1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



\3\5 



IS DENSE SHADE OBJECTIONABLE? 



Bees Return to Hives from Miller Escapes; 

 How to Grade Honey Properly. 



BY J. C. DAVIS. 



I thought that the shade might be getting too 

 dense in my apiary, so I trimmed the trees. The 

 upper view shows the yard as it was, and the low- 

 er one as it looiis now. At the time I did the 

 trimming I was not sure that I was doing the 

 right thing, and I am not sure yet whether the 

 shade was any disadvantage. The best colony in 

 this yard in 1906 was No. 6 in the back row, 

 wheie the shade was the most dense. The same 

 colony was the second best in 1907. There were 

 about 150 colonies when the photos were taken, 

 September, 1907. The colonies in the front 



FIG. 1. J. C. DAVIS' APIARY BEFORE AND AETER TRIMMING THE TREES. 



Mr. Davis did not notice any material difference in results after getting rid of tlie dense shade. 



rows get more sunshine, and they| winter (or, 

 rather, spring) a little better, and the surplus av- 

 erages a little more from them. Since doing the 

 trimming however, there is very little difference. 

 The trees are second-growth oak, hickory, and 

 elm. 



As may be seen, there is a Miller escape on 

 top of one of the hives in the lower view of Fig. 

 1. I use both Porter and Miller escapes, and I 

 find them both good. If I have plenty of time I 

 use the Porter; if not, I use the Miller. I have 

 watched closely, and I think that the bees all re- 

 turn to their own hives from the Miller. 



Fig. 2 shows section honey as I grade it. I 

 always sell by the case, and the grocers prefer to 

 have it that way when so graded. They often 

 sell other ungraded honey by n.veight at the same 

 time. 



This has been a very poor season^ here — about 

 10 or 15 per cent of a 

 crop from the best 

 strain of Italians, and 

 a total failure from 

 the blacks 



Bethlehem, Iowa. 



[We believe theie 

 is no question but 

 that too much shade 

 is too much of a 

 good thing. An 

 ideal shade is that 

 which spreads over 

 the hives only during 

 the middle hours of 

 the day in hot weath- 

 er; but at all other 

 times it is best not 

 to have any shade, 

 although where one 

 uses natural shade, 

 that is a matter diffi- 

 cult to control, ordi- 

 narily. If one uses 

 shade boards, and ap- 

 plies them just as 

 soon as hot weather 

 comes on he will 

 have to put himself 

 to considerable ex- 

 pense and trouble — 

 that is, the trouble of 

 putting them on in 

 the first place, and 

 then more trouble ev- 

 ery time a hive is 

 opened, especially 

 if he uses a 15 or 20 

 pound stone to hold 

 the shade- board 

 down. But the or- 

 dinary shade-boards, 

 unless made very 

 elaborate, do not fur- 

 nish any adequate 

 shade in the hottest 

 weather. The bees 

 are not fully protect- 

 ed, and swarming is 

 aggravated. 



It was the late E. 



