314 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1.">. 



suppose, in the cellar. That ventilation is al- 

 ways accompanied by a certain amount of sound, 

 is it not, whether in summer or winter ? If the 

 bees recognize the presence of impure air in the 

 hive, the natural thing is to ventilate. If the 

 air in the hive is exactly the same temperature 

 as that outside, and there is nothing to create 

 any motion of the air either in or out of the 

 hive, then, as the air becomes impure by breath- 

 ing, the bees must necessarily purify it by ven- 

 tilating. If, however, the air outside the hive 

 is enough colder than that within, the greater 

 weight of the outside air will make it displace 

 that within, so that, if it be just enough colder, 

 there will be no need of action on the part of 

 the bees, either to get up heat or to purify the 

 air. That particular point of temperature is 

 supposed to be somewhere in the neighborhood 

 of 45°, possiblv a little above it. This is on the 

 supposition that the air outside the hive is pure. 



Now. suppose a colony gets to work ventilat- 

 ing, and the air they introduce is just as im- 

 pure as that driven out. The effort to change 

 the air will become more violent, until the 

 whole hive is in a roar: and, if the cold does not 

 force them to stay in the hive, they will collect 

 on the outside, just where their instinct tells 

 them thev may find the purest air. Just this 

 state of things I have seen- many a time on 

 warm, muggy days toward spring. On the 

 evening of such a day, I have opened wide the 

 cellar-door, so a.s to let in better air. Did that 

 quiet the bees? So far from it. the noise in- 

 creased so much that the roaring could be heard 

 at a distance of sevei'al rods fi'om the cellar. 

 Why? Perhaps the bees had understood that 

 a stock of fresh air had been brought into the 

 cellar, and that now it was worth while to 

 work harder than ever to get some of it while it 

 was going. At any rate, they seenuul to go to 

 work with a will: but when they had filled their 

 hives with the precious breathing material, 

 they stopped ventilating; and by the nextmorn- 

 ing'the cellar was almost as quiet as death, and 

 not a bee would stir from the hives, though the 

 full light of day .streamed in. 



So far. then, "we seem to have noise of two 

 kinds— that made when the bees are warming 

 up, and that made when they are ventilat- 

 ing. The noise of cold bees seems a little in the 

 cellai' like the sound of a soft wind blowing 

 through the pine-trees. Ai'e there any diffei-- 

 ent sounds? 



Are we to understand that, when a colony is 

 somewhat noisy, something is not quite right? 

 I don't know for sure, but I think not. Is it not 

 necessai'y for a colony, after sucli a length of 

 tim(>, to make a stir and take a lunch, and, pos- 

 siblv. make other changes? Did you ever no- 

 tice'them rousing u]) i)eriodically, and then qui- 

 eting down again? Unless you are quite close 

 to the colony you may not hear it, and it makes 

 hardly a perceptible difference in the mui'mur of 

 the cellar. So I would say you may find single 

 colonies noisy, without any harm; but if all the 

 cellar is noisy, something needs attention. Now, 

 am I right "in all this? Can any one tell us 

 more about it? C. C. Mii.i.ee. 



Marengo, 111., Mar. (5. 



[This noise in a bee-cellar has always been 

 somewhat of a mystery to me, and I believe 

 your suggestions on the catise are good. There 

 is one thing I feel pretty sure of— that is, if the 

 cellar is above 50 degrees in temperature, and 

 the bees are noisy, by lowering the tempei-ature 

 down to 4(3 they will become quiet. The only 

 means of lowering the temperature with me 

 has been to open the windows at night. That 

 did two things— let in ])ure air, and the lower 

 temperature creat(>d a circulation. Another 

 thing I have noticed: If the tempei'ature goes 



down too low, bees are apt to be noisy again. 

 By closing the windows next morning, they 

 would be quiet. As you say, the noise in one 

 case is caused by a lack of ventilation, and in the 

 other the cause was a lack of warmth. Perhaps 

 some one else will argue that the temperature 

 was not right. I have not been troubled much 

 with extreme temperature in my cellar, but I 

 have allowed it to become low in ordei- to see 

 what the effects would be. I have noticed one 

 other thing: That one or two hybrid cokmies 

 that we had in the cellar would be making a 

 roar when all the rest of the bees were quiet. I 

 accounted for this on the ground that they 

 were so exceedingly sensitive to a slight dis- 

 turbance that they immcdialcly entered their 

 protest. These same bees, if outdoors, would 

 have done it in a rather more forcible way.] 



E. R. R. 

 ^ I ^ 



OBJECTIONS TO FIXED DISTANCES. 



C. A. HATCH KECOUNTS TIIKM. 



While we are hearing so much about the ad- 

 vantages of closed-end frames and fixed dis- 

 tances, would it not be well to look at some 

 of the disadvantages of them, and the advan- 

 tages of hanging, or, rather, swinging frames? 



Is rapidity of handling the only thing to be 

 considered? and is it really so that the closed- 

 end, or any frame having a device for keeping 

 them a certain distance from each other, can be 

 handled faster than common L. frames? It is 

 said that one can take three frames at o\w time, 

 and therefore can get along, presumably, three 

 times as fast. Can not three fi'amesof any kind 

 (if one wants to lift so much at once) be taken 

 at one time by putting your fingers between the 

 frames to keep them apart. I have done it 

 many times; but two heavy frames at once are 

 about all the average bee-man will care to lift, 

 and follow it up for any length of time. 



If frames having end-pieces wide enough to 

 fill comi)letely the spac(>, like the Quinby and 

 new Heddon hive, I have foiuid it necessary to 

 loosen the frame at both ends, and simietimes 

 they are so glued with propolis that they are 

 fixed indeed: and in the Heddon hive I have had 

 to spoil the first frame in order to get at the 

 rest. Perhaps this may be owing to the frames 

 filling the hive endwise: but suppose a space is 

 left there, what a fine place for moth to hide, or 

 for more proijolis to be stowed I When bees 

 bring in propolis and fill every crack and cran- 

 ny with chunks as large as hazelnuts, and some- 

 times larger, we have to beware of the chances 

 for storage left around the hive. " But." says 

 one, " we are going to have the frames wedged 

 so closely that no crack for propolis is left be- 

 tween.'" Can any form of wedge and follower 

 bring them closer than a screw which was used 

 in my case? and what is to prevent that wedge 

 from being stuck solid with propolis? and can 

 you get frames made so square and true that 

 they will all come up chock against each neigh- 

 bor? If you can, you have found a better work- 

 man than we have, and we have had some good 

 work done. What is the matter with the 

 round-headed nails recommended by Dr. Mil- 

 ler? 



You must always put the frame in the hive 

 the same way it came out, which makes an ex- 

 tra item to watch, and sometimes it is a real ad- 

 vantage to change ends with a frame. Thc^ 

 nails are also always catching on the hive or on 

 other frames, and bothering, especially if one 

 wants to handle them rapidly, and that is just 

 the point we are after. We had several hun- 

 dred fi'ames fixed this way some years ago, but 

 used them only one year, when we nmioved ev- 

 ery one, at n(i little expense and labor. The 



