.IVN'K. 1920 



G I, K A N I N (i S IX R K K C U h T V K R 



353 



HEADS OF GRAIN 



for a time and gaining experience, I found 

 the warmest lining for a })rood-('hamber is 

 beep, and lota of them. Judging by some 

 apiaries, it seems to be taken for granted 

 that the queen has no use for the outside 

 combs, and nothing is done to encourage 

 her there. As a rule, these frames are full 

 of pollen and honey, and spaced so close to 

 the side wall that no good queen would have 

 sufficient room to lay in the outside of that 

 ccmb. 



My frames are 1% inches spaced between 

 centers, and there is a %■ to %-inch space 

 between all the outside frames and the hive 

 wall; this is provided for by having a nail 

 or piece of wood projecting from the hive 

 wall to keep the outside frame properly 

 spaced. No followers nor division-boards 

 are used in these hives. The wide spacing 

 on the outside, besides giving the queen 

 room to work, gives space for two or more 

 layers of bees to keep warm the brood that 

 should be there. Should the two outer 

 frames be pollen-bound or honey-bound, they 

 are, of course, exchanged for worker combs 

 when there are seven or eight frames of 

 brood in the hive, and the combs taken out 

 placed at the sides of a super full of combs. 

 This super is now put below the brood- 

 chamber if the weather is cool, and above 

 if weather is warm, to give required room, 

 and also to help prevent swarming. 



Hamilton, Ont. John Y. McLeod. 



Serious Loss In February Gleanings 



of Colonies. mention is made of 



the Isle of Wight dis- 

 ease. In the summer of 1918 I noticed one 

 of my colonies pulling out some of the bees. 

 They were very dark and shiny, and the aVj- 

 domen was badly swollen. They seemed to 

 have lost the use of their legs, and their 

 wings trembled. A few of them could fly. 

 On opening the hive I found a good many 

 inside the hive affected. The next season 

 1919, my neighbors, who were box-hive bee- 

 keepers, began to complain of losing their 

 bees. One man, living about ^/^ mile from 

 me, had between 50 and 60 colonies; he lost 

 all but five or six. Another neighbor about 

 the same distance away had 60 colonies; he 

 lost all but 10 or 12. A third man had 50 

 colonies and lost all but three. So you see 

 that the disease was pretty destructive. I 

 was a little more fortunate than the rest, 

 having 41 colonies and losing one. My bees 

 are a good strain of Italians. However, I 

 find I have four or five colonies that are 

 still affected. I shall requeen them in the 

 spring, as that seems to be the best thing 

 I have tried yet. I have been keeping bees 

 ever since I was 16 years old. I am a man 

 of seventy now, and this is the first of the 

 ■^ Isle of Wight disease I have ever seen. 

 Chetopa, Kan. H. G. Merrill. 



DIFFERENT FIELDS flP 



Ventilator This swarm-controller 



for Controlling is of the same size as 



Swarming. an inner hive-cover 



with an opening 4 

 inches wide running from the back to the 

 front of the hive. This space will admit, 

 when needed, a Boardman feeder in the 

 back of the hive. 



I place the controller between the bottom- 

 board and the brood-chamber, having the 

 %-in('h space under the frames. As soon 

 as there is a likelihood of queen-cells being 

 started, I pry the hive with the controller, 

 raising it from the bottom-board about % 

 to 1 inch, placing blocks under the front 

 corners. This causes a free circulation of 

 air under the center of the cluster. The 

 swarm-controller allows no cool air to make 

 a direct draught on the under side of the 

 outside frames. Because the combs at the 

 sides of the hive are warm, the queen will 



Ventilai'ij 



on bottom-ljoard. 



fxpand the brood-chamber. During the 

 warm months the hive and swarm-controller 

 should be raised from the bottom-board 

 about two or three inches or even more, so 

 as to give the bees a place to cluster with- 

 out hanging out, and an ample space for 

 ventilating the hive. 



This swarm-controller I have used success- 

 fully for three years in Jamaica, but have 

 tried it out in this country only in a limited 

 way. In Jamaica, the first year I used it, I 

 found that out of 200 colonies, increased 

 during the season to 300, not one swarm is- 

 sued. The second year, I was late in adjust- 

 ing the controller and a few colonies swarm- 

 ed, but after the controllers were put on the 

 hives, all the swarming was done away with. 



Medina, 0. J. E, Thompson. 



