174 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



SEALED COVERS VS. ABSORBENTS. 

 A Strong Plea for Absorbents. 



BY \V. L. COGGSHALL. 



Mr. Root: — I promised you I would give you 

 a scrap on sealed covers. First, a sealed cover 

 holds all the breath or moisture the bees give off 

 in the hive. The moisture goes to the top, or 

 ceiling; and if it is zero cold it forms ice. I have 

 seen ice one incK thick in the corners of the hives, 

 and yi inch thicic all over the ceiling except 6 

 in. around right over the cluster, the sides cover- 

 ed with frost also. Strong colonies can stand 

 this or a cold damp place lor a while; but it will 

 weaken them it it holds on long. 



How well I remember the winter of 1880! I 

 lost half of my bees; three-fourths of them died 

 in New York outdoors. The thermometer was 

 at zero and even 20 below for three weeks con- 

 tinuouslly in January. '1 he bees I had packed 

 with dry sawdust four to six inches deep on top 

 with burlap or carpet, 1 saved. A great propor- 

 tion of box-hive men lost nearly all except when 

 they had a fly-hole half way up the hive; or when 

 a hive was split clear from top to bottom they 

 lived, as the moisture passed out 



Brother bee-men, try both ways. Try sealed 

 covers and carpets with dry sawdust ; or forest 

 leaves are fine — nothing better. You can get in 

 any large city, at junk-dealers' stores, old brussels 

 carpet for $2.00 to $2.50; 100 lbs. will cover 200 

 hives easily, and last eight or ten years if you 

 keep your covers from leaking. I do not want 

 ice inside of my hives, and it is sure to be there 

 with sealed covers in zero weather. 



Groton, N. Y. 



[Perhaps this question of sealed covers and ab- 

 sorbents over the top of the hives during winter 

 is one of locality. Indeed, we are quite prepar- 

 ed to admit that, possibly, where the winter 

 temperature is likely to go below zero, and 

 stay there for weeks at a time, absorbents may 

 give better results one year with another; but in 

 our locality it is quite to the contrary. We have 

 tested this thing year after year, putting absorb- 

 ing cushions with burlap directly over the clus- 

 ter of bees on half the colonies, and a thin board, 

 which the bees must seal down, with an absorb- 

 ing cushion on top of the other half. Once in a 

 great while we will have a winter where the two 

 sets of colonies will run almost neck and neck; 

 but generally those with the sealed covers come 

 out dryer, cleaner, and fresher than those where 

 the packing material comes directly in contact 

 with the brood-nest itself. In the latter case the 

 cushions become damp along in January and 

 February, sometimes freezing. These damp cush- 

 ions have a decidedly damaging effect on the col- 

 ony beneath. 



Then, moreover, where the moisture can pass 

 upward through the packing the heat can escape 

 in the same way. Under sealed covers this heat 

 is retained. The carbonic-acid gas being heavier 

 than air settles to the bottom of the hive, passes 

 out at the entrance, and fresh air takes its place. 

 The moisture precipitates and runs down the 

 hive sides and out at the entrance also. 



During the past few days (Feb. 22 to 26) we 

 have had Mr. E. F. Atwater, of Meridian, Ida- 



ho, with us. We took him out into our yard, 

 and showed him the difference between colonies 

 having sealed covers and those where the moisture 

 could pass upward through the absorbing mate- 

 rial. He agreed with us that the hermetic seal- 

 ing of the cover over the colonies he examined 

 showed a better state of wintering. We looked 

 over the whole yard; and where there seemed to 

 be more dead bees at tiie entrance than the average 

 we opened up the hive. In almost every case 

 showing dead bees in abnormal numbers at the 

 front, it was found that the cover was not sealed, 

 and that the packing material was damp and 

 frosty. Where there were few or no dead bees in 

 front, the cover was sealed tight. A few we 

 broke open, only to find that the clusters were in 

 prime condition. 



We have some four or five colonies covered 

 with a large sheet of glass, hermetically sealed 

 with putty. Over this is placed a tray of planer 

 shavings, about five inches deep. We showed 

 Mr. Atwater how, under these glass sheets, the 

 bees were prospering, and how moisture in the 

 form of drip was collected at the extreme corners. 

 This moisture was remote from the cluster, and 

 on warm days one could see the bees drinking it 

 up. But this precipitation would appear, of 

 course, in far greater quantity under glass than 

 under a board, because glass is a good conductor 

 of heat and cold. We lifted the wood-sealed 

 covers in a few instances, and could find no drops 

 of water except in one case, when we did notice 

 at one corner a slight amount of dampness. 



It is conceivable that moisture might form un- 

 der a sealed cover, so that, during a very long 

 zero spell, it would freeze; that more moisture 

 would collect and form ice, and then we would 

 perhaps have a condition more like that reported 

 by Mr. Coggshall. But if that amount of mois- 

 ture must pass up through the sawdust, or ab- 

 sorbent, why should it not, while it is c/i route, 

 freeze there, forming a mass of ice and sawdust? 

 Such a condition, unless the moisture could pass 

 off more freely than it does with us, is not favor- 

 able to good wintering; but among the hills of 

 York State it is possible that the air is dryer, so 

 that this dampness would pass off more readily 

 than here. 



Later. — Since writing the foregoing we had a 

 call from Mr. A. J. Halter, of Akron, about 20 

 miles east of us. He is quite an extensive bee- 

 keeper, and a close, careful observer. On refer- 

 ring this question of sealed covers versus absorb- 

 ents, he unhesitatingly said he preferred the 

 former. He wanted no damp, wet, or frosty 

 packing for him. — Ed.] 



DRONE COMB IN SECTIONS. 



Pieces of it Recommended in Place 

 Foundation; Many Queens Lost. 



of 



BY H. E. HARRINGTON. 



On page 1487, Dec. 15, drone comb is referred 

 to for use in supers. I have kept bees for 25 

 years, and the last 20 years I have used no foun- 

 dation in sections. I use pieces of drone comb 

 for starters. With a hot knife I cut the comb in 

 pieces an inch square or larger. I heat one side 



