1909 



GLEAN INc;S IN BEE CULTURE. 



229 



Genkral 

 Correspondence 



VENTILATION OF HIVES 

 SUMMER. 



DURING 



Thf Value of a Deep Space Under the 



Frames with an Entrance at Both Ends 



of the Hive. 



BY J P. BLUNK. 



[We wish that we were able to give our readers the whole of 

 Uncle Joe Blunk's letter, as it is a very interfsting one: but on 

 account of a lack of space we have been obliged to condense it 

 in order to use the main points. We can not refrain, however, 

 from giving the last sentence or two from the letter. " As 1 jog 

 along in the evening of life I am having more fun than a mon- 

 key-show with my bees. They are fine for an old man." 



Dr. Miller uses a special deep bottom-board that provides a 

 full two-inch space under the frames during winter, for he win- 

 ters in the cellar. During summer he uses a dummy of suitable 

 dimensions which he shoves under the frames to provide an or- 

 dinary bee-space. Having this in mind the reader will under- 

 stand the discussion which follows. — Ei> ] 



A year or so ago Dr. Miller described his slat- 

 ted form or dummy which he uses in the deep 

 space under his frames to prevent the bees from 

 building burr-combs, etc., and he said it troubled 

 him because he could not leave the entire two 

 inches of space under the frames for the comfort 

 of his bees during the hot weather. I believe 

 that there is a way to prevent burr-combs with- 

 out the use of these dummies, for my hives stand 

 on deep bot'om- boards during hot weather and I 

 have had no trouble. My bees do not cluster 

 out on the fronts of the hives, and they have not 

 been obliged to fan at the entrance for want of 

 proper ventilaiion. 



Has any one ever seen burr-comb built in a 

 deep bottom close to the two inch entrance.' Is 

 it not always found at the rear of the bottom- 

 board, where it is needed.' I prevent these burr- 

 combs at the rear by leaving an entrance at the 

 back of the board also. To do this 1 take off 

 the rear cleat of the bottom-board. 



.Many have made an effort to provide better 

 circulation by giving an upper entrance in some 

 of the supers; but we all kno^v that cold air in 

 the supers means unfinished sections. If the 

 draft of air can be carried across the bottom- 

 board instead of up through the hive, there are 

 fewer unfinished sections, and the bees can easily 

 attend to the ventilation needed. There is much 

 friction to overcome in ventilating a strong col- 

 ony of bees, especially when there is but one en- 

 trance All prai tical miners wonder how bees 

 manage to live in a hive where there is but one 

 opening through which the air must pass in and 

 out 



I am like Dr. Miller in thinking it quite a task 

 to go through the apiary and turn the bottom- 

 boards upside down in order to give a deep en- 

 trance when hot weather comes; but I always had 

 to do this, as I did not approve of a deep bottom- 

 board in the spring. When putting together 

 the bottoms I do not nail on the cleat at the rear 

 of the board, and I can, therefore, remove it when 

 I wish, thus providing a rear entrance. When a 

 colony becomes strong, and shows signs of hang- 

 ing out, this rear piece is removed, and then later 



on I take four pieces of lath, half the length of 

 the hive. I raise one end of the hive Irom the 

 bottom and place one of these pieces on each side 

 rail, and then go to the other end and do the 

 same. If the hive stands in the shade, this one 

 set of blocks is usually sufficient to keep the bees 

 comfortable; but if it stands out in the sun and 

 in a hot place, 1 keep adding these blocks until 

 the bees are satisfied with the conditions. Some- 

 times I have over two inches of space under the 

 frames, and yet have no burr-combs. I account 

 for it by the fact that there is too much cold air 

 for comb-building. With these two entrances 

 the bees have no trouble in getting air through the 

 top ot the supers when needed, and yet there is 

 no cold air in the supers to stop the work there. 

 If the weather turns cold, the bees choke one of 

 the entrances and govern the circulation to suit 

 themselves. When all work in the supe's is over 

 I remove the strips and let the hive back on the 

 bottom, and when the hot weather is over I close 

 the rear entrance by putting back the cleat. 



Dr. Miller is the only bee-keeper I know of 

 who does his part in trying to give his bees all 

 the fresh air they need, in overcrowded hives 

 the bees use up the air very fast when the circu- 

 lation is bad, and eventually they will cluster 

 outside in "nature's big hospital" to recover 

 their health. The double entrance overcomes a'l 

 such troubles. I have found that bees will not 

 build comb out in the open if thev can find a 

 sheltered place; and by making a draft of air 

 across the bottom-board they do not build comb 

 below the bottom bars. 



Mooreland, Iowa. 



[This letter was sent to Dr. Miller, whose re- 

 ply follows. — Ed.] 



This is interesting If Uncle Joe has estab- 

 lished that, with the bottom- board open at both 

 ends, there will be no building down, we owe 

 him a vote of thanks. There can be no question 

 that there is a better chance for ventilaiion with 

 an opening clear through. But will not the bees 

 build down in so deep a space, even if it is prac- 

 tically outdoors.? In the old days of box hives, 

 when bees were crowded out, it was not such an 

 unusual thing for them to build comb outside. 

 Sometimes a sw.-^rm hanging on a tree is delayed 

 by stress of weather, and remains permanently, 

 building its combs out in the open. 



On the other hand, some years ago I had blocks 

 sawed to put under each corner of a hive, raising 

 it an inch. That inch, added to the two inches 

 of the bottom boird, made three inches under 

 bottom-bars, but I don't remember that there 

 was any building down. 



Why should the bees go so far out of their 

 way to build outside the box hive, and yet not 

 build in the more convenient three-inch space 

 under bottom-bars.' Well, they were crowded 

 in the box hive, no room at all there, and it was 

 outside of nowhere. In my hives there was an 

 abundance of room in supers, which they pre- 

 ferred to the more exposed space at bottom — an 

 argument, by the way, for lots and lots of super 

 room 



" Why didn't I continue the plan,' " For two 

 reasons. One was that it was a good bit of work 

 to draw the staples and raise the hives in the sum- 

 mer, and then to fasten them down again in the 



