432 



May 23, 1907 



American IBae Journal 



after tiering- up in this way, and in a 

 few days cease altogether, this leaving 

 me with double the number of sections 

 worked in, with not one, or very few, 

 completed ; while when the empty 

 super was put on top at the same time, 

 I would have nearly every section in 

 the lower super completed, with a few 

 worked in sulBciently for baits the next 

 year, I concluded that the old way was 

 a delusion and a snare. 



With the empty super on top the bees 

 will go into it as soon as more room is 

 really needed, and, as far as I can see, 

 work to fully as good advantage as 

 they will the other way, and that when 

 a good yield of nectar continues right 

 along for several weeks. 



As soon as the first super put on is 

 finished take it oflf, when enough work 

 will be done in the second one put on to 

 hold the bees right at work therein, the 

 same now being set down on the hive 

 and an empty super set on top of it to 

 c itch any overflow of bees which may 

 come about. If this overflow amounts 

 to filling this now third super (on top of 

 the second!, set the fourth super of the 

 season on top of the last one put on, 

 thus making the hive 3 supers high, 

 which is generally enough to satisfy 

 any colony. 



As any full super is taken from the 

 colony, lower the others down on the 

 hive, putting all empty ones supplied 

 at the top, and so on to the end of the 

 season ; and if you are anything like 

 myself, you will be abundantly satis- 

 fied with the results. 



When I used the old way, if I aver- 

 aged 150 sections to the hive which the 

 bees had worked in, I would have from 

 SO to 75 unfinished or unsalable sec- 

 tions out of every 150 worked in ; but 

 with the new way my proportion of 

 unfinished sections has grown less 

 and less, so that in the fall of 1905 the 

 total of unfinished sections was only 

 about 8 out of every 100 completed ; 

 while in the fall of 1906 theie were 

 scarcely 4 unsalable sections out of 

 every 100 that were marketed, or hardly 

 enough for " baits " for this year. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Making Cement Hive-Stands 



BY DR. G. BOHRER 



Having made a number of cement 

 hive-stands, it may be a matter of 

 some interest to such bee-keepers as 

 may think of making them, to know in 

 what proportion to mix Portland 

 cement and sand, and how to wet the 

 same for use. 



Take 6 gallons of good sand and one 

 gallon of cement. Put them on a tight 

 board floor. (I put mine on a common 

 tongued-and-grooved door that is not 

 otherwise in use.) Mix them thor- 

 oughly, dry. Then sprinkle the mass 

 freely with water and stir well with a 

 rake, shovel, or hoe. Then sprinkle 

 again, repeating this process until the 

 whole batch is suflHciently wet to ad- 

 here when pressed into a body. 



Then put it into a box 16 inches wide 

 and 20 inches long and 4 inches deep, 

 inside measurement. The side pieces 

 may be cut 26 inches long, sloping the 

 ends beyond the end of the hive-body 

 down to a point. Five inches back 



from where the slope begins put in a 

 partition-board and one 6 inches from 

 the rear end. This leaves a 6 inch 

 space across the hive-stand not filled 

 with cement. Set the box up where 

 the hive is to sit, and level it. Do not 

 nail the box together, but drive stakes 

 on the outside to hold the boards in 

 position. Then put in the cement 

 mixed as directed, and with a piece of 

 2x4 or 4x4 scantling, say 3 feet long, 

 stamp the mass of cement down so as 

 to pack it into a solid body. When the 

 mold or box is level full, smooth the 

 top with a trowel or anything that will 

 leave the surface smooth. Then, with- 

 out waiting one moment, the stakes 

 may be taken up and the boards re- 

 moved, and the stand is completed. 

 This must be done when there is no 

 freezing, and in a few hours the cement 

 will have set. The stand should be 

 sprinkled 2 or 3 times per day for sev- 

 eral days, so as to have the mass 

 harden gradually, as it will be much 

 harder than if permitted to dry out 

 quickly. 



The front end should be filled out 

 down to the bottom of the slope at the 

 ends of the sideboards with cement. 

 This will serve as a landing for the 

 bees in front of the hive. The dimen- 

 sions of this stand fit the 10-frame 

 Langstroth hive, and the amount of 

 material used is sufficient for one 

 stand, and not much more. There 

 should not be more mixed for use than 

 is required for one stand, as it is quite 

 sure to set if permitted to stand only 

 a few moments ; and after once set it 

 is never so good, as its cohesive power 

 is destroyed. 



One gallon of cement (the amount I 

 use in making one stand) will cost 

 from 10 to 12 cents. I pay 80 cents per 

 sack, weighing 95 pounds. Not hav- 

 ing weighed one gallon of cement, nor 

 learned just how many gallons there 

 are in one 95-pound sack, I can not 

 state definitely the cost of a gallon, 

 but think I have not put the cost per 

 stand far from the correct price. 



Lyons, Kans. 



Tlie 



Hershiser Hive-Stands, 

 Etc. 



By F. L- DAY 



It was with much interest that I 

 read in the April 15th number of 

 Gleanings Editor Root's account of 

 their test of the Hershiser hive-stand 

 in wintering a portion of their bees. I 

 have the more interest in this matter 

 because a neighbor of mine has used a 

 similar stand for some years, and has 

 often urged me to try it. His stand is 

 ventilated at one end only, but this has 

 a sliding screen, easily removed. When 

 prepared for winter each hive has a 

 large sheet of pasteboard, obtained 

 from cracker-boxes, put on the floor of 

 the stand to catch the dead bees or 

 other waste matter. Several times 

 during the winter these pasteboards 

 are removed from each stand and care- 

 fully cleaned. Then there is no accu- 

 mulation of dead bees to rot and mold. 



I should consider the stand an im- 

 provement over the Hershiser, in hav- 

 ing ventilation on only one side, were 



it not for the fact that my hives are 

 left wide open on the bottom, and my 

 bees winter finely. I have lost only 3 

 colonies in the cellar in 5 years. To 

 be sure, I do have one thickness of bur- 

 lap under the hive to help keep the bees 

 confined when putting them into the 

 cellar. But once in the cellar this bur- 

 lap is loosened so as to fall away from 

 the hive at the ends, so as to leave 

 them open 



This neighbor's bees winter quite 

 well, especially so considering that he 

 never knows in the fall whether a col- 

 ony has a queen or not. He winters 

 only 10 colonies. Each season he in- 

 creases by natural swarming to about 

 30 colonies. Then in the fall he selects 

 the 10 that appear best on the outside, 

 and sulphurs the balance. One year 

 he secured 1000 pounds of surplus 

 honey. 



My colonies, as wintered with the 

 hives open at the bottom, come out in 

 good shape ; the larger portion with 

 bees enough to cover from 6 to 10 

 frames of brood. Very few weaklings 

 that need to be helped. This spring, 

 of 43 full colonies put into the cellar 2 

 were dead, 2 weak, and the other 39 in 

 excellent condition. Each one of the 

 41, as well as the 4 nuclei, has a laying 

 queen and plenty of stores. Taking it 

 altogether, I am unable to see how it 

 would pay me to invest in a hive-stand 

 to shut my bees in during the winter 

 when they do well without it. 



Taking Bbks from the Cellar. 



It was with some degree of amuse- 

 ment that I read of G. M. Doolittle 

 having a wheelbarrow with springs, 

 and then putting on quilts to ease any 

 possible jars to his bees at the time of 

 taking out the cellar. Now I use just 

 the opposite course with, I believe, 

 even better success. I take a common 

 railroad barrow, and put a few gunny- 

 sacks in the bottom to fill up the hol- 

 low. Then I set a hive over these, the 

 same having no bottom-boards, the 

 hive having its 4 corners bearing on 

 the sloping sides of the barrow, and 

 wheel as fast as I can go over the 

 rough ground about 25 rods from the 

 cellar to the summer stands. When I 

 lift the hive from the barrow and set it 

 on its stand scarcely a bee comes out. 

 In 10 minutes they commence to fly 

 out slowly, and in 20 minutes they are 

 in full flight. 



This spring I used no smoke or other 

 device, but put them all out as fast as 

 possible. When about half through 

 the wind turned to the north, the sky 

 clouded over, and the temperature fell 

 from 70 to 40 degrees. The last colo- 

 nies put out did not fly much, but 

 waited a day or two later, when the 

 weather was warmer. I must say, 

 though, that my bees have been quieter 

 than usual this spring, and the cellar 

 quite cool, which may have helped. 



This spring I contracted the en- 

 trance of each hive as soon as on its 

 summer stand, but did not see that it 

 made any particular difi'erence about 

 the bees flying out. They came out 

 just the same as in other years when I 

 left the entrances wide open until near 

 night. I contract the entrance of 

 strong colonies to ijxl inch, and the 

 weak ones much less. I never have 

 any chilled brood, no matter how cold 



