1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



961 



AN EIGHT-FRAirtE OBSERVATORY HIVE^AT^THE 

 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR. 



Aa Interesting as well as Educational Exhibit. 



BY PROF. F. L. WASHBURN. 



The readers of Gleanings may be inter- 

 ested to see the accompanying- photograph 

 of an observatory hive recently exhibited by 

 this department at the Minnesota State 

 Fair, and to hear an account of our suc- 

 cessful experimenting with the same. 



The case is of oak, with plate-glass 

 sides, the whole thing- built to scale as re- 

 gards space and dimensions, so as to have 

 the capacity of an ordinary' eight-frame 

 hive. The opening of the usual height, and 

 about 1 '4 inches wide, is at the lower right- 

 hand corner. On Thursdaj* preceding the 

 fair we had shipped from a distance, for 

 obvious reasons, a strong calonj' of Italian 

 bees, and placed them in the fair building 

 on a stand upon which we planned to put 

 the observation hive later, an opening hav- 

 ing been made through the wall of the 

 building, and fitted with a tunnel, which 

 tunnel was placed snugly against the cen- 

 tral part of the entrance of the hive, the en- 

 trance on either side to the right and left 

 being stopped bj' a screen. The bees in 

 the original hive, therefore, were free to go 

 in and out, which they did during- P^riday 



OBSERVATION BEE HIVE 



Entomological Department of the Minn. State ExperimfntStatioa, 



— ^ LEATHER COLORED ITALIAN BEES FROM MILLE LAC APARIESSt" 

 ■niese k«s HovefrMdom and art gattitnng nfrtiifrom Surrounding countrx- Tl« 

 1} tapacrty ofm* hive anj the number of btet t^^jl t^a' :' sji ordinary 3 



and Saturday. On Saturday evening- the 

 eight frames were transferred to the obser- 

 vation hive shown in the photog-raph. The 

 tunnel was fitted closel}' to the opening in 

 this hive. When Mondaj'^ morning came 

 with its accompanying- crowds, the bees 

 were working apparently contented, going- 

 in and out, bringing in pollen and going- 

 through the usual routine work common to 

 any well-regulated hive. For the especial 

 benefit, apparently', of the multitude who 

 viewed the hive, the queen laid everj' day 

 during the week, so regularly and sys- 

 tematicall}' that I regretted not having a 

 nickel-in- the-slot machine, with the word- 

 ing, "Drop a nickel in the slot, and seethe 

 queen lay." 



Note the sequel. After the fair, the ob- 

 servation case with its bees was brought to 

 m}' room in the second storj' of one of the 

 buildings at the Experiment Station, about 

 half a mile from the fairgrounds, and kept 

 in the dark for over two daj's. In the 

 meantime, apparentl}' all the young- brood 

 had emerg-ed ; and when the hive was placed 

 in the same position relativel}' that it had 

 at the fairg-rounds, viz., with the tunnel 

 leading- to the open air, allowing the bees 

 their liberty', the}' immediatel}' swarmed, 

 gathering in a bunch on the ground about 

 30 feet below and 10 yards to the west of 

 the opening-. We looked everywhere for 

 our clipped queen, and, not findings her, 

 presumed that she was was lost 

 or dead. The bees, however, 

 readilj" entered the hive placed 

 by them; and, although fearful 

 at anj' moment that we might 

 lose them entirelj', inasmuch as 

 the}' were a valuable colon 3-, I 

 telegraphed immediately for a 

 queen. Before introducing- her 

 my assistant examined all the 

 framescovered by the bees which 

 had swarmed and entered the 

 new hive, and, lo and behold! 

 there was our clipped queen, ap- 

 parently uninjured. I will re- 

 mark that she is quite a dark 

 queen. The new queen that we 

 had just received, therefore, was 

 given to the few remaining bees 

 in the show-case, was accepted, 

 and is now laying. 



My theory is that the young- 

 bees, emerging- in considerable 

 numbers while the hive was in 

 the dark, rendered it (as there 

 was already a large number) 

 uncomfortabl}' crowded, and the 

 bees hurriedly made queen-cells 

 and left at the tirst opportuni- 

 ty. The queen apparently had 

 essa3'ed to fly from the window- 

 sill, and, falling clear of the 

 wall of the building, had been 

 carried ten 3'ards to the west 

 b}' the wind before reaching the 

 grround. Am I right? To the 

 enthusiasm of W. K. Ansell, of 

 the Mille Lac apiaries, who 



