. Emil Schenk came 

 to this State from Parana, there were very few 

 men who used a movable -frame hive. Mr. 

 Hahmemann was the most practical man in the 

 state, but he had to give up the business on ac- 

 count of his age. He loves the bees yet, but he 

 is too old and feeble to work with them. Mr. 

 Schenk bought a stock of blacks and began busi- 

 ness, continuing his experiments with both Ger- 

 man and American systems, which he began in 

 Parana. We have no supply factories here from 

 which we can obtain what we want. We make 

 all fixtures by hand, or order from abroad, which 

 is very slow and expensive. Finally Mr. Schenk 

 adopted a system of his own, fitted to the needs 

 of the country, then mounted a mule, and for 

 months at his own expense sold models to bee- 

 keepers and took subscriptions for a small bee- 

 journal which he published. It was not a lucra- 

 tive affair, so after many hardships he finally sold 

 the paper to a company in Porto Alegre, the 

 capital of the state, he remaining editor. This 

 company in some way interested the government- 

 al authorities in bee culture. As a result of this 

 the government sent Mr. Schenk to Germany 

 two years ago to import Italian bees. He re- 

 turned late last year. By hard work some queens 

 were raised, and a few distributed at government 

 cost. This year there will be more sent out. 



The " Centro Economico," which is under 

 state direction, asked Mr. Schenk to write a treat- 

 ise on bee culture. He composed it in German, 

 and the authorities ordered it printed in German, 

 Portuguese, and Italian. The Portuguese, which 

 lies on my desk, has 54 pages and 32 illustra- 

 tions. American bee-men, imagine your bee lit- 

 erature to consist of only one number of Glean- 

 ings! That is all we have in this state in Port- 

 uguese or Italian. The Germans lead in bee 

 culture. Mr. Schenk is editor of the Brasilian- 

 ische Bieneiipflege, a monthly publication of 20 or 

 30 pages. 



In September, 1907, was the first bee congress 

 in our State. The outside attendance was most- 

 ly German, though the people ot Taquary took 

 a lively interest. Steps were taken toward organ- 

 ization; instructions were given as to hives, foun- 

 dation, queen-rearing, etc. A society was form- 

 ed to aid the producer in obtaining better prices 

 for his products. By the aid of this society the 

 bee-man is to receive about 9 cts. a pound foi 

 good extracted honey. There is very little comb 

 honey as yet. 



1 here is some talk of an experiment station. 

 If this should materialize we expect bee-keeping 

 to receive an impetus. This year, however, is 

 bad, as the country is full of locusts, which are 

 eating up all vegetation. 



In case any of our readers want to become mis- 

 sionaries we can assure them there is much to be 

 done in Brazil in instructing the people in the 

 arts of living as well as in bee culture. To the 

 extent of our ability we are trying to help the 

 people spiritually, scientifically, and physically. 



Taquary, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 



