IIH 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



my bees in hives without caps, and with the 

 Dr. Miller bottom-boards. I wish to know 

 about each." 



" With those hives having a cap and loose 

 bottom- boards the bees will winter best with 

 both left on the summer stands. Then you 

 will put on the cellar bottom a sort of stand 

 made by making a frame out of 2x8 stuff, 

 set the eight-inch way up, so as to raise the 

 first hives set in, up eight inches from the 

 cellar bottom." 



"Do you make a frame for each hive, or 

 a continuous frame running the length of 

 the cellar?" 



"With this mode of wintering it makes 

 very little difference; for, as you will see 

 when I explain a little further, the hives are 

 all connected together." 



' ' Excuse me, but I wished to know of all 

 these little things." 



"Having the 2X8 frame down ready for 

 the bees, the first hives brought in and 

 placed on this are spaced nearly their width 

 apart, so that, when the next tier of hives 

 are brought in they can be set so their lower 

 edges rest on the upper edges of the two 

 other hives below, this leaving the bottom 

 all open for ventilation, and so that the dead 

 bees, which have troubled you, will fall out 

 of the hive and off out of the way." 



" Oh, my! why have I not thought of that 

 before? No more moldy stinking combs. 

 Surely I will adopt that. But go on." 



"There is little more to be said in the 

 matter, only that the next tier or row rests 

 on the edges of those below, and so on till 

 the top of the cellar is reached." 



"And this gives a space eight inches deep 

 below the first hives on the frame, and 

 nearly the size of a hive of space under all 

 the rest, all out to the open." 



"Yes, that is right; and all the objection 

 I find with this way of wintering is that it 

 allows the dirt and dead bees from the upper 

 hives to fall on the tops of those below, 

 thus making them foul and look bad ever 

 afterward. But I overcome this objection 

 by spreading newspapers on the tops of all 

 the hives, except the uppei; tier. These pa- 

 pers keep the tops clean, help to take up 

 the moisture from the cellar, and enable me 

 to gather up a large share of the dead bees 

 in the spring, when gathering up the pa- 

 pers. " 



' ' That is quite an idea. But now about 

 those having the Miller bottom-boards. You 

 know that these boards have a bee-space on 

 the ' summer ' side, and a two-inch space 

 on the 'winter' side." 



"Yes, I know all about the Dr. Miller 

 bottom-boards, for I have adopted them en- 

 tirely, and consider them one of the bright 

 inventions of the age." 



"Tell me about fixing these." 



"Having such bottom-boards, on some 

 warm day when the bees are flying, a week 

 or two before you expect to put them into 

 winter quarters reverse all the bottom- 

 boards in the apiary, putting a piece of thin 

 stuff, having an entrance JX5 inches in it, 

 to fill the open space at the front of the 



hive till they are set in the cellar, when this 

 little thin board is to be taken off. This 

 keeps them snug and warm, and prevents 

 robbing as well. ' ' 



" How is this kept in place? " 



"A small nail driven partly in will hold it, 

 and the little beard will pull the nail out 

 when the board is removed in setting in the 

 cellar." 



' ' But what holds the bottom-board to the 

 hive while setting in the cellar? " 



"What are called 'tobacco staples' are 

 used. These are like the double- pointed car- 

 pet-tacks, only much larger. I use the IJ- 

 inch. One of the points is driven into the 

 upper edge of the bottom-board, and the 

 other into the lower edge of the hive, one on 

 either side, and this secures the bottom- 

 bo^ard to the hive so that we have no trouble 

 till they are removed to reverse the board 

 again in the spring." 



"Well, that is easy; and this two-inch 

 space allows good ventilation, a place for 

 the dead bees to fall, and the bottom-board 

 keeps the tops of all hives on which they 

 are piled clean. Hurrah! " 



"That is right; and of all the methods of 

 piling and fixing in the cellar, I like this the 

 best." 



"But how about the mice and rats? It 

 would seem that, with either of these plans 

 of wintering, they could go where they 

 please under these hives." 



"With the first plan they can; and the 

 only way is to keep them trapped off where 

 that is used." 



"But how is it helped with the Miller 

 board? " 



"Very easy; and this renders the Miller 

 board doubly valuable where bees are win- 

 tered in a house cellar, at the out-apiary, as 

 I always do mine, instead of carting them 

 home." 



"Tell me about it." 



"Cut a saw-kerf in each of the two inner 

 sides of the winter side of the bottom-board, 

 so this kerf will come at the front edge of 

 the hive when the hive is placed ready for 

 winter, and into this kerf slip the right-sized 

 piece of wire cloth, having a |-inch mesh, 

 and your hive is mouse and rat proof, no 

 matter how many your friend of the out- 

 apiary cellar may care to tolerate among 

 his vegetables; and this wire-cloth gives 

 room for ventilation and dead bees just the 

 same as if it were not there." 



"Another good thing. But the clock is 

 striking ten, and I must be going. How 

 quick the evening has gone! " 



GOOD TIME IN INTRODUCING. 



I removed a very prolific black queen; and 

 while the hive was open I placed an Italian 

 queen in the cage between the frames. 

 Just 72 hours from tho first examination I 

 found her liberated and at home. Who can 

 beat it for time? The Italian was a laying 

 queen. M. L. Brewer. 



Philo, 111. 



