970 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15 



trol in connection with comb-honey produc- 

 tion. 



To he continued. 



LARGE ENTRANCES. 

 Reversible Bottom-boards. 



BY ADAM A. CLARKE. 



I am greatly interested in the article on p. 

 157, last year's volume, by E. R. Root, on the 

 importance of deep entrances in the storing 

 season. There is room for improvement in 

 the way these wide entrances are furnished. 

 From the illustration, 1 notice that the rever- 

 sible bottom- board is how the large entrance 

 is obtained. Having used the same as illus- 

 trated, for many years, I have come to the 



CLARKE'S METHOD OF REGULATING THE EN- 

 TRANCE. 



conclvision that the reversible bottom-board 

 is a step in the wrong direction, and causes 

 more trouble than it is worth. Bottom ven- 

 tilation at a time when the bees are very pop- 

 ulous, and honey is coming in freely, is of 

 great advantage to the honey- producer, as it 

 tends to lessen the work of the bees; and on 

 days when the mercury is at 100° in the 

 shade, which very often occurs when the flow 

 from white clover is at its best, the bees can 

 keep on with the work in the supers, where, 

 if only the regular entrance is used, the bees 

 will be found on the outside during the great- 

 er part of the day, and in many cases this 

 will cause them to prepai'e to swarm. I 

 might say that I have discarded the reversi- 

 ble bottom- board, and have apian that gives 

 me more satisfaction than any kind of bot- 

 tom-board I have yet seen, and I think I have 

 tried them all, the Danzenbaker included, 

 and have adopted the regular bottom-board 

 as sent out years ago. When I want to in- 

 ci'ease the entrance I pry with a chisel the 

 hive-body in front; then with a strip of shin- 

 gle, I inch wide by the length, I put one of 

 these between the hive-body and the cleats 

 of the bottom- board. In this way you can 

 raise or lower the entrances to a large num- 

 ber of hives without lifting the hives or dis- 

 turbing the bees;| and if it should turn cold 

 for a time these strips are quickly and easily 

 removed. The bottom-board is more easily 



leveled than when the outside edge has the 

 cleat on both sides. 



I have not given any attention yet to the 

 principal thing connected with this subject — 

 that is, when the wide entrance is used, and 

 the bees are run for comb honey, I have 

 found that the bees for some reason will not 

 fill the sections in the front row in the su- 

 pers, and I have had this experience for many 

 years. I have had colonies of bees that have 

 filled and completed twelve supers from 

 white clover, but in all cases the front rows 

 in all of them were never completed. I have 

 ti ied every style of section made, and have 

 tried it with different races of bees, but the 

 results were always the same. I should be 

 glad to be informed whether you have ever 

 had the same experience. I might say that 

 my bees are close to the ground, and that I 

 use bricks for hive-stauds, using a loose board 

 for the alighting-board as in the illustration; 

 then when I want to run the lawn-mower 

 close to the entrances I fii"st gather these up, 

 laying each one on the top of each hive it be- 

 longs to, and return them when the mower 

 has been run along. 



Le Mars, Iowa. 



[The plan you describe, of deepening the 

 entrance, is much like that I'ecommended by 

 S. T. Pettit, of Canada, some years ago. Dr. 

 C. C. Miller goes further by putting a couple 

 of blocks tinder the two front corners, and 

 sometimes four blocks under all four corners. 

 We are not so sure but that this method is 

 cheaper and more effective, because it gives 

 ventilation at the sides as well as at the ends. 



No, we have not obsei'ved that those sec- 

 tions over the entrance are not so well filled. 

 If you put a winter case over the super while 

 the honey is storing the trouble should dis- 

 appear.— Ed.] 



FUMIGATING COMBS WITH SULPHUR. 



What is the correct amount of sulphur to 

 100 cubic feet of room space for fumigating 

 brood-combs from hives in which the bees 

 have died — the combs containing wax-worms 

 of all sizes? Or, to put the question in anoth- 

 er way, how many cubic feet of room space 

 will 1 lb. Qf sulphur fumigate effectively? 



Will the same proportion answer for fumi- 

 gating comb honey? If not, what should be 

 the proportion for this purpose? 



I can not find any definite answer to these 

 questions in the A B C ,of Bee Culture ( of 

 11)05), which I have, and deem it of suliicient 

 importance to be incorporated in future edi- 

 tions. I have seen these questions answered 



