1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



:«)y 



with similar bottom-boards leads me to swal- 

 low every word he says as simple truth. As 

 to his bottom-board, I believe he has a good 

 one. Lest our readers may have forgotten its 

 construction as given away back on page 182, 

 I would state that it is so made that the front 

 bottom end of the hive-body just over the 

 entrance is one inch from the floor-board, 

 while the back bottom edge is % inch. This 

 makes an entrance one inch deep by the width 

 of the hive. It also has the additional advan- 

 tage that the bees are required to crawl either 

 to the back end or the sides of the hive with 

 their loads of honey. The effect is to cause 

 them to fill the ends and outsides of the 

 supers perhaps as well as the center. I say 

 perhaps, because I do not know positively. 

 Theoretically this would be the result, and I 

 know of two or three who have reported that 

 it is true in practice. 



Friend Ranson speaks of one point — that, 

 with the narrow entrances, the bees, in order 

 to get sufficient ventilation, had " to roar like 

 an approaching storm, and hang idle on the 

 front of the hive," while there was " quietness 

 and active work " in those hives with the 

 large entrances. This is a fact, or what I, at 

 least, believe to be such, that the brethren 

 may think on a little bit; and not only think 

 upon it, but actually prove its truth or falsity 

 this summer. — Ed.] 



DEEP ENTRANCE ALL RIGHT; KEEP BEES IN 

 THE HIVES AT WORK. 



Your hive-stand, with slanting 5-inch alight- 

 ing-board and 7-8 -inch entrance, will meet the 

 approval of all advanced bee-keepers, I be- 

 lieve. About ten years ago I was using prac- 

 tically the same thing with 20 hives and 20 

 Simplicities with the regular alighting-boards, 

 side by side. The heavily laden bees return- 

 ing from the field would alight on the broad 

 board, take a rest, and go into the hive with 

 clean feet. 



With the Simplicity alighting-board the 

 bees would sometimes fall short and land on 

 the ground, climb up on a blade of grass, only 

 to tumble back and crawl to the hive and 

 stain the cappings on the sections, because 

 there was a difference in the color of the cap- 

 pings, and I could see no other cause than 

 dirty feet, as the ground was sandy loam, and 

 I kept it cut close with a mower. The % en- 

 trance certainly keeps the bees in their hives 

 at work better than the yi. I kept my S. 

 hives on stones, 4 small ones under each cor- 

 ner of a hive. W. J. RusSELL. 



Philmont, N. Y. 



[It was in view of the facts set forth in your 

 letter — that is, the manner in which the bee 

 alights when coming heavily laden — that we 

 constructed our hive-stand just as we did, with 

 slanting front. In the days of the old Sim- 

 plicity hive, when Novice used to write about 

 bees, he often spoke about the fact that bees 

 would persist in coming into the hives with 

 muddy feet and soiling the nice white surfaces 

 of the combs. In view of what you have said, 

 I believe that the trouble was not because the 

 bees were inclined to be untidv, but because 



they could not help getting their feet muddy 

 on account of the peculiar construction of the 

 entrance. The old Simplicity, body used to 

 project over the bottom-board. This made it 

 necessary for the bees to crawl on the ground 

 //;/</fr the front of the hive; and hence their 

 muddy or soiled feet. — Ed.] 



THE NP:w YORK ST.\TE ASSOCIATION OF BEE- 

 KEEPERS' SOCIETIES. 



Friend Root: — For some reason the call for 

 a meeting of the representatives of the Ijee- 

 keepers' societies of New York, which was 

 sent to both Gleanings and the A. B. /., 

 did not appear, so we did not have as large an 

 attendance as we could have wished at Gene- 

 va, March 16; but there were enough societies 

 represented to fully warrant us in going ahead 

 vdth the State Association. The meeting was 

 called to order by F. E. Emmons, and L. B. 

 Smith was elected secretary. After a thor- 

 ough discussion of the pros and cons of the 

 case it was decided to organize a society to be 

 called "The New York State Association of 

 Bee keepers' Societies." 



W. F. Marks, of Chapinville. was elected 

 president; Fred vS. Emmons, Fayette, Vice- 

 president; Harry S. Howe, West Groton, vSec. 

 and Treasurer. The next meeting is to be 

 held in Geneva, N. Y., on the second Wednes- 

 day in January, 1899. Harry S. Howe. 



West Groton, N. Y., Mar. 20. 



[I have already referred to this same socie- 

 ty; and I feel sure that the men who are back 

 of it are bound to make it boom. Gleanings 

 offers its space to the association to use as it 

 sees fit, providing, of course, it does not want 

 " the earth and the fullness thereof." 



We regret the omission of the call in ques- 

 tion. It was on our copy-hook, but became 

 covered up with so much paper over it that 

 our printers did not find it till too late. — Ed.] 



BERMUDA grass, ETC. 



I've been very much interested in your voy- 

 age to Bermuda. It has a pleasant sound to 

 me, for the past winter I've been interested in 

 planting Bermuda grass. I've heard that the 

 streets of Fort Myers, Fla., are all in its thick 

 sod, which bears up the heavy wheels of load- 

 ed wagons. It has the thickest sod of any 

 grass I ever saw. A great deal of this grass 

 has been planted in the streets of St. Andrews 

 during the past winter. I was in hopes that 

 you had seen this grass on the island of Ber- 

 muda, and would tell us about it. 



We sail much on the bay, and often out on 

 the Gulf of Mexico. At times the Gulf acts 

 like an untamed broncho — rears, plunges, and 

 backs, as if trying to throw us off. When she 

 is at these antics, we feel a queer sensation; 

 and I lie down in the boat or on the prow, or 

 stand up, with my arm around the mast, fac- 

 ing the wind, all the while telling myself, 

 " You shan't be sick." When one turns pale, 

 the laugh goes round, saying, " You are get- 

 ting white around the gills." 



Bees are holding high carnival here now. 

 There are but few of them, as last summer's 



