180 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



no consequence when the resultant advan- 

 tages and profits from the use of the bot- 

 tom-board are considered. The stand needs 

 no expensive foundation. Four bricks or 

 two pieces of scantling "will answer. In 

 wintering bees, stronger colonies and more 

 of them in the spring; the convenience in 

 placing the bees in the cellar and removing 

 them therefrom; the ease and rapidity with 

 which bees may be prepared for transporta- 

 tion to and from out-apiaries or for shipment 

 long distances; the control of the bees in 

 robbing; these and the many other considera- 

 tions of convenience and economy, are the 

 claims upon which this bottom-board and 

 hive- stand is presented to the bee-keeping 

 public. 



The floor-board does not bind, nor become 

 tight and immovable, because it is made 

 enough narrower than the stand to allow of 

 free movement. As stated under the de- 

 scription of Fig. 3, page 75, "it rests snugly 

 against the shoulder formed by the upper 

 inside rim F;" that is, it rests against the 

 lower surface of the upper inside rim, and 

 does not press against the sides of the stand. 

 Painting the bottom-board will enable a 

 closer fit, and make it last longer. There is 

 no necessity for the floor-boards to be made 

 with the grain running crosswise. 



The edges of the floor-boards being be- 

 neath the lower surface of the upper inside 

 rim, nearly half an inch out of reach of the 

 bees, they could not possibly propolize its 

 edges. At the hne of contact, along the 

 edges of the upper inside rim, the bees will 

 undoubtedly propolize a little, the same as 

 they do in the angle of the floor and sides of 

 the ordinary bottom-board. But it is not a 

 serious matter there any more than it is be- 

 tween the supers and bodies of hives where 

 we all know how to manage it. When you 

 prepare bees to be placed in the cellar you 

 "go around with a pry, put it in the en- 

 trance, and break the propolis connections " 

 (Gleanings, page ?3). You need take no 

 more pains than that in loosening the Her- 

 shiser bottom-board. If ipropolis ever gets 

 under the upper inside rim, as it may if the 

 bottom-board should not be returned to its 

 exact former position, the yielding springs 

 will adjust themselves to it, and the constant 

 pressure will flatten it out, leaving the bot- 

 tom-board in its normal position. There will 

 be no annoyance from propolis as the result 

 of adjusting the bottom- board to an interme- 

 diate position, when its sides can be reached 

 by the bees, as it is only at such short times 

 as periods of heavy honey-flow or in hiving 

 swarms— times when little propolis is being 

 gathered— that such adjustment is necessary. 

 It is very easy to remove and scrape these 

 bottom-boards if they need it. 



My cellar contains 153 colonies of bees, all 

 shut in the hives. There are no dead bees 

 on the cellar floor except a few scattering 

 ones from defective hives. There are very 

 few dead bees on the floor-boards. Bees 

 are in fine condition, and very quiet, and 

 are passing the winter almost "without a 

 murmur. " These bees were closed in at the 



out-apiaries about the first of December, 

 when the temperature was below freezing, 

 most of them hauled about | mile, and some 

 of them 4 miles, and placed directly in the 

 cellar. The cellar was warmed up so the 

 live bees on the floor-boards could crawl up 

 into the cluster. Hence I conclude it is not 

 bad practice to shut bees within the hive, 

 provided it is properly constructed with that 

 object in view. 

 Buffalo, N. Y. 



[I will explain to our readers that, at the 

 time I prepared the footnote, I did not have 

 an actual sample of the bottom- board. My 

 assertions were based on the drawings, which 

 gave the impression that the floor-board 

 reached clear across— came in actual contact 

 with the sides, and would therefore be glued 

 fast. The sample before me shows that 

 such is not the case ; in fact, the floor-board 

 may be narrower by | or J inch, and still 

 not materially interfere with its actual oper- 

 ation. The only objection that remains is 

 that of expense. It may be possible to 

 whittle this down to a point where the bee- 

 keeper can afford to use it in connection 

 with his hives. Some, like Mr. Hershiser, 

 would feel that they must have it any way. 

 There can be no denying the fact that, for 

 moving bees and for wintering in the cellar, 

 the device has features that are valuable. 

 How far these would counterbalance the 

 first cost it is hard to say. — Ed.] 



WINTER FLIGHTS FOR CELLARED BEES. 



When Such Flights May be Given to Advan- 

 tage. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



That Straw on page 12 in regard to mid- 

 winter flights for cellar-wintered bees in- 

 duces me to give some of my experience in 

 the matter again, for I have practiced giv- 

 ing cellared bees a winter flight for a good 

 many years. I wrote about and advocated 

 this practice under certain conditions nine or 

 ten years ago in the American Bee Journal. 

 What I said in regard to the matter caused 

 some comment at the time; but the general 

 verdict or opinion was that these midwinter 

 flights did more harm than good. Some 

 claimed that, after being put back, the bees 

 would not settle down into a dormant state 

 again, but would remain restless and uneasy 

 until put out in the spring if they lived that 

 long. Others said that these winter flights 

 would cause, or be very apt to cause, brood- 

 rearing to be started, which would mean 

 death to the colony before spring; or if 

 brood- rearing was not started it was thought 

 that the great excitement of a winter flight 

 might weaken the vitality of the bees so 

 that spring dwindling would result. 



But time moves on, and opinions change; 

 and as this subject has been given some 

 prominence the past two winters or so it 

 may be of interest for me to go over the 

 subject again, for my experience in this 



