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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



Bees can rise as safely from melting snow 

 as from bare ground, if the air is only warm 

 enough, and the board which is leaned over 

 the entrance tends to keep the bees in the 

 hives, and quiet, if they are not diseased, till 

 the air is what it should be as to warmth." 



'■ What is the necessary degree of heat?" 



' ' I find it to be 45 in the shade, providing 

 it is still, with the sun shining; yet with 

 even a warmer temperature the snow will 

 often appear covered with bees, which the 

 inexperienced are prone to believe were lost 

 because the snow was on the ground. A 

 little careful watching will show that these 

 dead bees are those brought from the hive 

 and dropped by the other bees while they 

 are house-cleaning. This house-cleaning is 

 always going on when the weather will per- 

 mit of a flight, and at such times all the 

 bees which have died during the cold weath- 

 er which has preceded this flight are carried 

 out of the hive by the healthy bees; and 

 where these dead bees are not too heavy the 

 healthy bee rises in the air with the dead 

 one, conveying it some distance from the 

 hive, when it is dropped on the snow." 



"That is something I had not thought of; 

 but I know it is so, for I have often seen a 

 bee fly with a dead one on such winter flight. ' ' 



"Again, 500 dead bees on the snow make 

 more show than 10,000 would make on bare 

 ground. For these reasons we are often 

 alarmed when there is no real occasion for 

 it. I suppose you have your bees in chaff 

 hives? " 



' ' No. Would they be enough better in 

 such hives to pay? " 



"I think so. Chaff hives are a great pro- 

 tection for bees in winter, not only from ex- 

 treme cold, but in not allowing the rays of 

 the sun to entice the bees out under unfa- 

 vorable circumstances; and if you expect to 

 winter your bees on the summer stands for 

 any term of years I would advise you to use 

 chaff hives for that purpose in this northern 

 latitude. But even with chaff hives I think 

 it pays well to use the wide board over the 

 entrance. ' ' 



"Did that clock strike ten? I must be 

 off. I told my wife that I would probably 

 be home by nine. This has been a short 

 evening, I have been so interested." 



In my write-up of J. B. Mason's bee busi- 

 ness at Mechanic Falls, Me., October 15th 

 Gleanings, I made the statement that his 

 home was located two miles from town. He 

 calls my attention to the fact that it is only 

 half a mile, and that his bee-keeping friends 

 stopping between trains would have plenty 

 of time to call and see him. 



KODAKERY AT THE HOME OF THE HONEY- 

 BEES. 



Like Bro. Hutchinson, one of my hobbies 

 is picture-taking; and when I can combine 

 this delightful pastime with business I am 

 happy. When taking pictures of our manu- 

 facturing plant I have often wished that I 

 could elevate myself at such a height and 

 angle that I could take a real bird's-eye 

 photo— something exactly true to life. True 

 it is that an artist can be hired who will 

 hand-paint a mind's-eye picture; but the 

 general public know that these mind's-eye 

 views are not real true bird's-eyes because 

 they are often exaggerated. If I could 

 elevate my camera at the proper height, 

 and then by some means operate the shut- 

 ter, I could secure what I was after. 



I once had the boys make a monster kite. 

 So big was it that my nephew, who had 

 been entrusted to hold the line, was dragged 

 some distance by the big thing in the air 

 over a potato-patch, until he yelled for help, 

 for he had tied the line to himself so as to 

 make sure it would not get away ; but the 

 big kite swayed and ducked most magnifi- 

 cently; but after a few trial flights I became 

 satisfied it would not do. The matter drop- 

 ped until the panoram-kodaks were adver- 

 tised. These are special instruments that 

 will take in a very wide sweep of country. 

 One can stand in a certain position, and not 

 only catch in one view objects directly in 

 front of him, but also objects at the ex- 

 treme right and left. I sent for one, and 

 took a number of exposures of our plant. 

 While this instrument is adapted to only a 

 very limited class of work, it answers an ex- 

 cellent purpose for some views that can not 

 be obtained in any other way. For example, 

 I stood at the door where the men mark 

 their time as they come to and from work, 

 and took an exposure of the court between 

 some of the main buildings. The result was 

 quite a surprise, and is reproduced for the 

 benefit of our readers on another page. 



On the left we see a portion of the room 

 where the goods are packed after being 

 manufactured. The lower two-story struc- 

 ture further down represents the power 

 plant, comprising a 400-horse-power engine 

 and boiler; a 30-horse-power engine; a 12- 

 horse engine; a 100-horse-power dynamo; an 

 80-horse, and a 12. They distribute power 

 all over the plant. Just beyond the power 

 plant are wood-working shops that reach 

 clear up to a large lumber-shed, a building 

 that is very much larger than those shown 

 in the picture. At the extreme right are 

 the machine-shop and tin-shop; and in the 

 right foreground is the foundation depart- 

 ment where all the Weed machinery is in- 

 stalled. The runways connect the several 

 departments with each other. Elevators 

 stationed in the various buildings bring the 

 goods up to the various levels, and the run- 

 ways convey them to the different points on 

 trucks. 



In subsequent issues I hope to present 

 other panoramic views that will give our 

 readers something of an idea of the enlarge- 



