318 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



This is clearly shown by the water temperatures 

 taken at the Signal-Service stations along the coast. 

 The decrease in the water temperature from Nor- 

 folk, Va., to New York, a difference in latitude of 

 about 3 degrees, is no greater than from New York 

 to Boston, Mass., with a difference of only one de- 

 gree in latitude. Jas. H. White. 

 Island Home, Brevard Co., Fla. 



FROM THE BOX-ELiBERS. 



KEEPING THE BEES IN THE CELLAR UNTIL POLLEN 

 COMES, ETC. 



/(p^jATCHING our friend Duster on the street one 

 (™j/ day the latter part of March, we remarked to 

 him that jr wa-? a very beautiful day, and 

 that his bees would hav u a fine frolic in this glorious 

 sunshine. 



" Yes, it is a delighful day, and the bees that are 

 out of doors will undoubtedly have a nice fly; but 

 my bees are not out yet," said Mr. Duster. "This 

 soft flood of sun-warme.i air that floats about us to- 

 day tempts me to break one of my favorite rules in 

 bee-keeping. It is this: if they will keep still, I will. 

 I shall not put them out of my cellar so long as 

 they keep quiet, or until pollen comes." 



" But I thought, Mr. Duster, you used to put them 

 out the first warm days in March, and not return 

 them again to the cellar— feed them rye and oat 

 meal by the bushel— give them something to warm 

 up their bowels, warm honey for instance, and sugar- 

 water sweetened to their tastes, and I was about to 

 say a small tasty button-hole bouquet each as a fur- 

 ther inducement for them to breed up early and be 

 ready for work, and so on." 



"Yes, j'es; we all have our callow days, young 

 man; but we all don't knoAv it, which is just as well, 

 perhaps, for some of us" (and I thought Mr. D. em- 

 phasized the all and us rather testily), " for there are 

 those who seem to think they know it all— never 

 change, and consequently never leai-n any thing. I 

 quit this practice of early stimulating years aga; 

 yet in some seasons it worked well; but this was the 

 exception and not the rule with me in this locality." 



"You have never given your views," said I to Mr. 

 D., " in any of our talks on 



VENTILATION." 



"Well, I began to think this ventilation fiend will 

 never down. I am about like all the rest, I suppose. 

 I have my views, and good, strong, stiff ones too; so 

 I'll have at the fiend, and take his head off at the 

 first stroke by saying, I do not bL^lieve in upward 

 ventilation at all; that is, speaking of it, or using the 

 word, as we do in lower ventilation. Let me illus- 

 trate ! If I make mats of unbroken straw, and after 

 placing small sticks on the frames, and putting on 

 the upper story, I press this mat down upon the 

 frames snugly and tightly all around so that no bee 

 can come up— no current of air even, then besides I 

 fill the top story with fine soft leaves like the box- 

 elder, I say a hive prepared this way has no upward 

 ventilation. D'ye see? I say again, prepare a hive 

 with ajiy material that complies with this condition 

 of things, and you have one without upward venti- 

 lation. D'ye ' hitch on ' " ? 



"But, Mr. Duster, does not the air come up 

 through the mat and leaves with the moisture?" 



MR. DUSTER WARMS UP. 



"I say, no, not perceptibly to any human sense; 

 not in sufiBcient quantities to call it ventilation. 



Why, what do you suppose I have been pressing 

 that mat down all around so carefully and snugly 

 for, and then putting a whole bushel basket full of 

 leaves on top of that, and — and punching them 

 down with my two fists until there is a — a corn on 

 every knuckle I've got, perhaps — hey? Whatever 

 you use to stop the air from passing up, should be 

 an absorbent— not a ventilator of air, but an absorb- 

 ent of moisture, and I don't care how closely it is 

 pressed in- the closer the better, only so it absorbs 

 freely. I believe if our bees were surrounded in 

 their hives by some material that would take up all 

 inside moisture readily and quickly, that the thick- 

 ness of our hives would hardly enter into our calcu- 

 lations as regards their safety in wintering." 



Here Mr. Duster took another shute. 



" Now, suppose we take a Simplicity hive, for ex- 

 ample, and prepare it for wintering out of doors by 

 taking out frames at the sides and crowding the 

 bees on to the center combs as much as possible; 

 then slip in a straw mat at each side, close up to the 

 combs; place the large mat the size of the hive on 

 top of all, and bend down this mat over the side 

 mats; fill the top of the hive with fine soft leaves, 

 and sides too, if there is any vacancy; and now tcU 

 me," said Mr. Duster, almost with a yell, "what do 

 you want a great big awkward double chaff hive for, 

 eh? I do not believe it is the thickness of the hive 

 that gives bees the needed protection for wintering, 

 but, rather, its freeness from moisture. 



" Now, I prepare my hives much in the way 1 have 

 told you, and then put them in the cellar, as I would 

 the best hive that ever was made, for these three 

 reasons: First, to save the stores, which it always 

 will, and is a very important item; second, to keep 

 the bees and brood comfortable and warm through 

 the changing spring weather after being put out of 

 doors; and third, to keep the hives free from all 

 moisture. This last reason, when accon;plished, 

 solves the problem, in my opinion," said Mr. Duster, 

 with great emphasis, "of all our bee diseases, and 

 likewise our troubles in wintering. 



"I know, young man, 1 have been giving it pretty 

 strong — a full yard, and good width; but that's my 

 way of doing business when I feel sure of what I am 

 talking about; and although we have wandered 

 from the ventilation question somewhat, yet these 

 other matters seem more or less connected with it. 



" Talking of straw mats reminds me that we do not 

 hear from friend Muth as much about them as we 

 used to eight or ten j'cars ago; but I will venture to 

 say that he is using them still, and that he nor any 

 other person who has used them ever laid them aside 

 because thej' were dissatisfied with them; that is 

 the best recommendation I know how to give them. 



" But to return to the ventilation question. No; 

 I don't believe in upward ventilation. I think it is 

 all wrong," said Mr. Duster emphatically. 



" Well, what about 



DOWNWARD VENTILATION?" 



" I believe that all the air the bees need should be 

 taken at the bottom of the hive; but I do not think 

 there is much dowmvard ventilation about it; but 

 we will not quarrel about terms. 1 think it should 

 be ample, summer and winter; and yet there 

 is a limit beyond which good common sense should 

 teach us not to go. Let me illustrate: Many years 

 ago I saw a row of hives with cleats nailed on their 

 sides, and hung between posts driven into the 

 ground at each corner of the hive, and on which 

 were nailed strips of boards — the cleats on the 



