Aug. 30, 1906 



American Ttee Journal 



they are easily blown off when in au 

 exposed situation. Besides, they are 

 expensive. We have at all times 

 plenty of boxes in which we have re- 

 ceived beeswax or other articles, and 

 which have no longer any use. The 



look twice before setting anything 

 down, for fear of seeing it slide to the 

 foot of the hill. The roof, with one 

 side higher than the other, is of help 

 in such a spot. 

 To give the reader an idea of how 



DADANT HIVE-ROOF FOR SHADE AND VENTILATION. 



largest of these boxes are knocked to 

 pieces each year and made into flat 

 roofs, by cleating them on two cross- 

 pieces, one of which is shallower 

 than the other, in order to give the 

 roof a little slope. Any dry-goods box 

 will make six roofs. If the roof is used 

 at once when the hive is first brought 

 to the apiary, very little damage will 

 be suffered by it from the inclemencies 

 of the weather, whether heat, rain or 

 cold. Even when these roofs are not 

 water-tight, which is the rule rather 

 than the exception, they leak only in 

 spots, and the greater portion of the 

 moisture from the atmosphere is 

 warded off. But what is of more im- 

 portance is that the direct rays of the 

 sun are entirely intercepted. This is 

 the principal advantage of a roof over 

 a tight hive-top made of either tin or 

 other water-proof material. 



We aim to make these roofs at least 

 6 or 8 inches longer than the hive-top, 

 so that the entrance and alighting- 

 board are both shaded and sheltered in 

 most circumstances. In the winter 

 the snow is very often kept off the 

 alighting-board, owing to the projec- 

 tion of the roof. If a thaw sets in, 

 when there is snow on the ground, and 

 the bees show signs of taking flight, 

 we throw the roofs down, bottom side 

 up, in front of each hive. It gives the 

 rays of the sun a better chance to 

 warm the colony, and procures a clean 

 alighting place of good size to the fly- 

 ing bees, which are often so dazzled by 

 the snow that they so but a very short 

 distance without alighting. 



A flat roof has often proved useful to 

 me, in setting down a super or a hive, 

 when the apiary was in an uneven 

 spot, or in a steep slope, for I have 

 kept bees in a spot where one had to 



indifferent material may be used to 

 make roofs, I will say that at a time 

 when we bought beeswax in sugar 



hogsheads from the Southern dealers, 

 we had accumulated a number of these 

 hogsheads which were at a discount 

 until I concluded to try to make them 

 into roofs. The staves, which had to 

 be ripped in two, also had to be ripped 

 to even widths, as each stave was 

 wider in the middle than at the ends. 

 But as they were made of cypress, a 

 very lasting wood. I even now occa- 

 sionally come across one of those 

 roofs, still in use as a sun- shelter. 



Some one suggests to me that, when 

 the hives are in the shade of trees, the 

 roof is less needed. This is an error. 

 In the sun, the dampness caused by 

 steady rains is soon evaporated. In 

 the shade of trees it remains for days. 

 We have more need for a rain-proof 

 roof in a shaded apiary than in one 

 which is exposed to the broad sunlight. 

 In the latter place, anything that 

 breaks the rays of the summer sun is 

 sufficient to preserve the hives, espe- 

 cially if their tops are painted. 



Another advantage I find to a mov- 

 able roof, is when a sleet or wet snow 

 has fallen and is thawing slowly and 

 dripping water about the edges of the 

 hives. If the cover is a movable roof, 

 we do away with the annoyance at 

 once by removing it temporarily, while 

 the bee-keeper whose hives have no 

 roof, must let the water slowly drip, or 

 at great trouble scrape off the melting 

 ice or icy snow. 



The cost of roofs such as I recom- 

 mend and use is a trifle, not worth con- 

 sidering. But the apiarist who wants 

 an elegant apiary will prefer the roofs 

 that Mr. Baxter uses. 



Hamilton, 111. 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



A Few Words for the Would-Be 

 Bee-Farmer" 



A clipping from the Chicago Daily 

 News has been received which is of 

 interest in more than one way. It is 

 taken from the department conducted 

 by Marion Harland, whose writings 

 have been read with interest in thou- 

 sands of households for many a year. 

 It reads as follows : 



Our valued correspondent, " H. T. G.," her- 

 balist, M. D. and benefactor in general to all 

 who need practical counsel, has a few words 

 in season for the would-be bee-farmer: 



"About bees — I have none for sale or to 

 buy. Studying with a man who built up 150 

 stands in 5 years out of others' failures, I find 

 this, that to avoid fakirs read books. Then 

 salt the books heavily before digesting, to get 

 the truth ; for fjood book-writers are poor 

 bee-keepers. Those who get rich on bee- 

 keeping only instruct confidential friends who 

 work with them uml get their sympathy. I 



learned this — that the expense exceeds the 

 profit unless you put your whole time directly 

 with the business and plenty of cash. Com- 

 petition has lowered the price, and ignorant 

 competitors keep diseased bees and scrubs to 

 mix with a good apiary. Laws are not yet 

 stringent enough for protection. My friend 

 says that you must have an expensive bee- 

 cellar for winter. (He 6aved all his bees last 

 winter and others lost heavily.) Also you 

 must have a large number, so as to trade 

 brood-combs for honey-combs, as an equal 

 quantity of each is necessary. Bees misman- 

 age as human6 do. The intelligence required 

 to prosper with bees would win in other occu- 

 pations. But the work does cure nervous, 

 overdone people. Average income is $2 per 

 hive a year. Experts may make ?20, some- 

 times. Colonies and hive6 cost from $5 to $20 

 each, complete. With risk of loss this is 

 small profit. He 6ays he prefers to buy his 

 bees and produce only honey to sell rather 

 than to produce his own swarms. He pre- 

 vents swarming and keeps his colonies as 

 large as he can. A weak colony is a loss. It 

 takes them all to keep house and none left to 

 gather honey. He says it ages the bees too 



