1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1495 



NATURAL-COMB BUILDING IN A HIVE MADE ENTIRELY OF GLASS. 



THE BEE AS A SUBJECT FOR NA- 

 TURE-STUDY. 



Natural Honey- comb. 



BY EDWARD F. BIGELOVV. 



Most of US apiarists who lay stress on tlie eco- 

 nomic point of view have buried the natural in 

 the artificial. How few who have confined their 

 attentions to the right-angled frames of the modern 

 hive really know what honey-comb is.? Ofcourse, 

 now and then it is seen when the bees recklessly 

 build in some section where the starter was not 

 in good shape, or when they build in some por- 

 tion of the hive not filled out with frames. Most 

 bee-keepers at some time in their life have satis- 

 fied their longing for the wild in a fascinating 

 ravaging of a bee-tree. Within such a hollow 

 the honey-bees are themselves. Here they plaster 

 and twist and turn and press, and extend upward 

 and downward in most delicious bendings. It is 

 easy to make a transparent hollow-tree, or, in 

 other words, to have a hive into which one can 

 see through top, sides, and end, and so that the 

 bees can build in any manner to suit their fancy 

 as freely as they could in a tree. All that is nec- 

 essary is five pieces of glass of almost any size 

 that is preferred; but the five pieces must be so 

 related to each other that they may be assembled 

 to form the top, the two sides, and the two ends 

 of an inverted box. The pieces of glass are easi- 

 ly held together by passe-partout binding. Fas- 

 ten to a board some form of rustic branching to 



suit one's fancy, and invert over it the glass box. 

 Then the fun begins. The bees are unhampered. 

 As soon as the swarm has been put into the box the 

 bees begin work to suit themselves, not to please 

 Mr. Hoffman nor any other person who would 

 restrain the natural traits of the honey-bee within 

 artificial limits. 



Herewith is a photograph of an excellent ex- 

 ample of honey-comb within one of these passe- 

 partout hives. I have spent a good deal of time 

 with various forms of observation hives, but have 

 come to the conclusion that, for watching and 

 studying the honey-bee when from every point of 

 view it is unhampered, there is nothing like this 

 simple inexpensive glass box. There is surely 

 nothing more convenient for observation from 

 every side, and nothing wherein the honey-bee is 

 left so thoroughly free to pursue her own sweet 

 will. It is really an old-fashioned box hive made 

 transparent. 



Of course it is necessary to keep such a hive 

 within doors. Warmth and darkness may be 

 easily provided by blankets or some other opaque 

 cover thrown over the hive when its interior is 

 not to be examined. 



Try one and "live happy for ever afterward." 



HONEY-BEES AND POLLEN MASSES. 



There is no more interesting question pertain- 

 ing to honey-bees than the manner in which they 

 gather pollen and carry it on their legs; and the 

 more closely one watches the bee on a flower, the 

 more deeply is he puzzled to know exactly how 

 the work is done. The closer the view of the 



