1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



65 



main thing is to be able to control the temper- 

 ature — that is, not let it go iTp too high nor 

 down too low. It should usually not go above 

 50 nor below 40 — 45 being the nice golden 

 mean. If your bees are quiet, no doubt they 

 are doing as well as could be expected. The 

 temperature of the cellar may be lower if the 

 covers are on the hives as wtll as the bottoms, 

 ventilation being secured only through the 

 entrances. In cases where the temperature is 

 liable to be up to 50° or above, it is well to 

 have the bottom-boards removed entirely. 



J. B., Dlich. — I should really enjoy telling 

 you how to make photos, and all the details 

 therewith connected ; but I have all I can do, 

 and more too, to answer qu-siions about bees ; 

 and if I were to essay to act as instructor in 

 amateur photography I should be swamped, so 

 I must most respectfully decline. There are 

 most excellent text-books on the subject. But 

 unless you have a little spending-money you 

 had better let the fascinating art alone, for it 

 costs, and there is little or nothing in the way 

 of financial returns. But it pays me, or us, 

 rather, because I use my best pictures for our 

 journal, and intend at all times to keep posted 

 in regard to the latest developments in pho- 

 tography and half-tone engraving, for that is 

 a part of my business, but it is a little bit out 

 of my line to explain the art, when there are 

 so many good books for that purpose. Apply 

 to E. & H. T. Anthony & Co.. New York, or 

 the Eastman Co., Rochester, N. Y. 



J. A. (J., Neb. — The arrangement that you 

 speak of, of deep supers containing two and 

 three rows of sections in a wide frame or sec- 

 tion-holder, is something that was used vars 

 ago, but which has been almost entirely aban- 

 doned. The great objection to such det \) su- 

 pers is that the several horizontal tiers of sec- 

 tions can not be reversed or alternated. 'Ihen, 

 moreover, the bees will go into deep supers 

 much more slowly than into shallow ones. 

 These latter permit of getting only one tier of 

 sections at a time, or as nmch as the bees can 

 keep warm. As soon as the first tier is pretty 

 well along it is raised up, and another super 

 containing sections with foundation is placed 

 under it, and so on room is added as fast as 

 the bees can use it to advantage. By the plan 

 that you propose — of three tiers, one on top of 

 the other — it will be necessary to give the bees 

 three times as much room as the} require, at 

 the start ; and before they can build comb 

 they must warm up somehow that great barn 

 of a space. It is more practicable to heat up 

 a small space than a large one, and that is the 

 reason why a shallow super is preferable. 



W. H. E., Kan. — We think you would be 

 making a serious mistake if you adopted the 

 plain section l^jxoS.sxo. While, no doubt, 

 it would hold a pound, or even more, the 

 comb would be so thick it w^ould be poorly 

 filled out You can get far better results by 

 using the 4x5x1^^8, for then the comb is 

 about as the bees make it in ordinary brood- 

 rearing. Such combs, you will find, will be 

 flat, like a marble slab ; will be sealed quick- 

 er, and the honey will be ripened better. 



But the great majority of people prefer the 



scant pound section, and for such our Ideal 

 1 Yz x .S^ X 5 does very nicely. You will need 

 to consider this point very carefully. A box 

 Ks x4x5 would hold about Xyi lbs., especial- 

 ly if you intend to use it with a fence. A 

 plain section 4x5x13^ holds just as near a 

 pound as it is possil>le to get it, on an average. 

 If you could be at our establishment for a 

 short time we could show you some very pret- 

 ty combs on this order. If you are going to 

 make a special hive, you had better have one 

 adapted to take the 4x5 pound section 1 y^ in. 

 wide. This, as I said, holds a full pomid — 

 that is to say, some sections will run slightly 

 under and some slightly over. We shall be 

 glad to advise you further. In the mean time 

 I am rather of the opinion that the new Danz. 

 hive, super and all complete, would be just 

 the thing you are looking for. We send you 

 Mr. Danzenbaker's book, and should be glad 

 to have you peruse its pages carefully. 



A. H. JV., N. y. — Knowing vour locality, 

 or the one you propose to commence bee-keep- 

 ing in again, I think I would advise you to use 

 the staple-spaced frame as was illustrated in 

 our Nov. 15th issue, page 817. I base this 

 recommendation on the supposition that you 

 have a great deal more propolis than we have 

 here in Ohio, and I know that this particular 

 frame is giving nuich satisfaction in the vicin- 

 ity of Gillupville, N. Y., and, in fact, all 

 through Albany Co. As to whether you 'had 

 better adopt a ten or eight frame size of hive 

 is hard to say. If you intend to produce ex- 

 tracted honey largely, then I would unhesi- 

 tatingly recommend the ten-frame ; and even 

 if you intend to produce comb honey princi- 

 ])ally, it is very possible you would like 

 ili.n hize better. As to the comb-honey super, 

 I think the tall section with fence, especially 

 for the Albany and New York markets, would 

 l)e the best. Our Ideal super that we illustrat- 

 ed Jan. 1st showed the comb-honey combi- 

 nation that I would recommend. 



This reminds me that you might possibly 

 prefer this super for a brood-chamber— that is 

 I mean the super shell itself. It would per- 

 mit you to use frames 5 3/s in. deep; and two 

 of these supers would give you about eleven 

 frames capacity to the hive. It is a little hard 

 to say at this time whether the double-cham- 

 ber hive will become popular in the future or 

 not. I only know that it has some strong ad- 

 vocates as well as some who, having tried it, 

 would not use it. I think, all things consid- 

 ered, however, that the ten-frame will suit 

 you better than any thing else you can select. 

 Then you can, if you desire, contract your 

 brood-nest down to eight ; but you can not 

 very well make a ten out of an eight size. 



If you were in Michigan or Illinois, I would 

 by all means recommend the eight-frame 

 size. If you were to go to Florida or Cuba, or 

 some of those countries where honey comes 

 almost continuously, I would recommend a 

 twelve-frame size. Even in our own locality 

 I was very much pleased with what some of 

 our twelve-frame colonies did for us last sum- 

 mer, even when pushed for comb honey ; but 

 on account of their being so unwieldy I should 

 prefer for Ohio the eight size. 



