NOVEMBER 15, 1913 



819 



I am sure that there are scores of laying' 

 workers in that hive, perhaps hundreds, and 

 may be all have a " try " to see what they 

 can do at laying. I notice that all the eggs 

 are not alike, as many are small and mis- 

 shapen. Probably the older the bee when 

 it starts self-development, the worse the egg 

 it lays. This will also explain why a queen 

 is not tolerated. She is a sort of Ishmael 

 among them, and they are all against her. 

 as she interferes with their business, want- 

 ing to monopolize egg-laying. 



Santiago del Estero, Argentina, S. A., 

 Dec. 12, i912. 



SMALLER ENTRANCES IN THE WORKING 

 SEASON 



BY FRANK M-'mURRAY 



Will you permit a few words in regard 

 to large and small entrances from an old 

 beekeeper, but one who, heretofore, has 

 never voiced his opinions for publication 

 touching any subject of the beekeeper's art f 



It is generally conceded that entrances 

 should be contracted during the winter and 

 early spring; but there is a w'ide difference 

 of opinion as to their correct size during 

 the working season. Evidently, entrances 

 may be either too small or too large during 

 the summer montlis. I think a % or a ^2 

 inch entrance the entire width of the hive 

 an ideal one for a strong colony during tlie 

 working season. Bees show their dislike for 

 an entrance much larger, by sometimes part- 

 ly closing it with propolis. A natural swarm 

 will sometimes refuse to accept a hive with 

 a large entrance, though containing full 

 sheets of foundation; but I have never 

 known a swarm to desert foundation in a 

 hive with a small entrance. A large entrance 

 is especially objectionable in high altitudes 

 where tlie nights are sufficiently cool to chill 

 the brood in spite of the efforts of the bees 

 to keep it warm. My experience shows that 

 large entrances do not cheek the swarming 

 instinct, because they do not give real ven- 

 tilation. If there is real ventilation, or cir- 

 culation of air in the hive, there must be an 

 opening near the top. 



These observations are true of bees under 

 normal conditions and acting normally ; but 

 bees do not always act norijially. Sometimes 

 abnormal action will be confined to a single 

 colony; but it may spread to an entire 

 apiary, and one can not expect bees, while 

 acting abnormally, to follow their usual 

 rules of action. Unusually late swarming is 

 an abnormal manifestation of the swarming 

 instinct. The clustering of a colony on 

 the outside of a tree, and the spending of 

 the working season building comb and stor- 



ing honey there without any protection 

 from storms or cold are abnormal forms of 

 bee action. If careful discrimination is to 

 be made between the natural and unnatural 

 actions of bees I tliink it would help bee- 

 keepers to understand better the likes and 

 dislikes of bees, thus avoiding many mis- 

 takes. 



Aurora, Mo. 



PLACING HIVES ON CEMENT SLABS 



Sowing Sweet Clover Seed 



BY C. A. BUNCH 



Last fall we made 40 cement slabs for our 

 80 hives of bees. Two hives were placed 

 on each slab. These slabs are two feet four 

 inches by 3 feet 8 inches, these dimensions 

 being just right for two 12-frame L. hives, 

 which are reduced to 10 frames each by a 

 division-board. Our hives face almost ex- 

 actly east, and the slabs are placed the long 

 way north and south, and are 9 feet by 10 

 feet from center to center, with a catalpa- 

 speciosa shade-tree set 18 inches southwest 

 from each cement slab. 



When we made the slabs we cut 2x4 

 studding for the form, two for the end 

 pieces 28 inches long, and the side pieces 

 about 41/2 feet long. These were laid fiat on 

 a level piece of ground, and were staked on 

 the outside so as to make a scjuare 2-4x3-10. 

 This form was filled with good cement mor- 

 tar. The proportion was 3 parts of sand 

 lo one of cement. This set 24 hours. Then 

 the form w^as set up on edge, the cement 

 covered with a newsi^aper, and another new 

 slab was put over the one previously made. 

 About every 24 hours a new slab was made 

 in the manner above stated. The form was 

 blocked up each time to the desired height 

 until the pile of slabs was about a foot high. 

 They were always covered in order to pro- 

 tect them from the sun. The pile of slabs 

 was left thus for about 10 days until ripe. 

 We used two forms, but several could be 

 utilized very conveniently. 



We have had one cement slab in the bee- 

 yard for 8 years, and it is just as good as 

 new. 



The 14th and 16th of December we sowed 

 our sweet-clover seed, 5 acres on rj'e ground 

 and 14 acres on wheat ground. This seed 

 was in the hull, and the amount was 9 lbs. 

 per acre. Later we sowed 75 lbs. of small 

 or June clover seed and alsike on the same 

 ground. The 5 acres are for i^asture, while 

 the 14 acres are for hay. I think in north- 

 ern Indiana December is the time to sow 

 sweet-clover seed that is in the hull. The 

 seed is then in the ground in good shape by 



