920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



I wish to know is the distance they should 

 stand from the ground." , 



"On this, good authorities differ. Some 

 say from a foot to eighteen inches, and others 

 think from three to five inches best." 

 ' ' But what do you use ? ' ' 

 "I use an inch-thick bottom-board, with 

 cleats two inches thick nailed on the under 

 side of it, which rest on the ground and pre- 

 vent the bottom-board from warping. This 

 raises the hive three inches from the ground, 

 that being, to my mind, the distance it should 

 be." 



" What reasons have you for that distance 

 in preference to having the hives 18 inches 

 high?" 



"The reason for having the distance so lit- 

 tle is that on cool windy days in early spring 

 the bees easily reach the hive ; while where 

 the distance is great many would fail to get 

 home, being blown down to the ground, or, 

 in a benumbed condition, drop under the hive, 

 where they soon die from exposure. In this 

 way many bees are lost just at a time when 

 they are of the greatest value to the apiarist ; 

 for one bee in early spring is of more value 

 than 100 after the honey harvest is past." 



"Are there any objections to having the 

 hives thus near the ground ? " 



" The objections to the low bottom-boards 

 are that toads will get to the entrance to the 

 hive in the evening, and often catch the bees ; 

 and ants annoy them more ; but I consider 

 neither of these to be equal to that which 

 comes through the loss of bees from the high 

 stands, as the toads can be caught and carried 

 away, and the ants poisoned ; besides, these 

 two last do not affect the bees at all till they 

 get prosperous in numbers, after warm weath- 

 er comes." 



"That looks reasonable. And now I wish 

 to know how near the hives should stand to 

 each other." 



" My apiary is laid out on the hexagonal 

 plan, the hives being ten feet apart in the rows 

 from center to center, and the rows ten feet 

 apart. Some place them closer, or as near as 

 five feet ; but I think that, where the ground 

 can be had without too much expense, the 

 saving of queens when going out to be fertil- 

 ized, and less mixing of bees, more than pays 

 for all the extra travel which the distance 

 makes." 



"But how do you manage to secure the 

 hives in the hexagonal form? " 



" To get the hives arranged in the hexago- 

 nal form, get a line of the desired length. In 

 your case it should be 100 feet, having a point- 

 ed stake tied on each end. Five feet from the 

 stake at one end tie to the line a white thread 

 or string, four or five inches long. Five feet 

 from this white thread, tie a red thread or 

 string, and then a white one five feet from the 

 red, and so on till you have red and white 

 threads alternating at five feet from each oth- 

 er the whole length of the line." 



"Having this line fixed, how do you pro- 

 ceed? " 



" The line is to be stretched where you wish 

 the first row of ten hives to stand, then you 

 are to stick a little stake at every white thread. 



Now move the line ahead ten feet, when you 

 will stick the little stakes at the red threads. 

 Then move ahead ten feet again, sticking the 

 stakes at the white threads, and so on till you 

 have stuck the 100 stakes for the stands for 

 your 100 hives or colonies you expect to have 

 in time. Having your stakes all stuck, level 

 off the ground about each stake till you have 

 a nice broad level place ready to set a hive on 

 at a moment's notice at any time. Having it 

 completed, and each stand occupied with a 

 hive of bees, if you are like me you will con- 

 sider that for convenience and beautiful ap- 

 pearance this plan is superior to any other." 



" One more item, and I'll not bother you 

 further. Toward what point of compass 

 should the entrance face ? " 



" On this point there seems to be a differ- 

 ence of opinion ; but here at the North the 

 majority of our best apiarists think that no 

 hive should face north of an east and west di- 

 rection." 



" Which way do you have yours face ? " 



" I have mine face south. But some of our 

 best bee-keepers in this State think southeast 

 should be the way, for then the morning sun 

 will entice the bees out to gather honey early 

 in the day. However, I see little difference in 

 favor of any southerly direction ; but the fac- 

 ing of hives to the north in this cold climate 

 is objectionable, especially in winter, as it 

 nearly precludes the flight of the bees during 

 days when they would otherwise fly, and al- 

 lows the cold north winds to blow in at the 

 entrance, which is by no means helpful to the 

 bees at any time of the year, unless during 

 the extreme heat during the month of August. ' ' 



THE ORIGIN OF THE HOT-PLATE METHOD. 



In your editorial following my description 

 of the foundation-fastener, Nov. 1, you speak 

 of experimenting with one in which the hot 

 plate slid in a groove, and seemed to think it 

 was a feature of my improved machine. I 

 never had any such combination on my appa- 

 ratus; virtually the only difference between the 

 modern and the original method is that the 

 plate was pulled forward instead of being 

 pushed forward. I have been for some time 

 trying to look up the history of the attempts 

 to use hot plates, and find in Gi<Eanings for 

 July, 1888, page 573, that you refer to one that 

 you brought from Utica. My impression is 

 that there was such a machine shown at the 

 Utica convention in the fall or winter of 1887 ; 

 but as I have not magazines for that time I 

 can not be sure. If memory serves me aright, 

 the machine shown there was somewhat of a 

 curiosity, and did not work always with suc- 

 cess, even in the hands of the inventor. As a 

 matter of history it may be worth while to as- 

 certain who this man was. All I claimed was 

 the discovery of the principle and the applica- 

 tioti of it which made the hot plate a success. 



