no 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



ing-tubes put in tor the purpose. This was based 

 upon theory. I have been compelled to change my 

 views very much upon this subject. 



My ventilators are now all taken out, being worse 

 than useless, and I now employ no special means of 

 ventilation whatever for my bee-rooms. lUn the 

 most ample ventilation is given to each colony by 

 leaving the bottom of the hives entirely open, and 

 placing them upon stringers, or, as I now place 



LKiglit here the speaker 

 piled up a series of sec- 

 tions to illusti-ate his idea, 

 as shown in diagram.— Ed.] 



them, one upon another, with an open space be- 

 tween, in such a manner that each hive is directly 

 over the open space below. This gives what I term 

 downward ventilation. It also affords an opportu- 

 nity for all dead bees and rubbish to drop out of 

 the hive. 



Of course, it would not be a matter of prudence 

 to leave the bee-rooms closed throughout the sea- 

 sou, disregarding all circumstances. 1 visit them 

 on tours of inspection as often as I think occasion 

 requires, and at the approach of warm weather I 

 frequently leave the doors and windows open at 

 evening and morning, in order to keep the temper- 

 ature from getting too high. There has been, dur- 

 ing the past few years, some extravagant notions 

 in regard to proper temperature of bee-houses and 

 wintering repositories, and some immoderate re- 

 ports and statements have been made that are 

 well calculated to mislead even those of some ex- 

 perience. Some of the advocates of high tempera- 

 ture for wintering have gone to unwarranted ex- 

 tremes. I am myself convinced, by a liberal experi- 

 ence, that a high temperature is important to the 

 welfare of the colony, late in the season after 

 brood-rearing has begun. But .50° to .55° 1 shall ex- 

 plain as the maximum, and 60° as the extreme of 

 high temperature. It is well to avoid extremes of 

 temperature, but I am not quite sure that uniform- 

 ity is essential or even beneficial. I should prefer 

 that the temperature go not below the freezing- 

 point, nor remain very long near it. But I have 

 never been able to discover any very serious re- 

 sults from alow temjierature, if not too long con- 

 tinued. 



The use o'' artificial heat in bee-rooms in winter 

 has attracted some attention. I have had consider- 

 able experience in its use, and at one time I became 

 quite enthusiastic over it. But I do not attach as 

 much importance to it as formerly. There are 

 times during a long cold spell when it may be em- 

 ployed with benefit. I dispense with it in several 

 of my apiaries entirely, and the comparative re- 

 sults in wintering show but little difference. I pre- 

 fer to have the rooms perfectly dry, and sometimes 

 I use lime on the floors to secure this condition. 



EastTownsend, O. H. R. Ho.\iinMAN. 



At the rtica Convention, tlic general ten- 

 or of the facts brought forward seemed to in- 

 dicate much like the above. We have had 

 our vehement advocates of a higli degree of 

 temperature, and we have had others equal- 

 ly vehement for a low degree ; but many ex- 

 periences seem to indicate that bees may 

 winter successfully through a wide range of 



temperature, say from 30 degrees up to 7-5. 

 Most people, however, would fail— or, per- 

 haps, I should say most cellars, with a tem- 

 perature that very often goes above 60, as 

 friend E. puts it; and it would want good 

 strong colonies and a very good management 

 to have bees <lo well where the temperature 

 was very much of the time below 35 ; and 

 we might almost say the same in reference 

 to ventilation. If other things are favor- 

 able, bees often winter well with tlie most 

 abundant ventilation, and from that ckar to 

 the other extreme of what many would call 

 no ventilation at all. Friend Doolittle, it 

 seems, has arrived at about the same con- 

 clusion as friend Boardman ; and Mr. P. H. 

 Ellwood, at the T^tica Convention, expressed 

 much the same views. Most cellars or caves 

 afford all the ventilation that is needed, 

 without any particular ventilators being 

 provided. "Mr. Ellwood made a remark 

 something like this : ''A hundred colonies of 

 bees do not require any more air than a good 

 strong man." Well, a man will work with 

 comfort, week after week, in almost any ordi- 

 nary cellar, without any special pains being 

 taken to provide ventilators. If you put in 

 sub-earth pipes or ventilators, so as to send 

 a draft of air across his back, he will be 

 pretty sure to stop them up, especially dur- 

 ing the winter time, about the first thing he 

 does. 



THE CHAPMAN HONEY-PLANT. 



REPORTS IN REGARD TO IT DURING 1887. 



fHE following letters were forwarded 

 us by friend Chapman ; and, by the 

 way, we want to say that we shall be 

 very glad indeed to get reports from 

 all who liave tested this new honey- 

 plant, especially where they have tried them 

 in patches of a quarter of an acre or more. 



Friend CJiapman:— Your honey-plants arrived 

 last spring in due time, and found due attention. 

 Every plant grew and bloomed; some are in bloom 

 now. The blossoms were sticky with honey dui'ing 

 the summer months, and they were industriously 

 made use of. Up to date I never found the blos- 

 soms without bees. I consider your honey-plant 

 quite an acquisition to an apiary, and am grateful 

 for your present. Chas. F. Muth. 



Morristown, Shelby Co., Ind.. Sept. 16, 1887. 



H. Chapman :— The pl.ants I got from you have 

 done finely, and the bees are on them all the time. 

 It is a wonderful plant. Our root had 30 balls 

 upon it at once, and most of them as large as hens' 

 eggs. They have been in bloom since July 15th, 

 and more coming. I showed it in full bloom at the 

 State Fair to bee-keepers, and they thought it a 

 wonderful plant. You will hear from them in the 

 spring. James JardiNk. 



Ashland, Neb., Sept. 14, 1887. 



H. (liapwaii:— This is our first season with the 

 Chapman honey-plant : and taking into considera- 

 tion the drought, and failure generally of other 

 plants in this locality, we give it as our opinion that 

 the Chapman honey-plant is all that is claimed for 

 it. We have seen nothing*that equals it. 



J. J. Martin & Co. 



North Manchester, Ind., Sept. 15, 1887. 



