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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 1 



This fall we went through two of our out- 

 yards, hefting each hive. As we did so, we 

 marked on the cover, with a piece of chalk 

 or crayon, in pounds the amount of syrup 

 that would be required to put the colonies 

 in good condition; then with the automobile 

 we drove down with a big load of syrup, 

 poured the feed into the feeders, then after 

 they had all been fed the proper amount we 

 went over the hives, this time opening them 

 up and examining the frames to determine 

 the strength of the colony and the amount of 

 stores in the combs. This later examination 

 is for the purpose of rectifying any mistakes 

 that might have been made by hefting. On 

 several occasions we found the colonies were 

 stronger than we had supposed and of course 

 required more feed than we had marked on 

 the cover. 



Since writing the foregoing we find that 

 Elmer Hutchinson (all of whose writings may 

 be read with profit) has been practicing this 

 "hefting" scheme to determine the amount 

 of stores required. It is an old, old trick of 

 the trade, but a good one just the same. 



UPWARD VENTILATION OR SEALED COVERS; 

 THE SWING OF THE PENDULUM. 



Every now and then there seems to be a 

 sort of consensus of opinion pointing in a 

 certain direction. A few years later that 

 consensus will sometimes point in the oppo- 

 site direction ; so the pendulum swings, 

 much to the confusion of beginners. 



Some years ago there was a sort of agree- 

 ment, we thought, that colonies under sealed 

 covers packed in chaff or other material gave 

 better results than those under covers like 

 burlap that allowed the moisture to pass up- 

 ward, making the cushion damp or frosty 

 later on. 



For something like ten or fifteen years we 

 tested the two kinds of packing side by side 

 in our yard. See back volumes of this jour- 

 nal. One set of colonies would be under 

 sealed covers and the other under absorbing 

 cushions. One year, and only one, the ab- 

 sorbent scheme gave slightly better results ; 

 but the following years seemed to point 

 strongly in favor of a sealed cover with plen- 

 ty of packing material over it, while the ab- 

 sorbing cushions of the others were wet, 

 and the colonies inclined toward dysentery. 



Lately the pendulum seems to be swinging 

 somewhat the other way. Some months ago 

 our old friend W. L. Coggshall, supported 

 by two or three other bee-keepers of large 

 experience, strongly dissented from the ac- 

 cepted opinion that the sealed cover for out- 

 door-packed colonies was the thing, and in 

 the last Bee-keepers' Review, Mr. Hutchinson, 

 backed by his own experience, seems to feel 

 that the weight of testimony favors the ab- 

 sorbing cushion as against the sealed cover. 



We are beginning to suspect that this ques- 

 tion of absorbent v. non-absorbent is largely 

 a matter of locality and the amount of pack- 

 ing used. In and around Medina we have 

 seemed to prove that the sealed cover is 

 much to be preferred to the loose porous 

 burlap under the cushion, that becomes, in 



late winter and early spring, a damp, wet, 

 and sometimes a frosty mass. 



This is a seasonable topic, and we invite 

 further discussion. Give your experience 

 and your convictions, whether they happen 

 to coincide with those of the editor or his 

 force at Medina. The truth is what we want. 



GROWTH AT THE HOME OF THE HONEY-BEES. 



If the visitor were to call at Medina at the 

 present time he would see a big force of men 

 putting up an immense fire-proof ware- 

 house, all of concrete and brick, three stories 

 high, of the sky-scraper type of construction, 

 and another gang otherwise improving and 

 revamping the other buildings. Something 

 like $30,000 worth of new equipment and 

 buildings will be put in this fall. The changes 

 that will be made will bring the total ware- 

 house capacity up to about 37,000 square feet 

 of floor space ; packing and assembling de- 

 partment, 32,000; manufacturing, 30,000; 

 publishing and office building, 14,000 ; mak- 

 ing a grand total of about 113,000 square feet 

 of floor space. 



The adjoining lumber-sheds, with a roof 

 area of 30,000 square feet, in aadition to the 

 113,000, have a storage capacity of three mil- 

 lion feet of lumber, while the lumber-yards, 

 three in number, occupy several acres. The 

 entire plant now covers, with buildings and 

 lumber, approximately 15 acres of ground, 

 with private trackage passing in between the 

 buildings and lumber-yards, so that scarcely 

 any lumber has to be hauled by wagon. 



The new warehouse, like the other build- 

 ings, will be practically fire-proof ; and the 

 old buildings will have installed in them 

 nearly $10,000 worth of the latest up-to-date 

 fire-fighting apparatus. The plant, by Dec. 

 1, will be as perfectly equipped for fighting 

 fire as almost any to be found in the United 

 States. 



Fires are expensive things. They are ex- 

 pensive because the insurance money does 

 not begin to make good the actual loss, etc., 

 to say nothing of the interruption to business 

 and the disappointment to customers. 



Any bee-keeper who desires to go through 

 the plant will be allowed to do so provided 

 he comes to the office and secures a pass. 

 Usually he will be furnished with a guide 

 competent to answer questions and show him 

 all objects of interest. 



THE NEW BEE DISEASE THAT HAS STARTED 

 IN EUROPE. 



Elsewhere in these columns we publish 

 a couple of articles, one from Alois Alfonsus, 

 Vienna, Austria, and the other from Dr. C. 

 C. Miller, giving the symptoms of a new in- 

 fectious bee disease found in Europe. It ap- 

 pears to be highly contagious, and therefore 

 the bee-keepers of America may well look 

 into its general symptoms in order to make 

 sure that it does not get a foothold among 

 their bees. 



If this disease is highly contagious itwould 

 seem that it might be very easy to transmit 

 it through the mails. Let us suppose that a 



