428 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



those eggs could be placed right down in 

 the center of the brood-nest, a place where 

 the temperature is the warmest possible to 

 obtain from a colony, not one of them would 

 ever hatch, as even this, the very warm- 

 est place, would still lack from three to six 

 degrees of the heat the 'old hen' would give 

 them, and four degrees of the lowest heat 

 the incubator is to be kept at. Therefore, 

 all these stories about hatching eggs over a 

 colony of bees can not otherwise be any 

 thing but fallacious. Have I made it plain 

 to you now ? 



"If you have stated facts, then I must 

 concede that you are right." 



" But there is one thing that this heat of 

 the bees has been very satisfactory with me 

 in doing, outside of their rearing their own 

 brood and keeping themselves warm; and 

 that is, furnishing heat for a small hot-bed." 



"A hot-bed! Does not that require more 

 heat than to hatch eggs?" 



" No, nor nearly so much." 



" How is that?" 



' ' Peter Henderson, who is good authority 

 along all vegetable lines, gives as the best 

 temperature at which the seed of lettuce, 

 beet, radish, onion, etc., germinate, to be 

 60°, and such as tomato, mebn, cucumber, 

 etc. , those requiring the greatest amount of 

 heat, as 80; and as a temperature of 85 can 

 be easily obtained from the heat coming 

 from a colony of bees, in connection with 

 the heat from the sun, there is no trouble 

 in having a very even heat, and that of 

 about the right degree, from a colony of 

 bees, for a small hot-bed; or if a larger one 

 is wanted, three or four colonies can be 

 placed side by side when fixed for winter, or 

 when setting them from the cellar." 



" But how do you keep the dirt and moist- 

 ure from making the top of the hive or col- 

 ony wet and nasty?" 



"I take off all wooden caps or covers and 

 spread a part (or all) of an old thinnish 

 bed- quilt over the top of the frames, and a 

 piece of .enameled cloth over this, enameled 

 side up. Over this a sheet of galvanized 

 iron is placed, and over this the frame is 

 placed,shutting down over fheiron so thatthe 

 outside air can not strike this iron so as to 

 convey the cold in or the heat out. Now 

 put in your dirt, and cover the frame with a 

 sash the same as you would any hot-bed." 



"That seems easy. But what about the 

 water, should you happen to use too much?" 



" It is always best, during spring, to have 

 the hive tip toward the entrance; and it is 

 better to have the entrance face south. 

 When so fixed, if too much water is given it 

 simply leaches down on the outside of the 

 hive, and runs to the ground off the alight- 

 ing-board. Yes, and that makes me think. 

 On cool and cold days the bees will often 

 come out and take water from this drip, in- 

 stead of trying to go to the brook or regu- 

 lar watering-places, when it is too cold for 

 them to go safely, should a cloud come over 

 the sun. And so we have our bees watered 

 with lukewarm water right at their very 

 door. ' ' 



'^^^^ 



house-apiaries; no trouble in winter- 

 ing EXCEPT IN northern STATES. 



I see S. A. Niver, in the Bee-keepers' Re- 

 view for February, has discarded house-api- 

 aries because of winter loss and loss of 

 queens. I mated fifty queens in house-api- 

 aries last summer. I do not remember los- 

 ing one— certainly no more than if they had 

 been set out. But there are three or four 

 distinct colors in which the hives are paint- 

 ed—not the house. 



The entire end of the hive is exposed. I 

 have tried a number of kinds of house-apia- 

 ries. I have used this kind for many years 

 with perfect success. 



In regard to wintering, I winter eight 

 colonies in each house. In the spring each 

 end hive is moved out, making six to 16 

 feet. If the weather is warm enough for a 

 flight in the winter I raise the door, expos- 

 ing the hives to the sun. The sun must 

 shine on the entrance to get a cleansing- 



flight. If the hives sit back with along en- 

 trance and double wall, the weather will 

 have to be very warm to get a good flight. 

 I do not advocate wintering in a house- api- 

 ary in the Northern States. I live in North- 

 central Missouri, and have never lost a col- 

 ony in 28 years that I can remember. Of 

 course, I double all weak ones in the fall, 

 and pack with a superful of absorbents 

 (leaves or chaff) on top, taking care to leave 

 an upward passage above the frames. How- 

 ever, a colony should have 40 lbs. of stores 

 to winter on and for spring breeding. 

 Marceline, Mo. Irving Long. 



[This embodies a principle of house-apiary 

 construction that is somewhat different from 

 any thing hitherto described in the journals, 



