1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



151 



Away back in the barrel he saw that iden- 

 tical pail that we saw last month down by the 

 fence. You see, the bees, being a late swarm, 

 had starved out in October, and deserted the 

 hive ; and as friend M. had asked for it, it 

 was of course given him. The pail was put 

 in just about the center of the barrel, and all 

 was then filled in and around with packed 

 chaff. The chaff was kept in place by bur- 

 lap or bagging tacked from the edge of the 

 pail to the edge of the barrel. To the head 

 of the barrel was tacked a burlap cushion 

 that just filled the cavity. The Avooden bowl 

 filled with candy was only for wintering, and 

 for giving destitute colonies all the stores 

 they would need for winter, at one " dose." 

 The entrance was a wooden tube with a one- 

 inch hole, and it reached from the bottom of 

 the pail to the opposite end of the barrel. 

 The combs were made movable by cutting 

 out each carefully, as built by the bees in 

 the pail, and putting them in a little light 

 hoop made of oasswood, steamed and bent, 

 and left on a form until dry, that they might 

 be perfect circles. On opposite sides of the 

 pail was tacked a light tin rabbet ; and an 

 arm of tin, similar to those on the metal- 

 cornered frames, was tacked to the opposite 

 sides of the wooden hoops. 



After the pieces were gathered up and plac- 

 ed again on the table, and John was put "un- 

 der bonds" not to jump any more, at least 

 until the floor had been fixed, his mother, 

 who did not usually say very much, was the 

 first to break the silence. 



" Am I correct, in thinking you exnect the 

 bees to winter better in such a hive, oecause 

 they will be more nearly in the form of a 

 sphere, something as they are in the old 

 straw hive, or a hollow tree ?" 



" That is just the point exactly, my friend ; 

 and when the queen commences to rear brood 

 she starts in circles in the center of the 

 comb, and as these circles enlarge, the bees 

 find a close, warm inclosure all about them, 

 instead of cold corners full of nooks and cran- 

 nies for the heat of the hive to be constant- 

 ly escaping." 



Here Mr. Merrybanks began feeling first 

 in one pocket and then in the other, as if he 

 suddenly remembered something. Pretty 

 soon he brings out a letter, and, as he un- 

 folds it, remarks, — 



" The idea is by no means new, for the 

 Germans have for years used a hive with a 

 round roof to it, the frames of which could 

 only be taken out by turning the hive over.* 

 On the Isle of Cypress, the natives use hives 

 of a cylindrical shape,t and here is the letter 

 I was trying to find, from one of our friends 

 in Scotland, as you will see," and Mr. ]\L read 

 as follows from" a letter that had a drawing of 

 an octagonal frame on it: — 



I find the queen commences in spring to lay in a 

 circle, and does not go near corners for a long time. 

 One apiary here is nearly all as above, and the owner 

 saj'Stheybreed much better in springthanon square 

 frames. Andrew PR.iXT. 



Link's Schoolhouse, Kircaldy, Scotland. 



John's father, who had been listening ea- 

 gerly, here interposed,— 



* See p. 237, Vol. IV. 

 t p. 216, Vol. VIII. 



p. 61, Vol. V. 



" Would not that Avooden bowl full of can- 

 dy winter a swarm of bees that had just emp- 

 ty combs and no stores at all ?" 



Very likely he was thinking of that swarm 

 out of doors, probably in just that predica- 

 ment ; John's mother replied, — 



" But the candy would need flour in it, un- 

 less they had pollen in their combs." 



" I am not so sure of that," replies friend 

 M.; " in fact, late developments seem to im- 

 ply that if we can keep pollen away from the 

 bees, so as to hinder brood-rearing, until 

 about the time they would get it from natural 

 sources, we are really better off ;" and again 

 he begins fumbling in his pockets. It is one 

 of friend ]M."s peculiarities, that he is almost 

 always looking for something somewhere in 

 his pockets. He almost alwaj's finds it, 

 though, and so he did in this case. lie has 

 loaned me the letters, so I can easily give 

 them here, you see. 



POLLEN, AND ITS RELATION TO DTSENTERY AND 

 SPRING D-ITINDLING. 



I think what makes bees have the dysentery, is 

 eating pollen in cold weather. I have been looking 

 at my bees to-day. They were covered up in the 

 snow. The first swarm I shoveled out was the one 

 that made the most honey last season. The bees had 

 melted a large place around the entrance. Oh what 

 a mess ! Two quarts of dead bees out there, and 

 they had "painted" the front of the hive. I don't 

 like the color, the smell, nor the way they put it on. 

 I remember this colony had a large lot of pollen in 

 their frames last fall. I took a look at a swarm to 

 which I fed good clear honey, so they could not get 

 any pollen. They are in splendid condition. The en- 

 trance is clean and dry as io summer. I went to an- 

 other hive from which I had taken frames of pollen, 

 and replaced with clear honey. I found them in a 

 good healthy condition. Other swarms that I knew 

 had too much pollen have got the dysentery. 



Two years ago last fall I fed a swarm with sugar 

 syrup. I stirred in some flour with it. They had the 

 dysentery before spring. I fed another colony the 

 clear syrup, and it wintered nice and didn't want to 

 fly for the winter. I have come to this conclusion, 

 that pollen is very bad stuff for bees to eat in the 

 winter; but frames of pollen and honey to give the 

 bees the first of April or lust of March is just what I 

 want. 



When I find swarms raising brood in Feb., I set 

 them down as worthless. They are sure to stop and 

 then dwindle. If I can keep my bees from raising 

 brood until the first of April, and keep them in a 

 healthy condition, they are all right for a large crop 

 of honey when it comes. My bees are packed in chaff. 



E. A. Robinson. 



Exeter, Maine. 



"But," says John, "where are you going 

 to put the honey-boxes when our hives get 

 full of bees, and honey is coming in ' like 

 split'?" Here his mother gave him a gentle 

 tweak on the ear, just in play, you know, for 

 using the slang phrase, "like split," and 

 friend M. replied as follows:— Come to think 

 of it, I believe I won't tell what he said un- 

 til next month. You know you won't need 

 any boxes just yet. Good-night, all. 



