632 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



The Danzenbaker or eight-frame L. hive 

 is too small to breed up a normal colony for 

 winter and still have room for the storing of 

 their winter food, as 30 lbs. of honey will fill 

 the Danzenbaker hive four-fifths full, which 

 would leave scant room for the brood-nest. 



Remus, Mich. 



RIPENING HONEY OUTSIDE THE HIVE; VEN- 

 TILATION OF HIVES. 



A Detailed History of Some Extended Experiments. 



BY I. HOPKINS. 



Both of these questions are of very great 

 importance in the economy of bee-keeping, 

 and both are now controversial subjects, 

 especially the first. Bee-keepers as a rule 

 are apt to follow without considering wheth- 

 er the leader may be on the right track or 

 not. There appears to be a tendency among 

 the majority to accept as facts theories with- 

 out scientific foundation, which have been 

 put forward by popular writers and others. 

 This is especially true where a statement is 

 made which happens to be in accordance 

 with preconceived ideas on the subject; yet 

 it may be altogether misleading. When 

 this is the case, much harm is done; for if 

 generally accepted as correct, it may be the 

 means of obscuring the real point at issue, 

 and of delaying a scientific investigation for 

 years. This, I consider, has been the case 

 with the first subject at the head of these 

 notes. 



RIPENING HONEY ARTIFICIALLY. 



We all remember what a commotion was 

 created in the bee-world when the late E. 

 W. Alexander gave, early in 1906, in Glean- 

 ings, his method of extracting uncapped 

 honey. Yet not one of the opponents of his 

 system ever put forward one definite reason 

 for his opposition. I have watched very 

 closely all that has been written against the 

 system, for I have been particularly inter- 

 ested in all that could be said for and against 

 it, as I first adopted it in 1883, and carry it 

 out still at our government apiaries. Out 

 of all the correspondence there has been 

 nothing but vague statements that honey 

 can be properly ripened only within the hive. 

 The opponents of the system hold that hon- 

 ey ripened outside is inferior. I would ask 

 what grounds they have for their assertion. 

 Against their loose statements we have the 

 experience of Mr. Alexander, who was one 

 of the foremost men in the bee-keeping 

 world. 



I have also proved by practice, to my own 

 satisfaction, the great advantages of the 

 system, and that absolutely no difference 

 can be detected between honey ripened out- 

 side and inside the hive. Nevertheless I 

 should like to learn that chemical investiga- 

 tion of the matter is likely to be carried out. 

 I am of the opinion that the chief factor in 

 ripening honey, aside from the possibility of 

 some chemical change in the sugars going 



on, is the ridding it of its surplus moisture, 

 which can proceed outside as well as inside 

 the hive in suitable surroundings. 

 ventilation of hives. 



The fact that this question periodically 

 crops out in the bee-journals indicates a lack 

 of knowledge of its principles; yet it is most 

 important that every bee-keeper should un- 

 derstand the matter. Though the question 

 of the best method of ventilating a hive is 

 capable of being demonstrated in the apiary, 

 without recourse to a scientific person, it is 

 not every bee-keeper who has the patience 

 or time to devote to experiments which need 

 great care and considerable time to carry 

 them out properly. I don't remember any 

 account in the journals of such experiments 

 being conducted. Probably this is due to 

 the fact of its appearing such a simple mat- 

 ter that it has not been considered necessary 

 to exj^eriment. 



In my early days of bee-keeping, in the 

 mid '70s, I used to be troubled every spring 

 with moldy combs, which, considering the 

 favorable surroundings, I could not account 

 for until years afterward; but I was convinc- 

 ed it had some connection with the ventila- 

 tion. In 1889, with the aid of a friend of 

 mine (the Rev. J. R. Madan) , I carried out 

 an exhaustive series of experiments, extend- 

 ing over a good part of two months The 

 hives (a ten-frame Langstroth, of one and 

 two stories) was prepared by boring holes 

 in each part so as to take 12 thermometers, 

 which were secured in such a manner as 

 not to be influenced by the outside atmos- 

 phere; in fact, we took every precaution to 

 exclude, as far as possible, all likely sources 

 of error. In addition we had five thermom- 

 eters outside the hive. We took readings 

 every hour, and sometimes every half-hour, 

 from early in the morning until late at night. 

 We used a porous mat over the frames some- 

 times, and at other times hermetically seal- 

 ed the hive above the frames to prevent all 

 upward ventilation. We also experimented 

 with a one and two story hive with colonies 

 of a strength to suit. It was in .January and 

 February, our two warmest months; and 

 the place where the experiments were con- 

 ducted was Auckland, N. Z., in latitude 37 

 degrees south, the hives standing in the 

 open, but sheltered. 



Without going into details I may state 

 that, during the whole of our experiments, 

 the temperature of the center and lower 

 parts of the hive (with the exception of one 

 side near the entrance) was higher than the 

 top portion. My note, made at the time, 

 reads: "The most notable features are, 1, 

 that the temperature at the top, just under 

 the mat, Mas always lower than that three 

 inches below; 2, that the lower thermometer 

 (near the bottom-board on one side) was 

 highest until the sun set; and, 3, that when 

 the external temperature fell there was al- 

 ways a fall inside the hive." The difference 

 in the temperature between the upper and 

 middle parts ranged from three to six de- 

 grees, and on one occasion was eight degrees. 



I doubt whether a more complete series of 



