June 21, 1906 



American Itee Journal 



days, that grows more enchanting as the years hasten by. 

 My enthusiasm fairly bubbled over as I noted with what 

 splendid success I had met in wintering each and every col- 



A good business queen, in a good, strong colony, with 

 plentv of well-ripened stores, is the pivot upon which success 

 must" be turned in solving the wintering problem. These 

 are cheaper than packing boxes, and ever so much more 

 encouraging to look upon; and it's Nature's way. 



To show the readers of the American Bee Journal how- 

 little I have need of winter-cases, I will describe briefly the 

 hive I am using. Some bee-keepers may say I am not up to 

 date when I state that rny hive is simply a modified Lang- 

 stroth. But I defy any one to produce honey more cheaply 

 in the so-called "improved" hives. 



I made the hive a little shorter and some deeper. The 

 brood-frames are of the standard Hoffman style. The super 

 contains 9 extracting combs of standard depth, g}i inches. 

 So does the brood-chamber, excepting that these frames are 

 11 inches deep, outside measure. The super is covered first 

 with a heavy piece of enamel cloth, then a 5^-inch board 

 cover cleated at both ends to prevent warping; and then the 

 very important, if not almost indispensable, telescopic gable 

 cover. It is to this feature of the hive, together with the 

 %-inch deep entrance, and 5-inch extension of a portico, that 

 I wish to speak more particularly than to the number or 

 depth of brood-frames. 



I am firmly of the belief that bee-keepers have made a 

 mistake in discarding the deep, telescope gable cover. I 

 have never known a cover of that kind to be blown off the 

 hive by the wind; and during the storms of winter and the 

 scorching heat of summer it affords the very best protection 

 to the bees at the least possible expense. For winter use 

 it is supported by the portico cover, and a couple of cleats 

 nailed to the hive-body about 1 inch from the top edge of 

 the hive. This effectually sheds the rain and keeps the 

 hive dry. In summer, when the super is on the hive, it rests 

 on a couple of cleats nailed to the extracting super about 3 

 inches from the top edge. The cover being 10 inches deep 

 in full, or 8 inches to the eaves, it is sufficiently heavy to 

 take out any perceptible twist in the super that may cause 

 the super to kick up at one corner a little, thereby permit- 

 ting the escape of heat or energy; and yet it is not heavy 

 enough to be burdensome to handle. By boring three J^-inch 

 holes in each end-piece at equal distances on a line a little 

 below the corner of the eaves, the ventilation will be ample 

 over the flat super-cover inside. To my notion, this arrange- 

 ment for protection, when used in conjunction with the 

 large entrance, is far better and more economical than the 

 old-time shade-board and heavy stone. 



Then, again, in the fall of the year all that remains to 

 be done to prepare the bees for winter is to remove the 

 extracting super, bore a couple of small holes in the super- 

 cover, several inches apart, and cover them with window- 

 screening tacked down to hold it in place. Now fill the tele- 

 scope cover nearly full of fine blue-grass hay, or wheat or 

 oats straw. Forest leaves afford good protection, but they 

 spill out worse than the hay when handling the covers 

 afterward. But the hay soon takes the shape of the inside 

 of the cover and is easily returned if, perchance, it falls out 

 when lifting the cover. In theory this might seem to be an 

 objectionable feature, but in practice it will be found that a 

 filling of fine hay will, if properly pressed down when put 

 in, adhere to the cover so well as to cause no trouble, prac- 

 tically, at all. The holes in the gable-ends of the cover per- 

 mit the air to circulate freely over the packing, which keeps 

 it perfectly dry and sweet. 



That is the way I winter my bees here in Southern 

 Ohio. The apiary always looks neat and tidy. There is no 

 tearing up or changing of locations ; no packing boxes to get 

 out and repaint; no loss of bees by unfavorable conditions 

 in the weather at the time of packing; and no queens stung 

 by the bees getting mixed up and entering the wrong hive. 

 If any one knows of a way more simplified, I would like to 

 hear of it. 



When it comes to the question of the best size of frame 

 for extracting purposes, I know to a certainty that more 

 honey can be secured, and at less cost, by using the 

 Langstroth frame, or a frame of that capacity. Bees will 

 enter a 10-frame Langstroth hive-body, when used as a 

 super, (and it is well covered to prevent the escape of heat), 



about as quicklv as they will a shallow one. The cost of 

 construction is very nearly the same, and the cost of manipu- 

 lation is practically the same at the start; but before the 

 season is far advanced the odds are greatly in favor of the 

 full-depth super. This fact will be appreciated when one has 

 out-apiaries to look after, or in any case when the apiary 

 can not be visited often. Just as much time will be con- 

 sumed in putting on a shallow case as one of double capacity, 

 and, furthermore, such manipulation necessitates a return 

 trip in less than half the time that the larger one will. Were 

 2 of the smaller ones given to the bees at once, the space 

 thus to be occupied would necessarily be colder by reason of 

 the increased chances for the escape of warm air through the 

 joints. Any one can prove to his own satisfaction, that bees 

 will not enter 2 shallow cases as readily in early spring as 

 thev will a large one of equal capacity. 



There is more pleasure in extracting from shallow 

 frames than deep ones, but I fear that in many cases the 

 desire to keep the crop separate by means of shallow frames 

 or frequent extracting has more often resulted injuriously 

 rather than promoted the quality of extracted honey in gen- 

 eral. Honey that has been stored in large combs and left 

 on the hive till it is thoroughly ripe, though there has been 

 a blending of flavors, is far superior in quality to honey of a 

 certain distinct flavor, but being in a less ripened condition. 

 When I place a super of Langstroth combs on each of my 

 colonies, separating it from the brood-chamher by means of 

 a wood-zinc honey-board, and covering it with a heavy piece 

 of enamel cloth, then the flat super-cover, and last the large 

 ventilated telescopic gable cover, I know it will not be neces- 

 sary for me to make a trip back there again very soon. And 

 I also know that if there has been any honey in the flowers, 

 I will take a box full of honey from each of those hives when 

 I do return. 



Reader, if you know of any more simplified method for 

 the production of extracted honey, giving equally certain and 

 pleasing results, I would be delighted with the knowledge 

 of it. Wheelersburg, Ohio, April 26. 



Ruches and Ruchers in Europe 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 



RUCHES and Ruchers — what a queer title ! Well, in 

 French ruche means hive, and rucher the place where 

 the ruches are kept. However, the word rucher is more 

 specially applied to the bee-houses, or rather, bee-sheds, in 

 which they are usually kept in Europe. During the last 

 20 or 30 years many apiarists have increased considerably 

 their apiaries, and the term "apier" has come into use to 

 designate the keeping of the ruches in the open ground. 



The rucher is a necessity with straw-hives. A straw- 

 hive completely soaked in wet weather would be a mighty 

 poor home for the bees, or anything else. In a recent con- 

 tribution to one of our exchanges, Mr. Greiner gave a descrip- 

 tion of straw-hives, and expressed the opinion that they 

 might possibly come into use here. Well, "I don't know," 

 but the possibility is rather remote. The straw-hives of 

 Europe are made by the peasants during the winter even- 

 ings, and sold at a very low price. Made in a factory at 

 factory prices they would cost considerably more than the 

 wood hives. 



THE RUCHER. 



The rucher is an excellent institution. It is a kind of 

 bee-house with an open front. The front wall is replaced 

 by 2 or 3 long shelves on which the hives are placed. The 

 ends and back are closed, thus forming an ample protection 

 against the wind. The space between the shelves and the 

 back wall is sufficient to permit the apiarist to do his work. 

 A roof covers the whole and extends sufficiently in front to 

 protect the hives against the rain and snow, and also against 

 the hot sun during the middle of the day. The hives have 

 no bottom, that is, not often; the shelves constituting the 

 bottoms for all. An excellent idea of what a rucher is can 

 be suggested by the engraving representing Gravenhorst's 

 apiary in the "A B C of Bee Culture," only the passage 

 behind the ruches is not shown. 



The passage being comparatively dark, the bees do not 

 frequent it to any extent, and therefore do not bother the 

 apiarist when at work. Another advantage is the possibil- 



