1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE (CULTURE. 



633 



of I material; some strips i by f, and finish- 

 ing-strips, complete the lumber required. 

 The bottom and ends of the hive are cut 

 from the wide piece; and fastened to the in- 

 side faces of these are pieces cut from the 1| 

 strips. Thus a rabbeted frame is made ready 

 for the glass, then the narrow strips, then 

 more glass, and finally the finishing-strips. 

 These last are put on with screws so that 

 glass can be 

 removed (from 

 one side at 

 least). The 

 photogra phs 

 and the natural 

 ingenuity of 

 man will make 

 up for any defi- 

 ciencies in these 

 directions. 



By using hard 

 wood, and fin- 

 ishing the same 

 carefully, this 

 simple hive will 

 look as well as 

 the best. 



Several good 

 ideas are bro't 

 out on pages 

 1358, 1359, by 

 Mr. Savage, but 

 much of tne fus- 

 sy detail shown 

 there is uncall- 

 ed for. There 

 is no need to 

 complicate the 

 care of the ob- 

 servatory hive 



as this writer seems to do, and his hive with 

 its single glass and numerous cracks would 

 be fit only for warm weather. It is profita- 

 ble to study the bees in a glass hive the year 

 through. 



The space between the glass walls, or in- 

 side width of hive, should not be more than 

 If for a single comb, yet a greater width 

 than this might lead to some very interesting 

 results. 



That the glass may be the more easily re- 

 moved, it is well to have the 1| strips less 

 than If on the side nailed to the outer wall. 

 This permits the glass to fit snugly to the 

 wood so that little propolis gets into the 

 crack. Glass walls are easily cleansed with 

 pearline or other good soap dissolved in 

 warm (not hot) water. Water too warm 

 will spread the wax and propolis. 



One of the most serious errors made by be- 

 ginners in the study of bees in such hives is 

 that of placing an old comb, fully built in 

 the hive. Beyond the social life of the bee, 

 the unloading of honey and pollen, the lay- 

 ing of the qvieen, and a few other phenom- 

 ena, one can not go with such a comb. Far 

 better is it to use a frame with only a start- 

 er, or at most only half-built comb. Then 

 one can see the process of comb-building, 

 the packing-away of pollen, the filling of the 

 cell with ripened nectar, and a great variety 



of bee-phenomena— phenomena to be seen by 

 both reflected and transmitted light. 



Like all others I began with ready-made 

 combs, and I made little advance in this en- 

 trancing study till I passed to the stage of 

 making the bees make their own comb right 

 in the glass hive. Even this grew dull after 

 a while, because I was still out of reach of 

 much that I wished to see. Sometimes the 



AN OBSERVATORY HIVE 



"WITH THE COMBS BUILT CROSSWISE OF THE 

 CROSS-BAR. 



bees would build some comb against the 

 glass wall of the hive, and this put into my 

 mind the next great advance. So I robbed 

 my bees of their comb and placed in their 

 hive a simple top-bar without ends or bot- 

 tom. To this bar were fastened a number 

 of short transverse starters of foundation 

 about If inches from one another. The bees 

 did not take well to this exchange, and after 

 an hour or so removed to the top branches 

 of a tall maple. I brought them back and 

 shut in their queen. They went to work 

 shortly and built the combs shown in one of 

 the pictures accompanying this writing. A 

 white background is furnished the photo- 

 graph so that the spaces between the combs 

 will be the more apparent. That colony, by 

 the way, has lived unbrokenly (save the 

 time spent in the afore-mentioned maple) in 

 that hive since May, 1902. I playfully nam- 

 ed their queen Wosa, and the Wosa dynasty 

 is inscribed on one end of the hive thus: 



Wosa I. 

 May. 1902— May, 1903. 



Wosa II. 

 May, 1903- July, 1903. 



Wosa III. 

 July. 1903— May, 1904. 



Wosa IV. 

 May, 1904— June, 1905. 



Wosa V. 

 June, 1905— June, 1906. 



Wosa VI. 

 June, 1906— 



In another place are recoi'ded the dates of 

 issuance of the several swarms. An interest- 

 ing fact in connection with Wosa VI. is that 



