1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



87 



tion of bad air, but, what is equally danger- 

 ous, a moist atmosphere, and then the cold 

 is much more severe in its effects. During 

 a low temperature bees can not warm up 

 any part of the hive beyond the margin of 

 the cluster, consequently no efficient venti- 

 lation can be conducted by themselves. 



Suppose you feed up a colony with a lot 

 of thin syrup just before a period of frost 

 sets in. You v/ill find within a week the 

 whole of thosB bees are frozen dead, while 

 sitting upon an abundance of food. They 

 have not had time to cap it over so the cold 

 will not be attracted by the moisture: nei- 

 ther have they the empty warm cells just 

 where they should be able to crowd in head 

 to head, and so form a com.pact cluster. 



In winter, the bees not being able to move 

 freely, common sense demands that they 

 have a dry well- ventilated hive, and this is 

 to be secured at that season only by a com- 

 paratively large entrance to an ordinary 

 single- chamber hive, or an extra empty 

 chamber under the stock combs if only a 

 medium entrance is allowed. 



If these conditions can not be provided, 

 then the only safe place is the cellar; but in 

 many localities bees could be wintered bet- 

 ter out than in, where a zero temperature 

 is not greatly exceeded. 



In this climate (south of England) we do 

 not often reach zero; but in some cases the 

 moisture in the air makes 20° of frost far 

 worse than zero, as the lower temperature 

 is accompanied by a drier atmosphere. I 

 have had some colonies wintered with no 

 covering on the frames, a roof seven inches 

 deep, and ventilated at each end, being 

 above the said frames. These bees had all 

 winter a six- inch entrance by half an inch 

 deep. Under these conditions they winter- 

 ed exceedingly well, and started off in spring 

 with more brood than many other stocks 

 that had been covered up carefully. 



"Can bees be kept too warm in winter? " 

 is a question I have been sometimes asked. 

 I reply, ' ' They are usually kept too damp 

 by unnecessary covering and cramped en- 

 trances;" and then I illustrate the forego- 

 ing example and another : 



On one occasion I had two stocks at the 

 end of a bee-house, with entrances six inch- 

 es wide by one inch deep, and these were 

 lacing a persistent cold westerly wind. On 

 examiration in early spring they had five 

 and three combs respectively, with large 

 patches of brood. Thinking they were too 

 cold I reduced the entrances to one-fourth, 

 when, strange to say, both lots considerably 

 restricted the area of their brood nests. 



Evidently a free opening to the outer air 

 is an item of the first necessity in winter, 

 provided it is sheltered from driving snow 

 and direct winds; and in the early spring it 

 checks any undue inclination to fly, while at 

 the same time allowing of rapid flight when 

 the temperature for a few minutes is suit- 

 able for a beneficial playspell. Shut them 

 in too closely, and then they miss some of 

 these cleansing flights, feeling nothing of 

 the passing glimpse of genial warmth, re- 



maining sluggish, and little inclined to de- 

 velop an early batch of brood. 



Broomharn, Heathfield, Eng., Dec. 16. 



[Locality has a strong be.aring on this" 

 question. South England, by reason of the 

 Gulf Stream, is much warmer than our 

 northern States; and in the matter of damp- 

 ness our lake regions are scarcely better off 

 than your locality. We have tried entrances 

 cut down 12X1 inch deep, with severe losses. 

 For twenty years we have used entrances 

 8X§, and our outdoor winter losses have not 

 exceeded one per cent, except one season. 

 -Ed.] 



PRODUCING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



A Few of the Many Things to Take into Con- 

 sideration. 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



In order to make the production of ^ex- 

 tracted honey profitable at the present time 

 it is necessary to have every thing connected 

 with the business as handy and convenient 

 as it can possibly be made, and then try to 

 cut comers here and there and everywhere 

 you can. 



First, it is very essential to have the best 

 honey-gathering strain of bees that you can 

 find; then if you expect to have a large api- 

 arv, location is an important factor. 



Then the manner of handling your ex- 

 tracting-combs and taking them from the 

 hive to the extractor is another important 

 part; and the number of men who can work 

 to the best advantage, so each one will bear 

 about an equal part of the labor, and not 

 have to wait for each other, is also of im- 

 portance. 



How to dispose of the honey after it is ex- 

 tracted is another thing that will pay you 

 well to look after. The manner of storing 

 it before it is put into the package you ex- 

 pect to sell it in must also be considered. 

 These are a few of the necessary things that 

 the successful producer of extracted honey 

 has to keep fresh in his mind. 



As I have received several letters during 

 the past season requesting me to give the 

 writers some advice on these subjects, I 

 will endeavor, with the aid of the accom- 

 panying photos, to show and describe our 

 method of producing extracted honey. 



HIVES SHOULD- BE OP THE SAME SIZE. 



First, we like to have all our hives of the 

 sam-e size, so that any frame will fit any 

 hive in the ai)iary, although this season we 

 had to press into service some hives that 

 were two inches shorter than our standard 

 hives, but we have prom^ised ourselves that 

 it is the last season that we will bother with 

 tv/o different- sized hives in the apiary. 



HELP TO WORK TO THE BEST ADVANTAGE. 



In regard to help, we find that three men 

 can work to better advantage, and extract 

 more honey per m.an in a day, than any oth- 

 er number. In order to accomplish this, one 



