64 



THE AMERICA N A PICUL TURIS T. 



for tlie production of comb honey, 

 and otherwise any hive tliat will 

 accommodate section cases of the 

 same length and width of the hive, 

 outside measurements, is immeas- 

 urably better. 



ANSWERS BY C. W. DAYTON. 



1. It might be advisable with 

 box-liives, but I usually turn frame- 

 hives bottom upward and then 

 cover them with quilts or chaff 

 cushions. To ventilate frame-hives 

 at the top, put the thickness of a 

 nail under the edge of the honey- 

 boards or remove every tiling and 

 cover with quilts, or thin chaff 

 cushions. When I talk about ven- 

 tilating hives 1 always suppose the 

 reader knows enough to adjust the 

 temperature. A temperature of 

 36° 1 consider a regular bee killer 

 with or without ventilation. With 

 that temperature we would not 

 want much ventilation. If the tem- 

 perature is 40° give ventilation 

 through 3 in. of loose chaff; 45°, 2 

 in. of chaff; 45 to 50°, leave the 

 brood chamber entirely uncovered, 

 in the case of strong colonies ; but 

 2-fiame nuclei will need some chaff 

 or quilts even in that temperature. 

 At 60° to 65°, the nuclei may be 

 left suspended in mid-air " as it 

 were." 



The colder the temperature is, 

 the more clothing we want on our 

 beds in winter. It is the same 

 with a colony of bees, but a large 

 colony can endure more cold than 

 a small one. No matter how po- 

 rous our covering is, if there is 

 enough of it we sleep warm, though 

 there is a continued circulation up- 

 ward through the blankets. 



This circulation carries the moist 

 perspiration away from our bodies 

 and we remain dry and waim. If 

 we introduce an oil cloth between 

 the blankets the perspiration will 

 accunuilate beneath it making con- 

 ditions damp and cold. This should 

 show the kind of circulation and 



ventilation to appl^^ to a colony of 

 bees to keep them warm and dry. 

 If the temperature is 20° below, it 

 would want one foot of chaff, and 

 50° above would not want any cov- 

 ering at all. They would not be 

 cold and uneasy but just comforta- 

 ble ; nothing to worry or fret 

 about them. I find upward venti- 

 lation through building paper or 

 thin boards, providing they are not 

 gilded with pi'opolis,to be sufticient 

 in some temperatures. . I)r. Tinker 

 thinks his bees get some ventilation 

 through his thin basswood boards 

 and also says that his cellar used 

 to be rather cold. I never was 

 able to adjust the cover to the hive 

 close enough to prevent all venti- 

 lation except by lining the edges 

 of inch boards with rubber or cloth 

 and nail them solid to the hive. 

 In such a case the moisture on the 

 inside of the hive will swell the 

 boards and burst them open. Slight 

 ventilation works the moisture out 

 of the hive. If there is no ven- 

 tilation but the entrance, and the 

 temperature is high, the warmth of 

 the bees will fill the hive and expel 

 the moisture through the enti'ance ; 

 but it takes a very strong colon}'' 

 in a very small hiA'e to cause such a 

 circulation as that in a temperature 

 of 45°. 



2. I never have seen a Carnio- 

 lan bee. 



3. Use "queen restrictors" or 

 invert the brood-combs every five 

 days. Adjust the surplus recepta- 

 cles in season (before queen cells 

 are prepared) and keep the bees 

 busy filling vacant space near the 

 centre of the hives. Destroy all 

 queen cells as soon as they are 

 started and give plenty of room ; 

 this is the only effective remedy 

 known, and it can be practised 

 to excess. 



4. I think the hive used by G. 

 M. Doolittle is better and simpler 

 than the Simplicity ; but I have 

 no doubt but that the Simplicity 



