638 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Oct. 15 



A. YEOMAN'S CITY APIARY, SHOWING THE HIVES RAISED FROM THE BOTTOM-BOARDS; 



SWARMING IS PREVENTED. 



ALL 



PROVIDING EXTRA VENTILATION DUR- 

 ING HOT WEATHER FOR THE PRE- 

 VENTION OF SWARMING. 



Raising the Hives One Inch from the Bot- 

 tom-boards. 



BY J. A. YEOMAN. 



The article on page 504, Aug. 15, reminds 

 me of my experience, and I am accordingly 

 sending a photograph of my back-lot city 

 apiary. For about four years I have been 

 putting inch blocks under the corners of my 

 hives. The bees use the regular entrance 

 in front almost entirely, the opening at the 

 sides and back serving merely for ventila- 

 tion. The fence at the back and the trees at 

 the sides probably explain this; for if the 

 hives stood in the open I believe the bees 

 would take the easiest way out. 



For four years my bees have not tried to 

 swarm. This year I was negligent in raising 

 the hives to provide more room; and the re- 

 sult was a perfect contagion of swarming 

 which I found difficult to break up. I have 

 never had any comb built between the bot- 

 tom-board and the frames. With the sides 

 open all around I think that it is hardly warm 

 enough to warrant comb-building. 



The second hive shown in the engraving 

 is not raised from the bottom-board, but, on 

 the other hand, the bottom-board is drawn 

 to the front over half its length, leaving the 



brood-chamber open to the ground. Mice 

 and toads do not bother me. This colony, 

 from the present outlook, will yield between 

 200 and 300 lbs. of honey, which ,,!_ shall ex- 

 tract at the end of the season. 

 Spokane, Wash. 



[The scheme of raising hives up on four 

 blocks at the approach of the honey-flow to 

 forestall swarming has never received the 

 attention that it should. We should be pleas- 

 ed to get reports from others who have tried 

 this plan. — Ed.] 



ORANGE-BLOSSOM HONEY. 



The Cause of an Unusual Dark Color. 



BY EDWIN G. BALDWIN. 



Mr. Root: — Apropos of your footnote to 

 Mr. Pryal's article on orange-trees, page 236, 

 perhaps the following data will be of inter- 

 est, and instructive to your readers. You 

 say that the orange-tree is not a prolific 

 source of nectar. I am inclined to inter that 

 you mean there is not much orange honey 

 from that source on the market, rather than 

 that you wish to be understood as saying the 

 orange-blossom does not yield much honey. 

 The former is undoubtedly true; the latter is 

 hardly borne out in my own experience here 

 in Deland. We are in the midst of many 



