172 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



with another communication. Dr. Brunnich sent us the above photograph of this bee-house at his residence, Arzt, Ottecbach, can- 

 ton Zurich, Switzerland. Notice the painted designs, etc., to enable the bees to mark their own entrances more easily. 



prevented. Very few colonies swarm when I fol- 

 low this plan, while every colony outdoors 

 swarmed this year, even though they were pro- 

 vided with empty combs. If my colonies out- 

 side stood in tlie sun I should not expect to get 

 an average of 75 pounds to the colony; but I av- 

 erage twice that amount from the colonies inside 

 the sheds, and several of the hives gave me 300 

 lbs. each. 



The other illustration shows the interior of one 

 of the sheds. I can not begin to tell how much 

 nicer it is to work with the bees inside these 

 buildings. It is true that it is harder to find 

 queens, but still I almost always locate them 

 without much trouble. 



During the winter a feeding-board of my own 

 make is put over each colony, and over this a 

 gunny sack is spread. The telescope caps are 

 filled solid with leaves or straw. I have not lost 

 a colony in the winter during the last twenty 

 years; but I aim to leave from 40 to 60 pounds 

 of honey for each one; and if there is not this 

 much in the hives I feed until there is. 



I use queen-excluders, and take all the honey 

 off, when finished, with bee-escapes. 



I began keeping bees in these bee-houses or 

 house-apiaries thirty years ago, and have tried all 

 kinds of buildings; but the ones shown suit me 

 better than any of the others. 



Marceline, Mo. 



[The storm-door arrangement shown, p. 170, is 

 excellent providing it does not prevent the flight 

 of bees during winter. It should, in our judg- 



ment, be let down early in the fall in order that 

 the bees may get used to it. 



You are exactly right in saying that it is much 

 nicer to work with bees inside. We suppose 

 you mean by this they are much quieter to han- 

 dle, for they never offer attack on the operator in 

 the building, and the troubles incident to rob- 

 bers stealing loads while the hives are open are 

 entirely overcome. — Ed.] 



HOUSE - APIARIES EXTENSIVELY 

 USED IN GERMANY. 



The Problem of Wintering Close to the 

 Alps. 



BY J. A. HEBERLY. 



I have traveled hundreds of miles and seen hun- 

 dreds of house-apiaries in Southern Germany, 

 but did not see a single apiary where the hives 

 were set out in the open air, as I see in pictures 

 of almost every number of Gleanings. I have 

 reasons to believe that, in Northern Germany, 

 the house-apiary is also the rule. Losses in win- 

 ter by the experienced bee-keeper, unless through 

 neglect, are rare — perhaps through the loss of a 

 queen or two. The man who just owns or holds 

 bees has numerous losses — yes, often in one or 

 two unfavorable seasons he may lose the last one. 

 I think the losses due directly to the cold are 

 very rare; bees can stand much cold; but if the 

 stores are not in the proper place it happens fre- 

 quently that the bees have used all the stores in 



