I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



357 



Explanatory.— The figures before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Tliose after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This marl< © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the center of the State named; 

 6 north of the center; 9 south; 0+ east; 

 ♦O west; and this 6 northeast; V3 northwest: 

 o~ southeast; and P southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



For tne Amenoan Bee Journal. 



Constructing Bee-Hives. 



C. W. DAYTON. 



There are many different arrange- 

 ments for joining the covers and npper 

 apartments to the brood -cliamber, of 

 which the mitre, rabbet and telescope 

 joints comprise the greater number. 

 There seems to be an idea with some 

 that a hive-cover cannot be perfect 

 without some sort of a rim attached, 

 whether the rim is 2 inches wide to 

 serve the purpose, or 8 inches wide to 

 cover a case of sections. These joints 

 are calculated to keep out cold and 

 water. There is nothing better than 

 a quilt spread over the hive held in 

 place by a straight board carrying a 

 small sized stone. That arrangement 

 forms the closest lifting of all the 

 joints, I believe. 



As surplus stories are adjusted after 

 the cold of the spring, and before it 

 begins in the fall, a cold-excluding 

 joint is as useless for its intention, as 

 It is restrictive of needful circulation 

 in mid-summer. There is nothing to 

 go in at the joint but a driven rain, 

 and that would not get on the combs, 

 but would run down on the inside of 

 the hive ; and bees that are loitering 

 their time away on the side of the 

 hive ought to get wet. 



Though water would not be very 

 objectionable, I believe that it is 

 usually the case that driven rain 

 could not enter a joint between two 

 parts of a hive, because of the wax 

 and propolis deposited there ; as I 

 have known on several occasions four- 

 story hives being tipped over, and 

 remained unseparated and were 

 righted by lifting by the topmost 

 part. 



Since using these arrangments side 

 by side for the purpose of testing 

 them, I greatly favor putting one 

 hive on another as though they were 

 ordinary boxes. In the construction 

 of hives of this kind it requires not 

 much more than one-half of the labor 

 and three-fourths of the expense of 

 the other kind of hives, and this in 

 producing honey at 5 cents per pound, 

 as we may have to do in a few years, 

 will be quite a saving. Since begin- 

 ning apiculture, and not being satis- 

 fied to follow exactly in the footprints 

 of others, it has been a continued 



change from one arrangement to 

 another, so that years of study and 

 experiment have led me to adopt the 

 above cheap, practical and efiHcient 

 arrangement. 



While a plain cleated board does 

 well for a cover, the one I like best is 

 a %-inch cleated board, }4 inch each 

 way larger than the hive, containing 

 in its upper side, to prevent warping, 

 saw cuts 4 inches apart, running with 

 tlie grain and J^-inch in depth. Then 

 it is covered with tin extending down 

 on the sides 3^ of an inch below the 

 edge of the board. The tin should be 

 cut and soldered at the corners, so as 

 to fit closely, a tin handle soldered to 

 the centre of the top, and a coat of 

 paint makes it complete. In this 1 

 find a cover that is cheap in the end, 

 is not disturbed by wind, never leaks, 

 and in connection with a qiult laid 

 over the brood-nest, makes a very 

 lieat-confining joint. 



Bradford, <5 Iowa. 



Country Gentleman. 



Tlie Ventilation of Hives. 



L. C. ROOT. 



In my own locality (Central New 

 York) the period is so short during 

 which we must secure our surplus 

 honey, that we must manage our bees 

 on the non-swarming plan ; and every 

 bee-keeper is aware that to control 

 swarming, care must be exercised in 

 shading and ventilating the hives. In 

 any section where it is found difficult 

 to prevent swarming, a properly ar- 

 ranged ventilator in the bottom of the 

 hive is very essential. Infact, I might 

 say that I consider a ventilator desir- 

 able in any hive, whatever the loca- 

 tion. I find that where hives are 

 placed on pieces of 4x4 scantling, they 

 are so near the ground that the air 

 which enters the hive under the bot- 

 tom-board is sensibly cooled, and thus 

 aids in lowering the temperature 

 within. 



For many reasons I would have the 

 ventilation ample. To meet all re- 

 quirements, an opening 10x12 inches 

 in the bottom-board would be found 

 none too large. At each side of this 

 opening nail a cleat with one corner 

 rabbeted out, to receive a slide by 

 which the ventilation can be regu- 

 lated. 



In some of my hives, in which I do 

 not winter bees, I nail apiece of wire- 

 cloth on the upper side of the open- 

 ing, to prevent the bees from coming 

 out when the slide is drawn ; but for 

 various reasons, I prefer to have the 

 wire-cloth on an extra slide, and nail 

 the wire-cloth on the under side of it. 

 In this way, you will be able to close 

 the opening entirely, when necessary ; 

 or to admit the air and confine the 

 bees, as required in moving bees ; the 

 wire- screen may be slid in place, or 

 both may be left out, if desired. In 

 constructing this ventilator, all work 

 should be thoroughly done, so that 

 when closed it will be perfectly tight, 

 and at the same time, the slides work 

 well. 



According to my experience, bees 

 seem to winter better when there is 



an opening directly under the cluster. 

 They seem more certain of tiieir free- 

 dom, and as the dead bees fall, they 

 will drop out of the hive. When only 

 the entrance is left open, it often be- 

 comes clogged. To secure the condi- 

 tions which I suggest, some bee- 

 keepers remove tlie hives from the 

 bottom-boards, and set them directly 

 upon pieces of scantling. I prefer the 

 ventilator, as it saves labor, and is 

 more agreeable when carrying the 

 hives to and from their winter 

 quarters. 



I am not advising this ventilator 

 for such as will not avail themselves 

 of its benefits in the management of 

 their bees. There are those who 

 think that when they purchase a 

 movable-comb hive, Italian bees, a 

 smoker, and other fixtures, they have 

 insured success, and have no part to 

 perform in the matter themselves. A 

 box-hive with a piece of bark for a 

 roof, is all that will be of value to 

 such, until they learn that these 

 appliances are only valuable, as far as 

 they can take advantage of them, in 

 a more intelligent management of 

 their bees. 



During an extended practical ex- 

 perience, I have tested the worth of 

 a good system of ventilation, and 

 have proved it to be indispensable. 

 If on some warm day during the best 

 honey-How. any observing bee-keeper 

 will test this matter by opening the 

 ventilator in one hive, and leaving it 

 closed in the one next to it, he will 

 soon be convinced of its necessity. If 

 during such honey-flow, bees are seen 

 idly clustering upon the front of the 

 hive, it is conclusive evidence that 

 they either lack room for storing their 

 honey, or the hive is not properly 

 ventilated. For warmer climates, it 

 seems to me that ample ventilation 

 must be an absolute necessity. 



Mohawk, 5 N. Y. 



Tlie National Bee-Keeners' Union. 



The following is a selection from 

 the report of the General Manager for 

 the past year : 



The past year has been an eventful 

 one for the " National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union," which was organized one year 

 ago, and charged with the duty of 

 " protecting tlte interests of bee- 

 keepers," by " defending their 

 rights " under the laws of the differ- 

 ent States where they reside. 



Besides giving the moral encour- 

 agement to the pursuit of bee-keeping 

 which such a National organization 

 naturally bestows, it has materially 

 assisted in several cases where the 

 law was invoked to crush the interests 

 of our industry. 



In June of last year Mr. Freeborn, 

 an extensive apiarist of Wisconsin, 

 was sued by a neighbor who kept a 

 flock of sheep, and imagined that the 

 sheep were deprived of their pastur- 

 age by Mr. Freeborn's bees, and 

 otherwise annoyed by them. 



It was understood that this was to 

 be a " test case," and if the plaintiff 

 succeeded in obtaining a verdict in 



