MARCH 1, 1916 



207 



the hives. For the same reason our house 

 is screened on the north, and closed solid 

 on the south. The doors are solid instead 

 of being" screened, and open from the solid 

 half of the building. This protects the 

 opening- from robbers. A screen panel 

 aijove the doors lets out the heat. Here in 

 Imperial Valley we are often at work with 

 the thermometer in the shade well over 100 

 Fahr. 



I favor a portable house, for the reason 

 that, with the changing of crops, a whole 

 district may be plowed up and become of 

 no value from the apiarist's standpoint. 

 One of the troubles of a really portable 

 house is the roof. I have seen many mate- 

 rials used; but the cheapest, simplest, and 

 best is a wag'on-cover 12 x 14 feet of strong 

 12-oz. standard duck, made waterproof and 

 durable by the use of beeswax dissolved 

 cold in g-asolinc. The mixture must be vei-y 

 thin, and applied with a brush. Oil-dressed 

 duck rots faster, and is stiff and hard, while 

 beeswax is pliable and resistant to wet. 



I do not want bees around my workshop ; 

 therefore it is aAvay from the extracting- 

 house. All I ask for is a good workbench 

 and elbow room. 



The extracting'-house is made up of four 

 panels — two ends and two sides. The side- 

 panel framework is made up of 2 x 3-inch 

 pieces except the top rail, which is a 2 x 4, 

 with outside top edge beveled to fit the 

 slope of the roof. The extra inch makes a 

 small eave on which to fasten the canvas. 



The north side panel is all wire screen ; 



the south side all wood, put on from the 

 inside. The building is put together with 

 4-inch nails, a brace, a No. 3 or 4 bit being- 

 used to drill the hole, thus preventing split- 

 ting. If the lumber used is surfaced on 

 four sides it will make a better job than 

 rough lumber, as the former is of better 

 quality, and almost free from knots. The 

 end-panels framework is 2 x 3 inches, the 

 ridge being 3 inclies above the side plate. 



The corners of the building are held to- 

 gether with 5-16-inch lag screws 3i/2 inches 

 long. I use a No. 5 bit thru the first half 

 and No. 4 bit for the screw part. The door 

 is made of light wood, and opens on the 

 south side. This throws the bees back 

 against the screen. A wood door and screen 

 window attract fewer bees to the exit, as the 

 scent is emitted thru the screen. The ques- 

 tion of two doors is a matter of choice ; but 

 they are a great convenience duiing the 

 afternoon. The east door can be used, as 

 the bees are on the west side of the building 

 at that time. Bees are always attracted to 

 the sunny side of the house. 



To close the building for winter stores or 

 workshop, use shutteis of beaver boards on 

 a wood framework. 



The uneapping-can is a double washtub, 

 the upper one with wire bottom. A pipe 

 from the lower tul) leads to the receiver 

 from the extractor. A sack is laid in the 

 top tub to catch the cappings, and in this 

 manner the cappings are easily carried, 

 when dry, to the solar extractor. 



Gray Heber, Cal. 



REARING BROOD IN MID -WINTER IN THE CELLAR 



BY GEO. H. EEA 



Speaking about raising bees by artificial 

 feeding in the cellar, Mr. Editor, here is 

 something that will interest you. 



Friday', January 28, temperature 70, sun 

 sliining brightly, and no wind, I could not 

 resist the temptation to set a few colonies 

 out of the cellar and play with them awhile. 

 Fifteen colonies Avere put out. I have never 

 seen bees in better wintering condition. 

 Not a sign of a spot did they make in their 

 splendid flight, either on the hives or the 

 white shirt that I wore. In the afternoon 

 they were so thick on the gi'ound, gather- 

 ing water, that one could scarcely walk 

 about the yard without tramping on them. 



These bees were cellared December 5. 

 Winter stores were mostly buckwheat honey 

 with a little goldenrod and aster honey. 

 Six, that w^ere a little light when cellared, 

 were given a candy cake (about one i^ound) 

 to be sure that they would go thru a long 



winter's confinement. The candy is nearly 

 all consumed. 



Under the stimulus of this slow feeding, 

 these six colonies now have brood in from 

 one to three frames, young bees emerging 

 by the hundreds, and the queens laying eggs 

 as in spring. None of those without candy 

 have brood or eggs. All were equally quiet 

 in the cellar. 



Perhaps the fellows who don't believe in 

 this abnormal brood-rearing will have a 

 chance to say, " I told you so," next spring; 

 but I am not won-ying about it. I have 

 had this experience before. More about 

 that candy and another feeding experiment 

 later on. 



So far the open winter and unusually 

 warm winter weather have not atfected our 

 cellar temperature. It holds right along at 

 43. After twelve years of cellar wintering, 

 and with a numbei- of cellars part of the 



