1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



255 



accumulate in the shape of bowel contents, 

 tending toward diarrhea and destruction. 



So you see that we are specially to strive to 

 keep the center of the cluster cool by keeping 

 warm the air surrounding the cluster. Pack- 

 ing, protection against cold winds, and that 

 sort of thing, are plainly indicated when bees 

 are wintered otit. In the cellar it has been 

 generally considered, on grounds deduced 

 from actual practice and observation, that 

 the air outside the cluster should be 45°. If 

 much above this point, activity commences, 

 the heat of the cluster is increased, and in- 

 creased heat and activity point toward the 

 same result as before. Disturbance of the col- 

 ony by jarring, or in any way, whether in or 

 out doors, makes the tendency greater toward 

 increased heat in cluster. 



Now comes a practical question : We have 

 for a long time been accustomed to think and 

 speak of 45° as being the proper temperature 

 of a cellar to keep the bees as nearly dormant 

 as possible. But the bees seem to have settled 

 upon 50° as the proper temperature of the 

 cluster at which they will be most nearly dor- 

 mant. How about that difference of 5° ? Why 

 not keep the cellar at 50°, and save the bees 

 the trouble of doing any thing to raise the 

 temperatvire ? Suppoe we try it. Fix the air 

 of the cellar at -50°. Now, the outside of the 

 cluster is warm enough without stirring up 

 the chunks in the center. But it must be re- 

 membered that, in each bee, there is a temper- 

 ature of more than 80°, a temperature neces- 

 sary for the continuance of life. You can not 

 stop the tendency to equalization of tempera- 

 ture between the bodies of the bees and the 

 air in the cluster, so when there's nothing low- 

 er than 50° outside the cluster, the heat from 

 the bodies of the bees will run the heat of the 

 cluster above 50°. Get the idea? So long as 

 the fires are kept up inside, the air outside 

 must be somewhat below the temperature de- 

 sired for the air in the cluster, so 45° outside 

 is needed to keep the cluster as low as 50°. 



I wouldn't like to vouch for the exactness 

 of the figures I've used, but I believe the gen- 

 eral principles are so in accordance with the 

 truth that my esteemed friend E. E. Hasty 

 may label it a " worked-c/// proposition." 



Marengo, 111. 



[The doctor, instead of saying, " I don't 

 know, " has told us a number of interesting 

 things he (foes know. Nine times out of ten, 

 when he says " don't know " he does " know " 

 I knoiv he knows. Throw away your modesty 

 of statement, doctor, " don't know," and give 

 us hard facts like the above. I've almost a 

 notion to put them (the facts) in permanent 

 form in the A B C of Bee Culture.— Ed.] 



WORK AMONG THE BEES. 



The Big Wages of Another Bee-keeper. 



BY E. S. ARWINE. 



I\Ir. Editor : — As you seem puzzled, and 

 continue to prod Dr. Miller about that honey 

 crop, I thought I might shed a little light on 



the subject. The first two years of my resi- 

 dence in California I had charge of the apiary 

 of W. S. Hathaway & Co., in vSan Bernardino 

 Co., run exclusively for comb honey. The 

 first year, 1888, I took ](),240 lbs. in 2-lb. sec- 

 tions, from 1.S4 swarms, spring count. I com- 

 menced work March It), and closed Aug. 6. 

 During that time I built a dam across a little 

 creek, cut a ditch, with pick and shovel, about 

 half a mile long, to carry 1(5 miner's inches of 

 water. I broke the ground, and planted about 

 2i< acres of alfalfa, and kept it irrigated until 

 July 15. This work occupied 20 days, leaving 

 me 104 days in the apiary. I did not work 

 Sundays, as I am a Christian, and keep the 

 Lord's day. To this must be added help from 

 my children, equivalent to 40 days' work for 

 myself, making a total of 144 days. During 

 this time I added the super to 140 hives (the 

 others had supers left on from the previous 

 season ) ; removed them at the close of the 

 harvest, and left every thing in ship-shape con- 

 dition for winter. That season I took l(i,240 

 lbs., or an average of 87?,'2 lbs. per colony, 

 spring count. We nailed all the sections ex- 

 cept about 250 or .'>00, left over from former 

 season, and all the shipping-crates, and made 

 a few supers, about 15 in all. My heaviest 

 days' work that j-ear was removing 896 lbs. 

 and replacing it with a like number of empty 

 sections. 



In 1889 I reached the apiary March 20, and 

 closed the season Aug. 12. Excluding Sun- 

 day, which I did not work, gave me 124 days; 

 to this must be added 50 days' work by my 12- 

 year-old boy, equal to, say, 85 days for myself, 

 making a total of 159 days. But six of these 

 days I was out of the apiary, leaving net work 

 153 days, averaging 9)4 hours. I took that 

 year, 1889, in all, l(i,76() lbs. I had five colo- 

 nies this year, with 1-lb. sections ; the rest 

 were 2db. sections. My heaviest da3-'s work 

 that year was removing 928 lbs., and putting 

 on a like number of empty sections. The 

 greatest yield of one colony was 192 lbs., 

 comb, and smallest 5(') ; average of the five 

 swarms in 1-lb. sections, 92 lbs. The largest 

 yield of one colony in 2-lb. sections was also 

 192 lbs.; smallest, .>2; average 91 lbs. per col- 

 ony, spring count, of 18() swarms. I had no 

 bee-escapes, and the supers were all tall enough 

 to hold two tiers of 2-lb. sections, except about 

 a dozen which I made for single tiers. I also 

 made by hand 5 hives and supers for I-lb. sec- 

 tions. We nailed all these sections except the 

 460 1-lb. ones. I would rather fold 1500 1-lb. 

 sections than nail 500 2-lbs., like those we 

 used, as the following description of motions 

 will show: 



1. Pick up with left hand; 2. Graspthe oth- 

 er end with right hand; 8. Both hands bring 

 ends together; 4. Press dovetails into position; 

 5. Place the section on the table. To nail sec- 

 tions requires four motions with left hand to 

 pick up the four pieces; six motions to pick 

 up six nails: six motions to place them in po- 

 sition; twelve taps with right hand to drive 

 the six nails — one to start each nail, and one 

 to drive it; one motion to take the section out 

 of the nailing-frame, and one to place on the 

 table, and one motion to turn the section over 



