920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



be diminished ? In other words, is there an exact 

 space in which a colony of bees can work to the 

 best advantag-e, this space being proportionate to 

 the size of the colony, or can the space be varied to 

 some extent without a loss; and, if so, about how 

 great is this extent? About what is the working- 

 elasticity of a colony, to how great an extent is its 

 adaptability to space without incurring a loss ? I 

 think you get the idea. If the working elasticity of 

 a colony is small, then the point of Mr. Doolittle is 

 well taken. If it is large, equal to a whole case of 

 sections, it is of no account, except as it applies to 

 the matter of unfinished sections at the end of the 

 season. Even if the elasticity of a colony is not 

 equal to a whole case, the question may be raised, 

 if Mr. Doolittle's way is the best, on account of the 

 extra time required, especially does it count in a 

 honey-shower, and the one thing to decide is, how 

 shall we secure the greatest results with the least 

 expenditure of capital and labor? 



I'm not sure hut I'm a little bit rambling in this 

 article, for I've got away from the topic; but I will 

 touch upon just one more point. Friend D. says: 

 " Then why does he talk as he does of the sections 

 being filled with warm air, the same as we talk of 

 the room we live in being thus warm ? The warmth 

 Is held inside of the cluster of bees, not inside of the 

 hive, etc." I know very well that the heat of the 

 cluster is necessary for work, but I also know that 

 the ch(,stcr ivill not go into that part of the hive where 

 the warm air of the hive (not of the cluster) is al- 

 lowed to escape. Or, in plainer terms, the bees will 

 not work in that part of the hive where it is too cold. 

 I know this as the result of observation in hundreds 

 of cases. In my turn I feel a good deal like asking 

 you what you mean by talking as if you thought 

 the protection of the hive was of no account. The 

 warmth of the cluster and of the hive too is needed, 

 just as we need the heat both of our clothing and of 

 the room we live in. 



You've started, friend D., to discuss tiering up, 

 and I'm not sure but that is a valuable field, but 

 I can't touch it this time. C. C. Mixler. 



Marengo, 111. 



You both have suggested some important 

 questions, and it is evident already that 

 some facts are coming to light. It seems to 

 us that friend Doolittle lays too much stress 

 upon nature. Nature is very good so far as 

 it goes, but it is sometimes best for us not to 

 modify our plans in accordance with it. 

 Man has improved upon nature in many 

 ways in the agricultural world, and why not 

 in the apicultural world ? Now, as to the 

 matter of tiering up, friend Doolittle has 

 not yet made it quite plain to us why his 

 plan of securing comb honey is very much 

 better than the tiering up plan. Of course, 

 there are some disadvantages connected 

 with tiering up, and we think it is equally 

 true that there are disadvantages in the 

 wide-frame system— notably, the amount of 

 labor entailed, as C. C. Miller intimates. 

 The question as to how far the colony may 

 be enlarged, and in what way, is an interest- 

 ing one. If it can be properly solved, it will 

 help not a little in the matter of securing 

 comb honey, and at the same time of avoid- 

 ing unfinished sections. And, while we 

 think of it, fewer unfinished sections will 

 probably be secured by Doolittle's than by 

 the tiering-up plan. 



BAMBLE NO. 9. 



CAKNIOLANS, BOTH PRO AND CON. 



fHBRB has been much written, pro and con, in 

 relation to the merits and demerits of the 

 Carniolan bees. Sometimes the pro seems 

 to prevail, then the con seems to sweep all 

 before it. The Rambler confesses that he 

 became somewhat fuddled between pro and con; 

 and in order to get his head level again, he deter- 

 mined to visit an apiary devoted exclusively to the 

 rearing of Carniolan bees and queens. 



Let me introduce to you Mr. John Andrews, of 

 Pattens Mills, N. Y., who has associated with him 

 Mr. Lockhart, a young man who has promise of be- 

 coming a shining light in the ranks of apiculture. 



Mr. A.'s apiary is located in a fertile valley where 

 bees have access to clover, basswood, chestnut, and 

 an abundance of buckwheat pasturage. The little 

 hamlet surrounding the apiary contains a gristmill, 

 store, blacksmith shop, and on the hil!, near by, a 

 Methodist church. The apiary is neatly laid out in 

 rows, with grapevines for shade and fruit, the last 

 of which was very abundant, and in almost perfect 

 clusters, which showed the almost constant trim- 

 ming with those scissors which were always in the 

 proprietor's reach. The soil surrounding the hives 

 is sand, and every weed and blade of grass is kept 

 down, and the yard is as smooth as a floor. A shop 

 and small building for bee-flxtures stand at one 

 side of the yard. 



ANDREWS' HIVE-CART, FRAME, AND HIVE. 



The hive used is a modification of the L. hive, 

 with frames llV4x9^i, running crosswise in the hive. 

 I noticed several novelties in the apiary, proving 

 Mr. A. to be something of a genius. His cart for 

 moving bees to and from the cellar, aud for apiary 

 work, was admirably adapted to the purpose. I also 

 noticed a wide frame to hold surplus sections. 

 To facilitate the removal of sections, it was 

 made in two parts; half could be slipped off 

 from the sections at a time. For brushing bees 

 from the combs, a crow's wing is used. Mr. A. call- 

 ed my attention to the almost silky softness of the 

 wing; and just as I had made up my mind to con- 

 vert myself into a crow-hunter, and supply my api- 

 ary with wings, Mr. Lockhart remarked that the 

 crow smell made the bees cross. Thus do joinl 

 workers and odors disagree, 



In wintering, Mr. A. uses a rim to elevate thp 

 hives from the bottom-board, and a cage over the 

 entrance (see cut) to allow bees the privilege of the 

 entrance, and still prevent loss on the cellar bot- 

 tom. This plan works so well that all of his hives 

 are supplied with tljese cages. Messrs. A. and L, 



