738 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



this honey is really better-looking than it 

 appears here. 



Very serviceable winter cases can be con- 

 structed out of drygoods-boxes ; but one 

 must be sure to have dry covers, using 

 building or roofing paper, or something of 

 the sort.— Ed.] 



AN APIARY IN SOUTH FLORIDA. 



A Locality where Swarming Began Feb. 14. 



BY R. ADDISON. 



I have an apiary of 22 colonies, a picture 

 of which is shown herewith. It is situated 

 under a scuppernong grapevine. 



Swarming commenced Feb. 14— eleven to 

 date. I hope it is over. All young queens 

 have made a successful flight, and are lay- 

 ing. Last season many queens were de- 



the same fashion, with a grapevine running 

 on trellises overhead. But in our northern 

 climate he soon saw that it would be better 

 to have a shade that would protect the bees 

 only in the heat of the day, giving the hive 

 the full benefit of the morning and after- 

 noon sun. With a small trellis on the south 

 side of the hive, not over six feet high, this 

 result is accomplished very nicely. — Ed.] 



SHADE. 



Its Advantages in Apiaries; Apiaries Protected 

 from the Wind 



BY E. H. HANSELMAN. 



My bee-yards are protected from chilly 

 winds by groves of red-oaks, the out-yard 

 being completely hemmed in on all sides. 

 People often ask me whether so much shade 



:^^^^aess» 



A SOUTH- FLORIDA APIARY. 



stroyed by mosquito-hawks. The honey- 

 fiow seems to be promising. I have taken 

 off two supers to date. I hope you will in- 

 terest some of the veterans of South Flor- 

 ida to help us beginners. 

 Loughman, Florida. 



[It will be noted that in this small bee- 

 yard here shown, Mr. Addison has driven 

 stakes into the ground, then sawed them off 

 to a level to accommodate the bottom-board 

 of the hive. In a climate like that of Flor- 

 ida, such a hive-stand is very serviceable 

 and convenient, as well as cheap. 



Here, again, shade is a great convenience 

 if not important. The old bee-yard that 

 A. I. Root had was shaded a good deal after 



is not detrimental to the bees, to which I 

 always have an emphatic no. If my bee- 

 yards were located in the open I should not 

 want any shade at all, as there is always a 

 little breeze to keep the bees cool and combs 

 from melting. But in my case the wind is 

 nearly shut off from all sides, and on a hot 

 day there would be a tendency for bees to 

 loaf and comb to melt, especially if there 

 are frames in the hives filled with full sheets 

 of foundation. I have often noticed that, on 

 a hot day, bees in the shade work better 

 than those standing in the sun. It keeps 

 the bees in the hives a little longer in the 

 morning, while if they were not shaded they 

 would fly out before the air in the open is 

 sufficiently warm, then get chilled and die. 



