1488 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



and the expanding of a wet soil, through the pro- 

 cess of freezing, would necessarily have a tendency 

 to break some of the roots. A dry soil, with 

 very little or no water in it, could expand no 

 more than so much dry sawdust in a box; but 

 wet that sawdust, and the process of freezing will 

 burst the sides of the box and cause a slight ele- 

 vation in the middle, just as we find is the case 

 with a pail of water that has frozen over night. — 

 Ed.] 



"It pays to melt old combs," p. 1425. Figures 

 are given to prove it. May be they prove it, and 

 may be they don 't; depends upon whether a frame 

 of foundation is worth as much as one of old 

 comb. Sometimes it is, oftener it isn't. Even 

 with the best of old comb, melting may pay big 

 in a foul-broody locality. [On your first point 

 there are a good many who will differ with 

 you. Old combs have a tendency, so some ex- 

 tracted-honey producers say, to discolor the hon- 

 ey. While the amount of discoloration is very 

 slight, it is appreciable. Then, too, is it not 

 true that a nicely wired frame of foundation is 

 preferable to an old propolized frame containing 

 old comb more or less mutilated and unwired.? 



Then there are quite a school of bee-keepers 

 who believe that worker-cells in old combs are 

 contracted, to the detriment of brood-rearing. 

 While we ourselves do not take much stock in 

 this, yet it has weight with some. 



We have placed frames of foundation in ex- 

 tracting-supers in the height of the honey-flow, 

 and had them filled out in from 24 to 48 hours. 

 These new bright combs, perfectly clean, with 

 the assurance that they are absolutely free from 

 disease — well, we will take them in preference 

 every time, even if they do cost a little time and 

 energy on the part of the bees to draw them out. 

 —Ed] 



Whew! Mr. Editor, you seem to be a radical 

 of the radicals on the subject of deep bottom- 

 boards, p. 1424. I supposed I was the original 

 simon-pure blown-in-the-glass advocate of deep 

 spaces under bottom-bars with my 2-inch space. 

 If you're going to advocate 1 to 3 inches with 

 nothing to prevent building down, I'll fight you 

 for infringement. I suspect there's a mistake in 

 that statement that " between the bottom-bars 

 and floor of ths bottom-board the space can be 

 anywhere from 1 to 3 inches, and the bees will 

 not build comb except during an exceptionally 

 heavy honey-flow." The flow from dandelion is 

 not an " exceptionally heavy honey-flow;" yet 

 when I have failed to put in bottom-racks I've 

 had lots and lots of comb built down in the two- 

 inch space during dandelion flow. If I should 

 leave more than about an inch of space below 

 bottom-bars any time when bees were storing in 

 supers, I should expect building down e-x^ety time. 

 To be sure, a little comb built down can be cut 

 away, and no harm done; but the amount is not 

 so very small, and the comb is likely to be built 

 crosswise, so it must be cut away every time 

 combs are lifted out, and the amount of brood 

 lost is a serious matter. I am speaking from ex- 

 perience. 



Any thing more than about an inch will make 

 the final space really smaller. That seems a lit- 

 tle contradictory, doesn't it.? Let me put it in 

 concrete form. Suppose hive A has a one-inch 



:,1 



space, and hive B a two-inch space. Hive A wil 

 preserve its one-inch space. Hive B will com" 

 mence building down; but it will not stop build- 

 ing when it gets within an inch of the floor, but 

 will keep on until there's only Vg inch between 

 combs and floor. So you see that B, with its 

 original two-inch space, has only halt as deep a 

 space finally as A. 



Moral. — Have a two-inch space under bottom- 

 bars (deeper if you like), and then for the time 

 when there's danger of building down, put an 

 open-work bottom-rack, allowing only one inch 

 under bottom-bars. [ This question must be 

 largely one of locality. We certainly have hnd 

 reports where there was a space as deep as three 

 inches under the frames, and no comb was built 

 in it except during exceptionally heavy honey- 

 flows. We may suggest that, where the flow is 

 heavy, like that from basswood, the bees will fill 

 up a three-inch space; but where it comes in very 

 slowly, with cool nights, the space would not be 

 occupied. We do not just now remember the 

 exact circumstances, but we are of the opinion 

 that there were conditions when the three-inch 

 space was tolerated. There is a comfortable feel- 

 ing in view of what you say that we have never 

 had the space more than one inch under our fac- 

 tory hives, believing it would be wise to err on 

 the safe side. We should be glad to get reports, 

 especially from those who found they could use 

 a three-inch space to advantage. In the mean 

 time we suspect it would be safe for the average 

 person to go no further than Dr. Miller, and use 

 a rack or dummy by which the space under the 

 frames can be contracted during the honey-flow 

 to one inch or less. — Ed.] 



Editorial 



By E. R. Root. 



He.'Wy snows have been falling in our locality. 

 This is good for the clovers, without question. 



We desire to get more reports as to whether 

 drouth in the fall kills clover. Then we shall 

 also be pleased to get an article from some one 

 who knows, explaining just what is meant by the 

 winter-killing of clover. 



We have some doubts as to the special advan- 

 tage of storm-doors or other devices to shut off the 

 light and prevent strong drafts of air from shoot- 

 ing into the entrances of outdoor-wintered colo- 

 nies. These things have a tendency to confuse, 

 and sometimes clog up with dead bees. 



MATTER POR BEGINNERS. 



For the coming year we are planning to fur- 

 nish some special matter for beginners. While, 

 of course, we shall have a great deal of technical 

 reading for the professional and old-time bee- 

 keepers, we shall pay special attention to the 

 wants of the beginner. We have been surprised 

 again and again to notice with whai interest even 

 the veterans will read matter designed for the nov- 

 ice, for no one is too old a bee-keeper to learn 

 something new. 



