GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



it is possible to get. A little practice will 

 show you when you have used too little or 

 too much boiling water. Of -course this 

 paste will not kee^j more than a day or so 

 in hot weather — a little longer in cold weath- 

 er — so we find it best to make it only in 

 small quantities and just as required. This 

 I>aste will adhere to anything and is immune 

 to insect attack. Phil Sommerlad. 



Tenterfield, Spring Valley, N. S. W. 



Forty Years of Beekeeping. 



I commenced beekeeping in the spring of 

 1876. At that time I was using the Amer- 

 ican hive, made by King & Co., of New York 

 city. I now have 120 colonies. 



Apiai-y ol J. T. Smith, Bellevue, Mirli. Mi 

 has been a beekeeper 40 years. 



Lost liou.se erected iu 185S, still standing and still 

 serviceable. 



The illustration shows the log house erect- 

 ed by my father, who moved his family into 

 it in the fall of 1858. This house is still 

 standing. J. T. Smith. 



Bellevue, Mich., Sept. 24. 



An Experience in Wintering United Colonies. 



I have always wintered in the cellar; but 

 last winter, having read so much about out- 

 side wintering I made two boxes of shiplap 

 lumber, each to hold ten colonies, with an 

 eight-inch entrance for each colony. I want- 

 ed to make sure that the bees would winter, 

 so I did a good deal of uniting as follows: 



T made one colony from two in October by 

 putting one on top of the other; then packed 

 them in leaves ten inches on the sides and 

 top, and three inches in front. 



I had eight nuclei that were strong in 

 September, having .33 combs of brood. These 

 I put into four thirteen-frame hives and 

 wrapped them with fifteen layers of news- 

 papers, finally covering with tar paper, and 

 wintering with a full entrance. 



I next took five full-sized colonies, wrap- 

 ped them in double carpeting covered with 

 tar paper, and gave a full entrance. 



I put two swarms in thirteen-frame hives, 

 placed one on top of the other, wrapped them 

 in fifteen thicknesses of newsi^aper covered 

 with tar paper, and gave a full entrance. 



Two other swarms were in eight-frame 

 hives. I placed one of these on top of the 

 other, also wrapped them in fifteen layers of 

 newspaper, covered with tar paper, and gave 

 a full entrance. 



My idea was that the colonies would be so 

 strong in the spring that they would be in 

 fine condition for clover. In May I reduced 

 the colonies in thirteen-frame hives to one 

 story, to divide them a little later. The 

 other colonies were left in the two stories 

 until May 2.3, then were divided, and were in 

 good condition for clover. 



Carl H. J. Baumbach. 



Fall Creek, Wis. 



Dead Air vs. Packing Material. 



T should like to know the opinion of those 

 who have used both the chaff-packed double- 

 walled hives and the double-walled air-spaced 

 hives as to their resvilts in outdoor wintering 

 and their qualities as a summer hive. Will 

 the moisture gather any worse in the air- 

 spaced than in the chaff-packed hive in win- 

 ter with a packed super on each? 



Freeport, Me. Harold C. Dennison. 



[The Bureau of Entomology, Washington, 

 D. C, conducted some experiments to deter- 

 mine the relative insulating value of dead-air 

 space and packing material. The proof was 

 conclusi\'c, showing that double-walled hives 

 using packing were much warmer, much less 

 subject to internal changes of temperature, 

 than the same hives with no packing be- 

 tween the walls. The ordinary beekeeper, 

 unless he has careful measuring apparatus, 

 may not be able to determine the difference; 

 but difference there is, there can be no ques- 

 tion. The dead-air spaces are not dead air. 

 When the temperature on the outside drops 

 down the air between the walls begins to 

 circulate. The air next to the outer wall 

 will crowd against the inner wall. This will 

 make the tem])erature of the wall next to the 

 bees cooler. If, however, the space is packed 

 with chaff", leaves, or planer material, there 

 can be no circulation of air in large volumes, 

 because the air is held in little pockets. 



Packing material is so cheap that any bee- 

 keeper who wonhl leave it out between the 

 walls would be making a serious mistake. — 

 Ed.l 



