170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



TWO OF IRVING LONG's BEE-SHEDS 

 It will be noted that a windbreak can be let down over the fronts of the hives when necessary. 



the light necessary for manipulating the hives, 

 etc. Fig. 3 shows the inside of the building with 

 the ventilators closed. The row of hives at the 

 left are those that contain the bees, and those on 

 the right (north) side are empty supers which 

 stand in front of the ventilators, so that these can 

 not be seen. 



In the spring, especially on cold days, the sun 

 shining on the low roof warms the building so 

 that it is often 20 degrees warmer than the out- 

 side. During the cold weather of winter, how- 

 ever, there is a difference of only 3 or 4 degrees 

 between the temperature inside the building and 

 that outside. In very hot weather in the sum- 

 mer, as mentioned before, the ventilators are 

 swung open so that the inside of the building is 

 really cooler than the air outside. 



Since the building faces the south the sun shines 

 into the hive-entrances in the winter. But as the 

 sun shines more perpendicularly in the summer 

 the hives are entirely in the shade. Mr. Sorter 

 says he has not found that the bees fly out while 

 the sun is shining in the winter without being 

 able to get back, for he has seen them fly out in 

 the sunshine, even at a temperature of 32 degrees, 

 and still be able to get back to the hives. At 

 other times, however, when the sun was not shin- 

 ing, in damp cloudy weather, he has noticed that 

 the bees seem unable to get back, even when the 

 temperature is close to 60 degrees; for at such 

 times they collect in protected places on buildings, 

 etc., and finally die. On account of these obser- 

 vations he thinks that there is less loss from bees 

 being unable to get back into the hives on sun- 

 shiny days than on damp cloudy days, even though 

 the temperature is warmer. The sunshine seems 

 to give them life. 



The front of the building, as can be seen from 

 the illustrations, is constructed in such a way 

 that weather-boards may be placed over the fronts 

 of the'hives, thus sheltering them from the cold 

 winds in the winter. These weatiier-boards may 

 be seen at the^^further end of the building already 



in position, arranged so that they will just fit in 

 between the 2X4 studding of the wall, leaving 

 only enough room at the bottom for theentr.ince. 



The water-table prevents the water from drip- 

 ping down and possibly freezing in the entrances. 

 This feature, in connection with the boards be- 

 fore mentioned, protects the entrances admirably. 



Mr. Sorter formerly put packing material 

 around the hives inside the building, but has 

 lately found this unnecessary, as the building it- 

 self is enough of a protection during the winter. 

 In the summer the building also acts as a protec- 

 tion from the heat; for when the ventilators are 

 opened the temperature inside is such that the 

 bees rarely cluster out on the fronts of the hives. 



In order to overcome the mixing-up of the 

 bees, and also the loss of queens, various colored 

 cloths were hung on the front of the building 

 with the idea of permitting the bees to mark their 

 entrances more easily. It has been found that 

 the plan worked well, for there has been very lit- 

 tle loss in this respect. 



Mr Sorter sees quite a number of advantages 

 in such a building. For instance, since some 

 kind of building is a necessity any way, it costs 

 but little more to build it long and narrow to ac- 

 commodate a row of hives Then when this is 

 done, the supplies, extra supers, etc., can be ar- 

 ranged close to the hives where they are wanted. 

 It is not necessary to stop working with the bees 

 in case a rain comes up. Furthermore, during 

 robbing time the work can go right on with no 

 trouble whatever. The bees fly inside the build- 

 ing so little that visitors can be shown every ma- 

 nipulation without wearing veils. 



Mr. Sorter has found that he gets about the 

 same results in surplus honey from the colonies 

 inside the house-apiary as from those outside, 

 other things being equal. About the same 

 number of colonies are kept outside on separate 

 stands, so that an excellent opportunity is pro- 

 vided for studying the two plans side by side. 

 The principal point to be careful about is to pre- 



