1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



265 



frames and dummies at the sides. What I 

 want to know is, do the bees work in the out- 

 side set as well as if there were 10 frames in ? 

 Bedford, Iowa. J. S. Wili.ard. 



[The kind of tiling 3'ou refer to, running 

 under ground to a point inside of the cellar, 

 near the floor, is called sub-earth ventilators. 

 They are anj-where from six inches up to a 

 foot in diameter, sometimes square but gener- 

 ally round, in which case, of course, they are 

 of tile. These ventilators run under the 

 ground from "lO to 100 feet, connectiny with 

 an upright ventilating-shaft reaching up a foot 

 or so above the ground. If the cellar is on a 

 hill, the ventilator runs out on the horizontal 

 until it reaches the surface of the ground. It 

 is then covered with wire cloth to keep out 

 rats, mice, and cats. 



At one time there was a good deal said in 

 favor of these sub-earth ventilators, especially 

 if used in connection with a pipe running close 

 to the floor of the cellar, and connecting with 

 the chimney of the room above. The last- 

 named pipe is designed to carry away the foul 

 air, while the sub earth ventilator brings in 

 the fresh. The reason for running the pipe a 

 distance under ground was to warm the air 

 before it entered the cellar, and so far as it ac- 

 complished this object it was partially success- 

 ful ; but, strangely enough, reports seem to 

 show, in many cases at least, that bees winter- 

 ed no better in elaborately constructed cellars 

 than in cellars without any ventilation what- 

 ever. Why this was so can be accounted for 

 only on the ground that the bees got too much 

 ventilation — that is, too much cold air. The 

 owners of the cellars in question would fail to 

 close the ventilators on very cold nights. 



Notwithstanding what has been said all 

 along against the sub earth ventilators, Dr. C. 

 C. Miller and G. M. Doolittle seem to think 

 they are a good thing. The former puts a 

 small coal-stove in his cellar, not to raise the 

 temperature, but to stir up the air and carry 

 out the foul air when the bees become a little 

 uneasy. He thinks a stove has miich to do in 

 quieting the bees. 



Bees will not work so well on the two out- 

 side combs of an eight-frame brood-nest as if 

 there were still two other combs outside of 

 these, providing, of course, there were enough 

 bees to cover all the combs. — Ed.] 



PRODUCING COMB HONEY WITH TWO I^ANG- 

 STROTH BROOD CHAMBERS. 



Mr. Editor: — I have read with much inter- 

 est what you have said at different times 

 regarding the use of two brood - chambers 

 instead of one, even when working for comb 

 honey. I have experimented some along that 

 line, and expect to do more of it. I believe 

 the use of two eight-frame brood-chambers 

 will result in large surplus, less swarming and 

 manipulation, but how to dispose of those 

 extra brood-chambers during winter is what 

 bothers me. I suppose the best way would be 

 to get the bees all into one brood-chamber, 

 with the best-filled combs of honey, and store 

 the others to be placed back in the spring. I 



should like to try a hive for comb honey com- 

 posed of two ten-frame hive-bodies (dovetail- 

 ed) in which the frames would be about seven 

 inches deep, latest Hoffman style. Such a 

 hive would possess all the good features of 

 any of the interchangeable- brood - chamber 

 hives, and the parts would be light enough 

 for easy handling ; but I should want to use 

 over this hive only supers for comb honey of 

 same width as used on eight-frame hives. 

 That would necessitate something to stop up 

 the opening on each side of the super. If 

 such a super were used on such a hive I be- 

 lieve the outside row of sections would be 

 better and more evenly filled. Bees do not 

 like to fill sections that extend beyond the 

 actual broodnest on either side. Don't show 

 this to C. A. Hatch or he will say I am getting 

 over on to his side of the fence without dire cer- 

 emony. May be I will try both sides a while. 

 One thing I can say at this date — bees so far 

 have wintered in splendid shape, and the 

 abundance of snow this winter argues favor- 

 ably for a honey crop for us Wisconsin bee- 

 keepers. Harry Lathrop. 

 Browntown, Wis., March 10. 



[I am satisfied that, in our locality at least, 

 more honey, either comb or extracted, can be 

 secured by working two Langstroth - depth 

 brood-chambers than by trying to work one 

 brood-chamber. Three different seasons have 

 pounded that fact into my head. You ask 

 what we do with the extra brood-chamber at 

 the close of the season. We leave it on the 

 hive till toward fall, if it has brood in both 

 stories. Along in September, ten chances to 

 one we will find the bees, and what brood there 

 is, all in one brood chamber — probably in the 

 top one. We remove the other one, and con- 

 fine the bees to one hive-body, or the one 

 they were in. If. after the honey-flow has 

 closed, and one of the brood-chambers con- 

 tains a set of extracting-combs with no brood 

 in it, we take them away and give the bees a 

 set of empties instead; but if they can be 

 crowded into one brood-chamber, we take 

 away brood-chamber, combs and all. There 

 is no trouble, in my experience, resulting from 

 the use of the extra brood-chamber. — Ed.] 



FACING COMB HONEY. 



On p. 83 friend Snyder gives some plain state- 

 ments on the facing of comb honey in cases 

 among some of the dishonest bee-keepers. 

 We can not doubt that his words are true in 

 many instances. Praise the Lord ! As for 

 me, I could never misrepresent any thing 

 knowingly. I always grade my comb honey, 

 and then put each grade in its respective case^ 

 taking the sections as they come to hand in 

 their regular order, placing them in the same 

 manner in the case. 



Since the kind editor rather courted the 

 airing-out of his family of bee-keepers along 

 the way as above mentioned, I felt prompted 

 to give in my testimony, hoping that friend 

 Snyder's experience will benefit each producer 

 of comb honey. M. A. Simon. 



Bloomdale, Ohio. 



