74 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 25, 19C6 



death of the bees. Possibly such was the case, but I am 

 strongly of the opinion that, having deserted their hives, food 

 was not within their reach, and starvation was the immediate 

 cause of the death of such an unusual number of bees. If his 

 visit to the bees had been delayed 2 or 3 days longer all would 

 have been dead. If each colony had been confined within the 

 limits of its own hive, with the proper amount of room be- 

 neath th.e frames, well ventilated, there seems to me no reason 

 why each colony should not have survived, just as did the 

 large bunch of bees in one of the upper front corners of the 

 room. 



The bottom-board under mention was made especially to 

 meet my personal requirements. All my apiaries are a\va\ 

 from home. There is a good cellar under my dwelling-house. 

 but the constant use to which it is put during the winter 

 months precludes keeping it dark, and it is impracticable to 

 keep it at an even temperature. No difficult)' in keeping it 

 fn 'in the freezing point, but in very cold weather a hot "fire 

 must be kept in the furnace to heat the house. When mod- 

 erate weather comes, especially if it comes suddenly, there is 

 too much heat in the cellar for orthodox wintering. Barring 

 the uneven temperature, the cellar is about ideal. The neces- 

 sity of bringing the bees from out-apiaries at the very time 

 they must be placed in the cellar, and the peculiar conditions 

 of the latter, were the factors which called for correspond- 

 ingly peculiar construction to confine the bees while in the 

 cellar and in moving them. After the disastrous winter of 

 1903-4. in which I lost heavily, having wintered almost entirely 

 outdoors. I determined not to risk all of them in that way 

 again. Hence the evolution of a device to meet my require- 

 ments. 



On Dec. 4. 1905, I commenced at 9 :30 o'clock in the fore- 

 noon and by 12 o'clock I had closed the hives (by means of 

 my bottom-boards) of 88 colonies of bees, and hauled them in 

 two sleighloads a distance of 24 miles, carrying them a dis- 

 tance of 75 feet to the cellar door. By 3 o'clock in the after- 

 noon I had them safely placed in the cellar, all with the 

 assistance of one man all the time and a boy teamster and his 

 team in the forenoon. The weather was about at the freezing 

 point, and a few live bees dropped on the floor-boards. After 

 the bees were placed in the cellar a brisk fire in the furnace 

 soon raised the temperature to a point which enabled every 

 live bee to regain the cluster in its hive. 



Last winter I made my first experiment in wintering 

 bees, in considerable numbers, confined in their hives, although 

 I had tried it in a small way the winter previous. One hun- 

 dred and thirty-five colonies were placed in the cellar, con- 

 fined as described. Four-fifths or more of the colonies were 

 nuclei, occupying from 3 to 5 Langstroth frames. They could 

 not have been wintered outdoors. Many of them were de- 

 ficient in stores, probably *4 °f them having less than 16 

 pounds each. They had been fed up late in the season on 

 sugar syrup. The average loss in weight per colony, in win- 

 tering, was a little in excess of 7 pounds for 4 months' confine- 

 ment. My winter loss from this lot was 2 colonies wdiich 

 died of 'starvation, and a few that swarmed out and joined 

 other colonies, which was due to the folly of putting bees out 

 when it is so warm as it was here on March 28, the ther- 

 mometer registering 78 degrees. The strength of the weak 

 as compared with the strong colonies in the spring was as 

 nearly in proportion to their strength the fall previous as 



Fie. 3.— Hershiser's Bottom-Board and Hive as Prepared for Summer. 



could be estimated, the full colonies being correspondingly 

 stronger than the nuclei. This lot of weak colonies wintered 

 at least 15 percent, better than the strong colonies left out- 

 doors, and consumed not more than half as much stores per 

 colony. All colonies wintered outside were in first-class con- 



dition in the fall, with 25 pounds and upwards of stores per 

 colony, and well packed and protected. 



While absent at the late Chicago convention the furnace 

 became defective, and it was impossible to control the heat 

 until repairs were made. The excessive heat, resulting from 



Fig. 4.— Hive-Stand as Adapted for Cellar Use. 



too strong a draft, caused the bees to roar and clamor for 

 liberty as though it were summer, but all to no purpose : each 

 colony was safely confined within its own hive. It can easily 

 be guessed what the consequences would have been if the bees 

 had been able to escape from their hives. My loss would have 

 been practically 146 colonies of bees — the number in the cellar. 

 After repairs had been made on the furnace and better con- 

 ditions obtained, the bees quieted down to their normal con- 

 dition, apparently none the worse for their unwonted activity, 

 except 3 colonies which persisted in "keeping "up the music." 

 A few bees in these, with distended abdomens, are running 

 about the screen sides of the bottom-board, but the number 

 diminishes daily, and I anticipate that when they have ex- 

 pired, as they surely will in a few days, these colonies will 

 also be in a normal condition, as they really are now. except 

 the few restless bees. The colonies both above and below 

 and all around the restless ones are perfectly normal, the 

 quiet yellow cluster of bees hanging between and below the 

 frames, telling the story of comfort and perfect wintering. 



The above observations, in my own experience, prove to 

 me conclusively that if bees of one or more colonies should 

 buzz about the wire-screen sides of the bottom-board, in an 

 effort to escape, the noise will not materially disturb other ^ 

 colonies, much less will it "rouse the whole cellar." That 

 when bees are properly confined to their hives, having all 

 needed ventilation, if, from a rise in the temperature all the 

 colonies become aroused, they will return to their normal 

 winter condition, when the proper temperature is restored, 

 without serious consequences ; whereas, if not so confined, the 

 loss of bees by becoming disengaged from the hive and lost on 

 the cellar floor or otherwise, would be enormous. To me the 

 carrying of so trifling an amount of machinery under the hive 

 has been advantageous and profitable. To be without it would, 

 in my case, be extravagance. Buffalo. N. Y. 



# 



A Successful Home-Made Hive 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



TOO often in making his own hives the bee-keeper tries to 

 pattern them after those sold by the manufacturers, and 

 consequently finds that it does not pay to buy good 

 lumber, saw it by hand, and make a hive costing little less than 

 a better one sold by the manufacturers. Nor does it pay to 

 make that style of hive out of cheap lumber — a dressmaker 

 might as well construct a dress from home-spun on a pattern 

 designed for silk goods. Yet everyone knows that a good. 

 serviceable dress can be made from home-spun, and one which 

 is possibly even better for ordinary wear than the silk one. 

 It is my purpose to tell the readers of the American Bee 

 Journal how a bee-hive can be formed from the cheapest kind 

 of lumber, and yet be a better hive for actual use than the 

 factory-made hive. 



This hive wdiich I am about to describe is not handsome 

 to look at. for its beauty lies deep and is the more appreciated 

 the longer the hive is used. It is a hive excellent for winter 

 as well as for summer. 



To construct this hive a good roofing paper is necessary. 

 Having used with great success that brand known as "Paroid" 

 — a paper wdiich is advertised in the American Bee Journal — 

 I shall make occasional mention of that name and also shall 



