504 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Aug. 15 



alfalfa honey; also large 

 cakes of yellow wax. The 

 bee display consisted of 

 six one-irame observatory 

 hives painted red, white, 

 and blue; two Italian, two 

 Caucasian, and two albinos. 

 The queens seemed to at- 

 tract more attenlion than 

 any thing else in the build- 

 ing. Fig. 3 represents the 

 pyramid at the base of 

 which are large cakes of 

 both dark and light yellow 

 wax. Next to these were 

 1-lb. bottles nicely labeled 

 alternating alfalfa and mes- 

 quite, between which were 

 small cakes of white wax. 

 Near the top were some 

 very nice paneled 1-lb. and 

 ^-Ib. bottles. It was hard 

 for the people to keep their 

 hands off, although I had 

 notices to that effect placed 

 everywhere. In order to produce a contrast, 

 two cakes of white mesquite honey trimmed 

 with red tissue paper, two trimmed with 

 white, and two with yellow, made our fair 

 colors. The above was surmounted by a 

 beautiful white wax horse saddled with a 

 handsome special premium awarded for the 

 personal display. The latter was valued 

 more than the $84.00 out of $87.00 awarded. 

 Phoenix, Arizona, March 23. 



THE QUESTION OF ENTRANCES. 



How Far Can we Control Swarming 

 Varying their Size? and if So, 

 How shall we Do it? 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



by 



This question of entrances is one that per- 

 haps has never received all the prominence 

 it should. Perhaps bee-keepers are begin- 

 ning to discover, however, that a doorway 

 that is really contractable from a large to a 

 small size is an essential part of the architec- 

 ture of a hive, and, accordingly, modern 



FIG. 2. 



FIG. 1.— A CASE (1F TOO SMALL AN ENTRANCE. 

 It was a warm day when this picture was taken. The bees, being un- 

 able to ventilate through the small entrance (8 x Vs. inch), clustered out. 



hives are now constructed with entrances 

 twice and three times as large as they were 

 formerly made. While it is essential to have 

 them small during the winter, it is also equal- 

 ly important that they should be large during 

 the swarming season. After that is past, and 

 robbing time is on, it is important that all 

 medium-sized colonies have contracted open- 

 ings. 



When we see colonies clustered out at the 

 beginning of a honey-flow, there is a lack of 

 room, a too contracted entrance, or both. A 

 colony that hangs out day after day when 

 there is a light flow of honey is almost sure 

 to start cell-building; for bees will swarm 

 much worse during a light or moderate yield 

 than when it is heavy. 



If bees have been hanging out for perhaps 

 a week, in all probability there will be queen- 

 cells with eggs or larvae in them. The 

 thought of swarming seems to be in the mind 

 of the colony. While the cells may be cut 

 out and delay the swarm, it is better to en- 

 large the entrance and give room. Far bet- 

 ter still is it to provide a very ample entrance 

 before the bees cluster out at all in the first 

 place; and before they feel cramped for room 

 they should be given extra 

 super capacity. Several times 

 this summer we have found in 

 the case of colonies that were 

 clustering out we could make 

 them go mto the hive by sim- 

 ply enlarging the entrance 

 and giving room. Other colo- 

 nies that were given large en- 

 trances at the start never start- 

 ed to build cells, nor did they 

 swarm or make any prepara- 

 tion for it, but as soon as the 

 inside of the hives was made 

 endurable they began work in 

 drawing out foundation in the 

 supers, and storing honey. We 

 are satisfied, from experiments 

 that we have been conducting 



-A HIVE WITH PROPER VENTILATION AT THE BOTTOM TO 

 PREVENT CLUSTERING OUT AT THE ENTRANCE. 



