284 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



THE LATE CAPTAIN HETHERINGTON. 



r^Jwas very much piined to read in the 

 American Bee Journal and Gleanings of 

 the death of this prince of bee keepers. I 

 think we may well say that he stood at the 

 head. He was, indeed, a g'reat man, and 

 I feel richer for having- known him. I met 

 him several times, and especially at his 

 brother's, in East Saginaw. I knew his 

 brother even better than I knew him. 

 These men were remarkable for their abil- 

 ity, for their neatness and system, for 

 their inventive genius, and, best of all, for 

 their clean character. They were also very 

 modest men. One had to know them long 

 and well to appreciate their beautiful man- 

 ly characters. I have rarely known men 

 whom I loved and respected more. Surely 

 American apiculture has met a great loss. 



Claremont, Cal. 



grees there is a theoretical point of tempera- 

 ture at which, if the cluster could be kept, 

 the bees would be dormant, requiring- 

 neither food nor air. In actual practice 

 that point of temperature may never be 

 maintained, but it can be approximated. 

 One trouble is that the center of the cluster 

 will diifcr from the outer part. 



If the surrounding atmosphere be kept at 

 50, any slight motion of the bees will run 

 the ce?iter oi the cluster above 50, inciting- to 

 m )re motion; hence more food, more air. 

 Experience seems to show that, if the sur- 

 rounding atmosphere be held at a point 

 somewhere about 45 degrees, very little 

 food and air will be needed to bring the 

 cluster up to 50, and only enough will be 

 consumed to hold it at that point (Please 

 understand that I don't say that 50 is the 

 exact point of greatest quietude; I don't 



INDOOR WINTER VENTILATION. 



Few Broad Principles that will Assist One to 

 Solve some of the Conflicting Opinions. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



A correspondent who has kept bees most 

 of the time for 65 years, is familiar with 

 the bee-books and bee-journals of the day, 

 and, being a careful observer, has learned 

 many things about bees, confesses himself 

 all at sea with regard to the subject of 

 " winter ventilation." I don't wonder. One 

 says upward ventilation, another says cov- 

 ers hermetically sealed; one says this, 

 another says that. 



Let us begin at the beginning and see if 

 we can reconcile some of the apparently 

 conflicting- views. Bees consume food to 

 produce heat or motion. The food is fuel, 

 and there must be air to burn the fuel. 

 Somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 de- 



know what it is; but let us call it 50 for 

 short.) That is, less will be required to 

 bring up the ne essary heat if the tempera- 

 ture be a little too low than to support the 

 motion if the temperature be a little too 

 high. 



With the foregoing- as a basis, we are 

 ready to consider some points as to the air 

 supply. There must always be a sufficient 

 amount of air to balance the food consumed, 

 otherwise there will be suffocation. There 

 may be too little air; there can not be too 

 much //it be of the right temperature, for 

 the bees will consume no more than they 

 need. 



In the cellar we can, tj a certain extent, 

 control the temperature surrounding the 

 hives; and if the air in the cellar be pure, 

 and approximately of the right temperature, 

 our chief care will be to see that enough air 

 is introduced into each hive. There is no 

 fear of too much; neither does it matter how 



