52 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



in spite of tlie croakers. All faii-- 

 miuded people acknowledge its util- 

 ity, practicability and timely introduc- 

 tion. — Heney Alley. 



Alters ?I)cpartnunt. 



■Ventilating the brood-chamber during the 

 honey harvest. 



Question 4. How would it lio to ninke a venti- 

 lating hole at the top of the brooii-clinmber be- 

 tween top of IVames and sections for ventilation 

 while the bees are gatherinff honey? WouM not 

 such an arrangement greatly aid tlie bees in ex- 

 pelling the water from the newly gathered honey, 

 and also make the interior of the hive more com- 

 fortable for the bees? 



Would not a colony thus treated store more 

 honey than a colony in a hive not ventilated.? 



SCIKNTIFIC. 



Such a ventilator would be of very little use 

 and a most prodigious nuisance. 



George F. Robbins. 



Such an arrangement with me would stop 

 work in the super. I find that other things being 

 equal, the work goes ahead laster when the su- 

 per is kept warm, almost hot, night as well as 

 day. 



J am not sure I know just what you mean. I 



have for a number of years followed Adam 



Grimm, by having the super pushed far enough 



forward to leave a 8i)ace of a quarter of an inch 



at the back end of the hive, over the brood frames. 



1 suspect it is an advantage except in a cool 



night. 



C. C. Mir.LER. 



Such ventilation amounts to but little, as such 

 openings are soon packed witli clustering bees- 

 Better give abundant openings at bottom of hives 

 together with some shade from the noonday sun 

 then your bees will not suffer from heat, n'lr need 

 you trouble about aetting i-id of thee>ceess of wa- 

 ter in the freshly gathered nectar. 



J. A. Buchanan. 



(a). I have never tried it, therefore cannot an- 

 swer from experience. (&). Unless the weatlier 

 should be extremely warm, do not think it would 

 be any advantage, (c). If the weather is cool, 

 day or niglit, I think it would be a hindrance, 

 rather tlian a help. Give plenty of downward 

 ventilation and the bees will regulate the other 

 matters. Joshua Bull. 



If more than a bee-space is left between the top 

 of frames and the sections the bees fill it with 

 brace combs. We always ventilate at the top of 

 the sections but one must use judgment in the 

 amount of ventilation .given, it depending on the 

 size of. the colony. Of course, bees work better 

 in a hive of the right temperature than in one in 

 Which the atmosphere is perfectly stifling. 



H. D. DAVIS. 



a. I have not tried justsuoh a ventilator but see 

 no objection if regulated by the heat of the season, 

 the size of the colony and amount of nectar gath- 

 ered. 



b. I prefer to give most of my ventilation at the 

 bottom of the hive, unless it be an opening in the 

 front of the hive one-third of the way up the 

 brood chamber. 



c. I think not, if the opening at the bottom is 

 enough. 



J. L. Hubbard. 

 Heavy swarms, hived in hot weather, must, 

 with me, have abundance of ventilation for the 

 first few days. Alter those few days, in this lat- 

 itude. I fear much ventilation. I have not seen a 

 half <lozen nights, in as many years, during 

 which I should want comb honey ventilated, 

 though fluring some days, it might seem neces- 

 sary. I li ve invariably got the most comb 

 honey from colonies kept warm and tight with 

 quilts and blankets, sometimes removed for a 

 little while at noon, if the weather was hot. 



Mrs. H. Hills. 



I always ventilate all strong colonies working 

 in sections, at the top, to kee)) the bees from lay- 

 ing out as well as from swarming; lor it will do 

 both, though in some cases it will only delay 

 swarming. I use a thin board {\ inch thick) cover 

 for the brood-chambers in my winter cases and at 

 the first signs of laying out, I raise the cover at 

 each of the four corners by means of thin wedges, 

 but not high enough to let the bees out. This plan 

 gives all the ventilation desirable at the top, and 

 I think a colony so ventilated will make more 

 honey. Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



Bees are not so apt to hang in masses on the 

 outside of the hive in hot weatlier if the hive is 

 proj^erly ventilated. It will do to make a ven- 

 tilator in the place you suggest but I think you 

 will find it inconvenient. A better way is to block 

 the hive up an inch from the bottom-board and 

 place a thin chip under one end of the hive 

 cover in very hot weather. 



A colony thus treated will probably store a lit- 

 tle more honey than one not ventilated because 

 the bees work better and not because evapora- 

 tion is hastened. Any lowering of temperature 

 retards evaporation, especially at night. 



Z. T. Hawk. 



I presume many beekeepers would answer the 

 above question in the affirniiitive, but I cannot. 

 My expeiieiice says -'no" and I find that most old 

 time honey producers who have trieil just such 

 things have given them up, ami do not use any 

 such ventilating holes now. The metliod employed 

 by bees to ventilate a hive may perhaps prop- 

 erly be <lesciibed by the term, "a circuitous cur- 

 rent." The cool air passes in one side of the en- 

 trance and out at the other, making a circuit 

 Avithin the hive, and any upward holes, while 

 they may not injure the successful working of 

 this current, usually amount to nothing. The 



