172 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



A " house apiary " on a roof 100 feet above the street. The colonies are located inside a tank house. 



sides honey or stings. What a wholesome 

 relaxation we experience from the every-day 

 sordid cares of the narrow cramped world 

 when we delve into the mysteines of the 

 hive ! A mere lifting of the cover of a hive, 

 and we are transported into an enchanted 

 city where our woes and cares are forbidden 

 to enter. We wander through the fascinat- 

 ing streets, we draw into our nostrils the 

 fragrance of perfumed treasures, we gaze 



into golden enchanted palaces; and when we 

 at length reluctantly dejDart, and the cover 

 is replaced, we feel better, happier, and 

 (may we say it?) purer for our little jour- 

 ney into the charmed city. 



Beekeeping with Italian bees in a double- 

 walled chatf hive is the nearest approach to 

 a non-wori-j'ing, joy-giving, business-relax- 

 ing hobby I can think of for a city man. 



New York City. 



AN AVERAGE OF 60 POUNDS PER COLONY, 100 FEET ABOVE THE 



SIDEWALK 



BY LEE ESSENHOWER 



My bees are practically 100 feet from the 

 sidewalk, on the roof of C. K. Whitner's 

 department-store building. On May 25, 1911, 

 this building was destroyed by fire, and in 

 121 days was rebuilt. At this time the 

 thought struck me that the roof would be a 

 good place for bees, and they were put there 

 as an experiment. Last summer I took 360 

 lbs. of honey from six colonies, and built up 

 the others so that now there are eleven colo- 

 nies. 



The hives are in the lower tank house, or 

 the house where the pressure-tank is kept. 

 There are, in fact, two tanks in operation — 

 one simply a gi'avity tank and the other a 



large iron tank 16 x 8 ft., under a pressure 

 of compressed air of 80 lbs. pressure, hold- 

 ing 60,000 gallons of water, ready for any 

 emergency. In this house the bees are kept. 

 Strange to say, the water holds the tempera- 

 ture pretty even all the year round, and 

 makes ideal winter quarters for the 

 bees. 



High winds, to some extent at least, deci- 

 mate the colonies; but despite this fact we 

 have all along secured good crops. The bees 

 have about two miles to go before coming to 

 any real pasture for surplus honey. Our 

 pasture consists of melilotus mostly, though 

 we have a STeat deal of linden along our 



