628 



fHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Vick*B Magazine. 



Glad Autumn Days. 



MRS. M. J. 8. 



The magic vilce of spring is gone, 



Her emerald blades are turning brown ; 

 The Dandelion's ball of lace 



Has given place to Thistle-down ; 

 The Violets have caught the dew, 

 And hid it 'nealh their bonnets blue. 

 And orchard blossoms, pure and sweet. 

 Have long since withered in the heat. 



The sickle, sharp and keen, has reaped 



The meadow blossoms, rows on rows ; 

 The Barley lies in winnowed heaps. 

 And aftermath lu.\uriant grows ; 

 The Sumac tall, all touched with change, 

 ii'orms crimson head around the grange. 

 And, floating now my path across. 

 On gauzy wings Is Milkweed's floss. 



O, Maples all in scarlet dressed ; 



O, spikes of fiery Goldenrod ; 

 O, purple Asters everywhere 



Upspringing from the sere-grown sod : 

 O. blue-fringed Gentian, growing tall. 

 Thou comest when the leaflets fall. 

 Sweet flowers to bloom 'neath golden haze. 

 And glorify glad autumn days. 



Correct Bee-Spaces, etc, 



Query, No. 1*3.-1. What is the exact space 

 required for a worker-bee to pass through and 

 that the queen and drones cannot go through. :.'. 

 Are the drones from laying workers of any value? 

 y. Dnes an Italian queen mated with a black 

 drone produce pure Italian drones?—.!. G. N. 



] . About 3-16 of an inch. Bees are 

 not in-"ariable in size. I had one 

 queen that would pasa through the 

 perforated zinc. 2. I think that such 

 drones are as good as any. 3. I be- 

 lieve she does. — A. .J. Cook. 



1. Five- thirty-seconds of an inch 

 works well. 2. I do not tolerate lay- 

 ing workers, as they only come by a 

 colony being long queenless, or with 

 the Syrian or Cyprian races which I 

 have eradicated from my apiary on 

 account of this laying-worker nui- 

 sance. 3. Practically, yes.— G. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



2. Yes. 3. Yes, and no black drones. 

 — Dadant & Son. 



1. Five-thirty-seconds of an inch, 

 or the merest trifle less. 3. So far as 

 my observation has gone, she does. — 

 W. Z. Hutchinson. 



1. Different strains and races of 

 bees differ in size ; 5 32 of an inch has 

 been given as a proper size. 1 use 

 3-16, scant, successfully. 2. Not that I 

 know of. I do not know that I ever 

 received any value from them.— James 

 IIeddon. 



1. A properly developed virgin 

 queen cannot get through 3-16 of an 

 inch. Worker bees can squeeze 

 through -5 32 of an inch, but nothing 

 less. Eleveu-sixty-fourths of an inch 

 will allow a worker to pass with 

 simply brushing the hairs on its back. 

 Three-sixteentlis of an inch will ex- 

 clude full sized drones and most 

 queens. 2. I do not think they are 



virile, but I do not allow such drones 

 to fly. 3. My experience convinces me 

 that the purest Italian bees have an 

 admixture of black blood. I believe 

 that some well-marked black bees can 

 be produced in three generations from 

 the best Italian stock ; yet I do not 

 think that what is termed " pure 

 Italian drones " can be produced in 

 the manner stated. — G. L. Tinkek. 



]. About 5-32 of an inch ; but queens 

 vary very much in size. I think I 

 have had occasionally a good queen 

 that would nearly or quite go through 

 a space through which a heavily 

 loaded worker could pass. 2. I should 

 guess yes, but do not know. 3. If J. 

 G. N. is a plain practical bee-keei)er, 

 I answer yes; if a hair-splitting 

 theorist, theie might be a shadow of 

 chance for variation.— C. C. Millek. 



1. Five- thirty-seconds of an inch is 

 ordinarily the proper width to pass a 

 loaded worker and stop an ordinary 

 queen. Queens vary in size, so that 

 some may pass the above width of 

 entrance, but practically it is right, 



2. I think they are fully developed, 

 but it is as yet a matter of opinion. 



3. The deductions ordinarily made 

 from the " Dzierzon Theory " are that 

 she does, I cannot accept the idea, 

 and believe that such drones are not 

 absolutely pure ; but no experiments 

 have been made as yet that positively 

 determine the matter.— J. E.Pond,Jr. 



Sub-Earth Ventilation. 



Query, No. 184.— How can I secure sub-earth 

 ventilation in my cellar which is on a level lot? 

 This cellar, in whicli I am to winter my bees the 

 Cuming winter, is very damp, and the building site 

 is on a very level piec<- of land. Can I get a cur- 

 rent of air to enter the cellar bv Ijiying the G-inch 

 tile on a down-hill plan, and sink a hole 4 feet 

 square at the outlet of this tiling ? I believe sub- 

 earth ventilation to be a benefit to bees in the 

 cellar, and also to the people living over them.— 

 L. L. T. 



The plan mentioned will answer 

 every purpose, except drainage.— W. 

 Z. Hutchinson. 



The plan given will work, I should 

 say, as I use something similar which 

 gives plenty of fresh air, especially in 

 windy weather — G. M. Doolittle. 



Yes, you can secure ventilation in 

 that way, especially if. you could let 

 the warm air escape upward through 

 a chimney.— Dadant & Son. 



Yes, I think your plan would con- 

 duct heat out of the cellar, if opened 

 in a cold time. I should go to no such 

 expense. Keep your cellar up to 45° 

 Fahr., and do not fear dampness. If 

 it gets too warm, ventilate it at the 

 top.— James Heddon. 



Whether the pipe runs uphill or 

 downhill you can secure ventilation 

 if you have a shaft or chimney to 

 make draft for the exit of the air. 

 Sink the tile below frost-line the en- 

 tire length, with fall enough to run 

 off water, with a hole at the outlet still 

 deeper to catch and remove the water 

 drained off. so the pipe may never be 

 clogged.— C. C. Miller. 



If the cellar is close, as it should 

 be, and the air is drawn off by a pipe 

 connected with a stove-pipe above, 

 the air must come in through a sub- 

 earth pipe. Be sure that the pipe 

 runs a long distance — 100 feet or 

 more — beneath the surface below the 



frost-line. Sub-earth ventilation is 

 not a mere hypothetical good ; it is of 

 demonstrated value.— A. J, Cook. 



Yes, a cellar can be well ventilated 

 by the plan stated, and the health of 

 a family living above it promoted, if 

 a pipe 3 or 4 inches in diameter con- 

 nects the cellar at a point 6 inches 

 from the bottom, with the stove-pipe. 

 A powerful current of air can be 

 made to ascend through a 4:-inch tube 

 trom a cellar at a temperature of 40^, 

 to a room above it heated to 80° ; but 

 if there is not a sub-earth pipe run- 

 ning 5 or 6 feet under-ground for some 

 distance — 100 or 150 feet — enough cold 

 air can, by that means, be drawn into 

 a cellar through crevices in its walls, 

 to rapidly lower the temperature.— 

 G. L. Tinker. 



Keeping Bees in a Family Room. 



Query, No. ISA. — How will it do to keep bees 

 during summer and winter in a room occupied for 

 family use. and kept warm with a stove, the hives 

 being so arranged that the bees can fly out-doors 

 at all times, but not into the room ?— A. T. A. 



I believe that experiment has been 

 tried with the result that all the bees 

 flew out-doors and staid out. At a 

 temperature of 40° to i5°, such a room 

 might do, but it would not do for 

 a family living room.— G. L. Tinker. 



It will not do, as the bees will breed 

 too much in cold weather, and try to 

 go out when the weather is too cold. 

 —Dadant & Son. 



House apiaries have not proved a 

 success. Hundreds that were built 

 in 1877, are now useless.— A. J. Cook. 



I have seen this practiced in a num- 

 ber of instances, and with both suc- 

 cess and failure, as far as the survival 

 of the colonies was concerned. I think 

 that an expert bee-keeper could safely 

 winter and summer his colonies in 

 that way, but it gives such poor 

 facilities to handle them, that it will 

 not likely become popular — James 

 Heddon. 



It would do first-rate if one wished 

 to lose his bees, for such, in my opin- 

 ion, would be the inevitable result. 

 Such a plan seems to me to be 

 against the natural laws that govern 

 our honey-bees, and must prove dis- 

 astrous.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Dragging out Young Bees. 



Query No. 136.- What is the cause of my 

 nuclei colonies dragging out the young bees from 

 tlie hiv,^8 before they are dead, and even before 

 they are half-grown ? They are piled up in front 

 of the hives so the old bees cannot get out. The 

 young bees are quite dark.— J. P. H. 



The larvte of the wax-moth causes 

 such trouble when they work in the 

 centre of the brood-combs. To get at 

 them the bees must remove the brood. 

 — G. M. Doolittle. 



Those young bees must be defective 

 or unhealthy, or else the colony is 

 starving. The latter case is more 

 likely.— Dadant & Son. 



It is difhcult to answer this ques- 

 tion correctly, so little data being 

 given. I will hazard a guess that 

 either moth-worms have got control, 

 or else the bees are suffering for want 

 of stores ; probably the latter.— J. E. 

 Pond, Jr. 



Possibly worms.- C. C. Miller. 



