134 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



is removed, you see there is no snow in the 

 entrance." 



"That is so. And mine was chock full 

 and the snow clear up among the combs. 

 Well, this was not what I came over for, 

 but it has more than paid me for coming. 

 But why do you wish the hives shielded 

 from the sun?" 



"In bright sunshiny days during the 

 months of February and March, where the 

 sun can strike the hives in front, and shine 

 directly in at the entrance, the bees are oft- 

 en enticed out into this warm sunshine; 

 and finding it so warm and nice in this 

 bright sheltered nook they think it must be 

 thus warm everywhere, so take wing only 

 to be chilled as soon as they come into the 

 cool air away from the entrance, fall down 

 on the snow, and perish, and thus valuable 

 bees are lost which would not think of ven- 

 turing out when the air was thus cold if 

 the sun was not allowed to shine in and on 

 the entrance, so as to entice them out." 



"Why, that is perfectly plain as you ex- 

 plain it, and it accounts for the loss of 

 thousands of my bees every winter, which I 

 have seen lying dead on the snow. But I 

 had consoled myself that I was right in 

 leaving the hive thus exposed to the sun, as 

 I have read somewhere that they should be 

 so left that the hives might be dried out and 

 warmed, which was to the benefit of the 

 bees. What do you think of this part of the 

 matter?" 



"That part may be all right; and if you 

 will stop to think while you are looking at 

 these boards, you will observe that these 

 shield-boards do not proj ct on either side 

 of the hive, therefore the snn can shine on 

 the east side of the hive till very nearly 

 noon, and soon after noon it begins to shine 

 on the west side, and continues to do so un- 

 til it goes down in the west. This warms 

 and dries the inside of the hive all that is 

 necessary, while it does not entice the bees 

 out till it is warm enough for them to fly 

 and get back safely." 



"Well, now, that is so. I'll fix mine 

 that way at once before I lose more bees. 

 But how about these boards when it is 

 really warm enough for the bees to fly?" 



"There comes the main objection to them. 

 When it is warm enough for the bees to fly 

 it is better to have them removed, which I 

 do; and then at night, or as soon as it turns 

 cold again, I replace them. This makes 

 some work, but I am satisfied that it is 

 paying work. But you spoke as if you came 

 over for some special purpose. I should 

 like to talk with you an hour, but I have to 

 leave home soon to meet an appointment." 



"Well, I'll try not to hinder you long. 

 I came over to ask you why bees store pol- 

 len in sections. I had one colony the past 

 season that stored large quantities of pollen 

 in the honey-boxes, while the other colonies 

 stored very little, if any. If there is any 

 help for this matter, I wish to prepare that 

 help during this winter, so that it may be 

 ready when wanted next season." 



"The storing of pollen in the surplus- 

 apartment is largely brought about by th6 

 queen filling the brood-chambers so full of 

 brood that there is not room enough for all 

 of the needed pollen below." 



"Then larger hives would be a remedy." 



"Yes, for such storing does not very often 

 happen when a large hive is used; but with 

 our small brood-chambers of the present 

 day it is not at all unusual for this state of 

 afifairs to exist where no honey-board or 

 queen-excluder is used." 



"Then you think a queen-excluder would 

 help this matter?" 



"Yes, I know it will, and especially the 

 queen-excluding honey-board made of per- 

 forated zinc and wood; and I think it would 

 well pay for using on this account alone, 

 where the brood-chamber used is not larger 

 than from six to eight Langstroth frames. 

 I think you contract your hives bj^ means of 

 dummies down to five or six frames, do you 

 not?" 



"Yes, and that is probably the trouble. 

 But is there no other plan of avoiding this 

 matter?" 



"Yes, there is what is known as the 

 'break-joint' honey-board, which is almost 

 entire proof against the storing of pollen in 

 the sections." 



"What is a break-joint hone3'-board?" 



"It is a honey-board so made that the 

 openings from the brood -chamber to the sur- 

 plus-apartment come directly over the cen- 

 ter of the top-bar to each frame, instead of 

 being over the passageways between the 

 combs, as our honey-boards of the past were 

 made." 



"What is that for?" 



"This causes the bees to come up on the 

 top-bars of the frames till thej' reach the 

 centers of them before they can enter the 

 sections, when, by then going up through 

 the bee-space, they are in the sections. Or, 

 in other words, this gives a crooked passage- 

 way instead of the continuous passageway 

 of our fathers." 



" What has this to do with the matter? " 



"Such a circuitous route causes the bees 

 to think that the room above is not a part 

 of the brood-chamber, so they do not store 

 pollen in it, for pollen is, as a rule, stored 

 close to the brood. P^or tTie same reason, 

 large hives give the same results, as in 

 this case there is usually quite an amount of 

 sealed honey between the brood in the hive 

 below and the surplus-arrangement above. ' ' 



"But it is not calculated that bees will 

 store as much honey in the sections with 

 the large brood-chamber, is it?" 



"No. It is claimed that bees will not 

 work as well in section boxes where they 

 can store large quantities of honey below 

 before they commence in the sections, so it is 

 thought that a small brood -chamber is 

 much more preferable during the white- 

 honey harvest, even if we do have to go to 

 the trouble of making and using a special 

 honey-board to keep the queen and pollen 

 out of the sections. But I must be off now." 



