184 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 15 



be restricted in their egg-laying. The hon- 

 ey, consequently, took the place of the 

 dead larvse, instead of more eggs, and the 

 brood became more compact and finally 

 healthy. 



I came to the conclusion long ago that 

 any number of old bees with an old queen 

 does not constitute a strong colony. Young 

 bees with a young queen abundantly sup- 

 plied with stores in the fall, and well pro- 

 tected during the winter, are the prime fac- 

 tors in the control of this disease. 



Knox, Ind. 



FURTHER PARTICULARS IN REGARD TO 

 THE LONG-IDEA HIVE. 



BY GEO. SHIBEB. 



Having received a number of inquiries in 

 regard to my artic e, page 421, July 1, 1910, 

 about the Long-Idea hive, I wish to give a 

 little more information in regard to it as 

 used in my locality. 



A subscriber in Cuba wants to know how 

 I manage when I have swarms, adding that 

 such hives would be too heavy to lug around. 

 Yes, they are too heavy to carry around 

 very much; but I never have had to move 

 any of them on this account, for I do not 

 remember ever having a swarm issue from 

 any of them. Most of the hives contain 32 

 to 34 frames, and this size is nearly swarm- 

 proof in New York State. From what I 

 have read of conditions in Cuba, I should 

 expect more or less swarming, even with the 

 Long- Idea hive. 



The entrance of these hives is in the same 

 place as usual — that is, in the middle of the 

 hive at right angles to the frames. In the 

 illustration, page 764, Dee. 1, 1910, the en- 

 trance is in the broad side, facing the front. 

 I never tried an entrance in the end with 

 the side pointing toward me in the picture, 

 but I do not believe I should like it. 



Another subscriber, Mr. F. McCann, La 

 Gloria, Cuba, wishes to know if it would 

 not be a good idea to have an entrance in 

 both ends — that is, at the end where I am 

 sitting in the picture referred to above, and 

 also in the opi^osite end. If I lived in Ja- 

 maica or Cuba I think I would try it, pro- 

 vided the entrance in the long side at right 

 angles to the frames, as we use it, did not 

 reduce swarming; but, as I said before, I 

 am not bothered very much with swarming. 

 The only objection I can think of with the 

 two entrances is that I should think the 

 queen would scatter the brood too much. 

 Mr. McCann, in his letter, said he had built 

 a few Long-Idea hives having the double- 

 entrance feature. I should be much inter- 

 ested to read his report after he has tried 

 them. 



I have never tried a cover made in sec- 

 tions. Mine are nearly all of ^ hemlock 

 boards, cleated at each end, and covered 

 with waterproof paper. If I could get gal- 

 vanized iron at 4 cts. a square foot in Cuba 

 I would use that material; but why would 



it be necessary to have this over a cleated 

 wooden cover? Why would not galvanized 

 iron do alone to keep out the rain? Plenty 

 of quilts could be supplied over the frames. 

 Right here I should mention that a number 

 have thought a bee-space necessary over 

 the top-bars in this hive; but please bear in 

 mind that I do not tier up stories. The il- 

 lustration referred to shows that there is 

 quite a little space between the top of the 

 frames and the top of the hive — about two 

 inches, in fact, which is plenty of room for 

 quilt and packing. The space between the 

 bottom-bars and the frames and the floor is 

 about one inch. 



I do not have all of my bees in this style 

 of hive, as most of them are in eight and 

 ten frame hives. I have had only about 15 

 or 20 in the Long-Idea hives for a few years 

 back. During the harvest the Long-Idea 

 hives are all right; and to my northern 

 friends who are interested I wish to add a 

 word of caution against building a lot of 

 them, as it is very difficult to winter colo- 

 nies in them successfully. I have tried win- 

 tering them outdoors, leaving about ten or 

 twelve frames in the middle of the hive, 

 and packing at each end and on top of the 

 frames. I took special pains to pack about 

 a dozen in this way in the fall of 1909, but 

 the result in the spring of 1910 was disap- 

 pointing, for the colonies, though they 

 came through alive, were weak, and only 

 about five were really first-class. I have 

 never succeeded in wintering out of doors 

 with these hives. I wish I could report oth- 

 erwise, for I hoped I could use the hives at 

 outyards and save the trouble of putting 

 them in the cellar; but now I lift the frames 

 with the bees into regular bodies and carry 

 them in the cellar; and in the spring, when 

 they need more room, the Long-Idea hives 

 are filled up. 



This w inter I have no bees in these hives 

 out of doors, all of them being in the cellar. 

 Perhaps in Connecticut the winters might 

 be milder; and to any one in that State, so 

 inclined, I would by all means recommend 

 a trial, but on a small scale at first. My 

 cellar has given such excellent results in the 

 past that I can hardly expect to find a more 

 profitable way of wintering, as the tempera- 

 ture is almost constant at about 42 to 43 de- 

 grees Fahr. If the outside temperature 

 drops to eight or ten degrees below zero I 

 usually find the cellar temperature about 41 

 degrees. I have never tried this hive for 

 comb honey, but I do not think it would 

 answer at all. 



Randolph, N. Y. 



Idaho as a Bee State. 



To those bee-keepers of the East and Middle West 

 referred to by Mr. Wesley Foster under "Bee-keep- 

 ing and llomesteading." paee 750, Dec. 1, 1910. I 

 wish to say, if you do not find what you are looking 

 for in Colorado come over the Hill to the (^em State. 

 There is yet homestead land to be had near good 

 bee-pasture. I am not a shark or a real-estate 

 agent — just a plain bee-keeper, but will gladly fur- 

 nish information to any one interested. 



Caldwell, Idaho, Dec. 26. J. E. Miller. 



