1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



331 



lip a poor resistance against robbers. This 

 could be taken care of by contracting the en- 

 trance of all the weak stocks so moved. 



The general scheme of isolating the sick, 

 as shown in the diagi'am, would, we should 

 say, have the eifect of spreading the disease 

 among the healthy more than ever. The old 

 bees, after being moved, would go back to 

 the old location, and, not finding their hive, 

 go into some one near by. We have proven 

 time and time again that bees from an af- 

 fected colony carry the disease in this way 

 very readily. In fact, you admit as much 

 when you move the bees. If you moved the 

 sick ones to a hospital yard thi'ee or four 

 miles away the plan woi;ld be all right. 



We should never be satisfied with partial 

 eradication, but strive for a complete clean- 

 ing-up of the locality. This can be done if 

 all old combs in colonies, whether apparent- 

 ly diseased or not, be melted up and founda- 

 tion be put in its place. — Ed.] 



STORM -DOORS FOR OUTDOOR -WIN- 

 TERED COLONIES. 



How to Keep Bees from Flying Out AVhen 

 it is too Cold. 



BY A. J, HALTER. 



On page 1559, Dec. 15, you mention a cage 

 for retaining bees in hives for wintering. 

 Your advice may be very good so far as you 

 have experimented along this line in regard 

 to indoor wintering or yards located where 

 cages can be removed and replaced conven- 

 iently. However, you make no mention of 

 outyards which are outdoors all the way 

 from three to thirty miles from home. How 

 can your cage be placed to give satisfaction 

 for bees thus located? I believe, Mr. Editor, 



outyards are the most important factors in 

 modern bee-keeping among a great many 

 bee-keepers, and are the very bees which 

 most need protection. 



On page 1571, same issue, you show a cut 

 of a hive-stand used by Mr. Vernon Burt, 

 which style 1 also have used for the past four 

 seasons, mine being 12 inches in height, 

 which I consider high enough for our loca- 

 tion to be above ordinary snow level. If 

 you will take a thin board about § by 4 wide, 

 the full width of hive, cutting two holes 



/\ shaped, 1 nailing it slanting 



against the I \ a I front of the hive so 



the A-shaped parts rest Hush on the outer 



edge of the stand so there will be a small 

 ridge on front, I believe you will have solved 

 the problem quite satisfactorily as to outdoor 

 wintering, for the following reasons: 



1. The sun's rays can not penetrate to the 

 hive entrance proper. 



2. When it snows enough, snow will gath- 

 er on front of the cuts to cover them up, 

 and bees can not Hy out unless they crawl 

 through the side opening. 



3. The entrance does not clog up with dead 

 bees or ice. 



4. When a warm spell comes, the snow 

 must first be melted away in front of the 

 board, and bees will not be lured outside be- 

 fore it is warm enough for them to return. 



5. There will be plenty of ventilation, as 

 you can leave full width (f) inch of the bot- 

 tom-board open, the sides affording enough 

 ventilation during a cold period of snow and 

 ice. 



6 By placing a boai'd slanting, about three 

 inches of the bottom-board is clean and dry 

 under said board; and should any bees be 

 wanting to fly out of the hive they must ei- 

 ther crawl out on the sides or through the 

 cuts before they can take wing. 



It being cold, they generally return to clus- 

 ter when they come in contact with cold air. 



I have tested this plan to my entire satis- 

 faction, especially the past season. At times 

 you can not find 100 bees in a yard of 50 or 

 more colonies on any one day which get lost 

 by flying out while the sun shines during a 

 cold spell. 



At present I am experimenting in winter- 

 ing outdoors, using gi'ound cork as packing, 

 having an outyard of 85 colonies equipped in 

 this manner. If successful I will advise you 

 later. 



Akron, O. 



[The arrangement here shown, we believe 

 would be excellent. It is along the line of 

 suggestion made by G. M. Doolittle years 

 ago, in which he recommended leaning a 

 board up in front of the hive; but your mod- 

 ification has the advantage in that the bees 

 can pass through the two /(-shaped cuts made 

 in front of the board. Some such arrange- 

 ment should be used in many of our bee- 

 yards during the next six weeks. There is 

 no question at all but that many outdoor 

 bees, healthy ones, too, lured out by an in- 

 viting sunshine, in a chilly atmosphere, come 

 out only to die. 



As we have already explained, the wire- 

 cloth vestibules for the outdoor bees have not 

 come up to our expectations. However, at 

 no time did we intend to use them at out- 

 yards, for the very obvious reason that they 

 could not be removed when it was very nec- 

 essary for the bees to take a flight when such 

 flight could be undertaken in a warm air. 

 Taking it all in all, we are inclined to rec- 

 ommend your arrangement rather than the 

 wire-cloth vestibule that actually shuts the 

 bees in, giving them a flight only at the will 

 of the owner. The trouble with the cage 

 was that some badly diseased bees are shut 

 in at times when they ought to be out of the 



