1897 



GLEANINGS IN HKE CULTURE. 



885 



quired to j^o anmiul to the liivis early in the 

 inorniuj:^, raise the hive, ami kill the worms. 

 Chips were placed ahout the entrances for the 

 worms to hide under so that they could be 

 killed. He noticed that the worm, in makin<j^ 

 its web or cocoon, cut away some of the wood 

 near it and worked it into the cocoon. He 

 reasoned that, if they had no hiding-place, 

 and no wooil to form their cocoon, they would 

 either die or be destroyed by birds and poul- 

 try. Actinjr upon this idea he raised the hives 

 Viiich above the bottom-board by drivinj^ a 

 big fence-nail in each corner of the hive, leav- 

 ing the ends projecting downward ^4 of an 

 inch, and, removing the bottom-board, put 

 each hive upon a smooth flat stone. I don't 

 know that this was an eflfectual remedy for 

 the moth, but it gave the bees a good chance 

 to carry them ofif, and we did not have to kill 

 the worms any more ; and it is a good case of 

 a large entrance. This all-around entrance 

 was never closed or contracted, winter or sum- 

 mer, and, so far as I know, the bees never suf- 

 fered from too nmch ventilation. I do know 

 that many of these hives remained in that po- 

 sition from 8 to 10 years without change. I 

 never knew loss from wintering unless there 

 was a deficiency in honey. How about the 

 difficulty these bees would' have in getting up 

 into the hive ? Well, I never saw them climb 

 the four iron stairwa}S, but ' ' they got there all 

 the same." 



Pelee Island, Ontario. 



[I have yet to hear of one bad thing against 

 large entrances ; and, on the other hand, we 

 are getting letters every day indorsing tliem. 

 In a year or so we shall all wonder how bee- 

 keepers could be so siupid as to get along \\'\\\v 

 small entrances for so many years. One rea- 

 son, I think, for making the entrance only :5s 

 deep was to keep the mice out. But what 

 does the mere matter of mice amount to in 

 comparison with the other great advantages 

 of better ventilation, prevention of bees loaf- 

 ing on the outside during the height of the 

 honey-flow, and, to a Ci nsiderable extent, the 

 reduction of swarming ? INIice ! They ought 

 to be trapped, or held in check by cais. — Ed.] 



A NEW STYLE OF BOTTOM-HO.AIU). 



An Ingenious Idea. 



BY W. A. CAMPEKLL. 



Mr. A'ool:- — In reply to your favor of Oct. 

 9, offering to illustrate my new bottom-board 

 in Glk.\nings, I shall try to make plain the 

 manner of its construction and use. 



Fig. 1 shows a bottom with alighting-board 

 lying in front. The boards B, B, are joined 

 together with >^-inch lap. They are each 9^ 

 in. wide by 12% long, 7/s thick, with tongues on 

 their ends, y% in., let into grooved side-cleats, 

 C, C. The side-cleats are '/i-s.\}i in., 21 's in. 

 long. D is a strip >^x?s in., 12>8, nailed to B. 

 A is the reversible alighting-board, by means 

 of which three sizes of entrance may be had. 

 It is ?>yi in. wide, with projections on ends 

 similar to boards B, B, but a trifle less, that it 



may slide freely in grooves. If, in I'ig. 1, 

 board A is pushed directly into grooves in 

 cleats, C, C, it gives the regular y% size of en- 

 trance as in the Root bottom-board; but re- 

 verse ends and slide in place, and the y% strip 

 nailed at E comes under the hive-wall, and 

 contracts entrance to ^x% at E. Next re- 

 verse side's of alighting-board, as shown in 

 Fig. 2, and you have an entrance % in. deep, 

 opening right into space at ends of frames, 

 and extending under their ends yi. inch, or to 

 board B, thence a -)^ space to D. 



The wire device in Fig. 2 is designed to keep 

 board A in place, and to hold the entrance- 

 guard or blocks and ware cloth when bees are 

 moved. The loops.;'', g, are slipped into holes 

 formed by the junction of saw-cuts in end of 

 board A with those in cleats, C, C, at /,/. 

 The eyes, //, //, go against hive-wall, and may 

 be secured wath a couple of screws for safety 

 in moving bees. F"or those who do not care 

 to fuss with wire, two wire nails will hold the 

 board to place. 



The "/s entrance ought to aiTord ample ven- 

 tilation for a large colony, and greatly facili- 

 tate the hiving of swarms. In hiving swarms 

 I would remove the alighting-board and set 

 the hive right on the ground. 



If Mr. Danzenbaker would combine my re- 

 versible alighting-board with his reversible- 

 bottom-board idea so as to give the <^-deep 

 side for cellar wintering he would have a bot- 

 tom with a wide " range of adjustment " em- 

 bracing many desirable features. However, 

 in the South, where we winter on summer 

 stands, I hardly think we need the % space 

 under frames full width and length of hive. 

 We need only to contract our entrances in fall, 

 which may be quickly and easilj' done with 

 my reversible alighting-board, whether the 

 bottom-board be fastenecl to hive, or loose. 



Cisco, Ga., Oct. 2:1. 



[This bottom-board is very ingenious, and 

 when it first came to our notice we were very 

 much taken with the idea. Yes, we almost 

 thought of adopting it ; but we came to the 

 conclusion that a deep space of ^s inch under 

 the whole brood-nest, as afforded by the Danzy 

 bottom-board, was very important — almost as 

 important as a deep entrance. Then it seem- 

 ed to us also that the Danzy board would be 



