190i 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



ri9 



KEEPING BEES UNDER SHEDS IN ARKANSAS. 

 Advantages of Shedded Apiaries. 



BV I. S. ALEXANDER. 



When I came here the old shed was here, 

 and it held 40 stands bj' crowding-; when I 

 got it full I put a platform down for the 

 stands as I would for a shed, but no roof- 

 ing over it; no matter how good they were, 

 I never got more than one super from them. 

 But right in the shed, not ten feet away, I 

 could get S to () supers and sometimes a 

 super of extracting-frames. 



The new shed is about 30 feet in front of 

 the old one. You can't see the workshop, 

 which I wanted to show. The sheds run 

 north and south, and the first (or front) 

 shed was taken from the northeast corner. 

 Our neighbor was working here. He was 

 at my right. The two little girls were at 

 my left, with the dog. The way he was 

 standing was a mistake. 



Waldenburg, Ark., July 6. 



[In some localities where the sun is hot 

 it is well to have the bees under sheds. In 

 Arizona, California, and in some parts of 

 Texas and in portions of the middle South- 

 ern States, and in Cuba, shedded apiaries 

 are used. In the first-mentioned State the 

 sheds are made to run from east to west, so 

 that, as the sun ries, the bees will be con- 



stantl}' in the shade. But I notice that our 

 correspondent says his sheds are arrang- 

 ed from north to south. In his locality there 

 may be an advantage in that arrangement, 

 because the bees get the full effect of the 

 morning sun by 9 o'clock, and retain it till 

 about 3 in the afternoon. But in hotter cli- 

 mates, it is certainly much better to have 

 them run east and west. There is one ad- 

 vantage in keeping bees under a shed — they 

 are more quiet to handle. A bee will sel- 

 dom volunteer £in attack inside of an inclos- 

 ure. All know how mad bees will follow 

 one up to a doorway, and stop as soon as 

 the pursued has passed inside. 



A. I. Root, when he visited Cuba, noted 

 the fact that the bees were much more quiet 

 under these sheds, and the cut of the Cuban 

 apiary here reproduced will make the rea- 

 son of this plain. The bees have no occa- 

 sion for flying inside of the sheds; and the 

 low projecting eves of the roof shut off to a 

 great extent their view of any one inside; 

 and if they do not see him, of course they 

 will not volunteer an attack. 



I can not quite understand, however, 

 why our correspondent gets so much more 

 honey under the sheds than outside, unless 

 the intense heat of the sun causes the bees 

 to boil out of the hives and supers during 

 the heat of the day, making them get into 

 the habit of loafing rather than build comb 

 and store honey. — Ed.] 



ai.kxani)i;k s bicic-shkd. 



