1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



173 



cerning bee culture; but he has at different 

 times put strong emphasis on the fact that 

 the perpetuity of our nation depends on 

 homes where httle prattlers come in at in- 

 tervals, but not too far apart. And this 

 preface prepares the way for me to say that 

 the Home of the Honey-bees is now rejoic- 

 ing over the advent of a new member of 

 The A. I. Root Co. , who was bom on Sun- 

 day morning, Feb. 5. There are now six 

 grandchildren, five of them boys. The lat- 

 est, just five days old this morning, belongs 

 to E. R. Root. I can not give you his 

 name, for just now it is an unsettled topic, 

 although it is being very freely discussed by 

 all the members of Rootville. —A. I. R. 



THE ROOT company's BEE-CELLAR UNDER 



THE machine-shop; ventilation and 



MIDWINTER FLIGHTS. 



On p. 183 of this issue we present a view 

 of the Root Co. 's bee-cellar— a room within 

 a room— under the machine-shop, where we 

 have secured such splendid results in win- 

 tering during the last three or four win- 

 ters. The picture in question was taken by 

 means of an arc light, and shows very clear- 

 ly the interior, the two walls, the automatic 

 sprinkler-pipes to put out fires, the ground 

 floor, and last but not least the tiers of 

 hives on either side. The further end is 

 screened off with curtaining. The end to- 

 ward the observer is a wooden partition. 

 Our Mr. Titoff, who put the bees in the cel- 

 lar, did not understand that I desired to 

 have the deep entrances for indoor winter- 

 ing. The consequence is, most colonies went 

 in just as they came from outdoors, with 

 the ordinary small entrance. The bees get- 

 ting too warm had flown out, and a good 

 many more than I like to see were on the 

 cellar bottom— rather more than usual. But 

 there are apparently more bees on the floor 

 as indicated by the photo than there really 

 are. But even vnth the small entrances, 

 covers sealed down, bees are very quiet, and 

 are doing nicely; but if we shut up this 

 apartment tight there will soon be a roar, a 

 buzzing, from here and there numerous 

 bees flying out. Opening the end door, let- 

 ting in fresh air from the cellar proper sur- 

 rounding this one room, very soon quiets the 

 bees, and all is quiet. 



As I have explained heretofore, this long 

 room (8X50 feet) is one of four running 

 lengthwise through the basement, 36 X 96, 

 10 feet high. The bees are in one of the 

 central compartments, occupying only about 

 half of that one, the other end being used 

 for the storage of castaway machinery. The 

 floor (or ceiling, rather, in this case) is 

 made up of six-inch plank standing edge- 

 wise and nailed to each other. On top of 

 this, or what makes up the machine-shop floor 

 proper, is an ordinary hard-wood matched 

 floor I inch thick, thus making in all 7 in. of 

 ceiling. This is all that shuts off the roar 

 and rumble of the machinery above. 



Lately we have opened the end door of 

 this cellar, and kept it open, screened the 



windows from outdoors in the larger room, 

 and allowed the air from the outer cellar to 

 circulate freely through this apartment in 

 which the bees are confined. A large screen 

 is placed in front of the opening to shut off 

 what few rays of light may enter. So well 

 have bees been doing in this cellar that by 

 accident the end door has been left open a 

 number of times, letting in strong daylight 

 from a window about ten feet away, just 

 opposite the doorway. It did not appear to 

 disturb them much, and this is what sug- 

 gested keeping the door open all the time. 



When the photo was taken, the arc light 

 was turned on in this room for several min- 

 utes, taking several different exposures. In 

 all this time there were perhaps half a doz- 

 en bees that flew toward the arc, got their 

 wings singed, and dropped down. 



I just wish that any one who thinks venti- 

 lation is not necessary would come and note 

 the result of no ventilation and plenty of it 

 on this lot of bees as shown in the illustra- 

 tion on p. 183. Then I wish he would come, 

 too, perhaps a week before the late winter 

 flight, then come again after they have had 

 their flight. If he does not acknowledge 

 that the bees are more contented and quiet, 

 I will make him a present of a silk hat. 



In this connection I might say that we 

 have quite a number of reports from those 

 who have tried these midwinter flights, some 

 of them from old veterans, and all, with one 

 or two exceptions, are very enthusiastic in 

 its praise. 



I would call attention to the article by C. 

 Davenport, in this issue, on p. 180, on this 

 subject. Mr. D. is one of the old veterans, 

 and one of our very best correspondents. 

 He has had a large experience; and when he 

 says these winter flights have paid him, 

 some of the doubting Thomases may well 

 stop and think. But there is a right way 

 and a wrong way to give these flights, as 

 Mr. Davenport explains. 



THE ACKLINS AT ST. PAUL. 



Nearly every locality, as I have before 

 explained, has its predominating moving 

 spirit in beedom. St. Paul, or rather, I 

 should say, the ' ' Twin Cities, ' ' have their 

 representatives in the personages of Mr. H. 

 G. Acklin and wife, as well as little Ethel, 

 who has come to be known as the ' ' little 

 sweet singer ' ' at several of our late Na- 

 tional conventions. The Acklins, besides 

 being prominently connected with the sup- 

 ply business, own a number of large apia- 

 ries, are extensive producers of honey, and 

 rear queens in a wholesale way. Mrs. Ack- 

 lin is quite as active as her husband, and 

 either one of them can apparently take 

 charge of the business in the absence of the 

 other. Mr. Acklin himself is a man of large 

 physique, commanding presence, genial, and 

 in every way a personality whom one loves 

 to know. Mrs. Acklin is a full complement 

 of her husband, and always radiant with en- 

 thusiasm. She has been having poor health 

 of late, and so the trio have gone south to 

 recuperate, in order that they may better 



