52 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUR"NAL, 



AVltli Replies thereto. 



[It is quite useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; get them returned, and then find 

 space for them in the Journal. If you are 

 In a "hurry" for replies, do not ask for 

 them to be inserted here.— Ed.1 



Winterini BeesJWer a Kitclien. 



Query, No. 365.— Where the cellar un- 

 der the dwelling- house is partitioned off in 

 rooms to match the ones above, which room 

 would be the best to winter bees in, the one 

 under the kitchen where a Are is kept all 

 daj', and being occupied with the inmates 

 of the house during the day. or the one un- 

 der the parlor where there is no regular fire 

 kept, only on extra occasions, probably not 

 to exceed a dozen times during the winter ? 

 Will the noise in the kitchen, resulting from 

 the daily exercise of the family, be injuri- 

 ous to the bees under such room ? If so, 

 would the lining of the cellar-room over- 

 head, with thin lining boards, flooring 

 boards, or plastering, deaden the sound 

 from above so as not to be injurious to the 

 bees below? If it would be, which of the 

 three would be the best ? If not, is there any 

 material that could be filled between the 

 two floors that would answer the purpose ? 

 If so, what ?— A. J., Ohio. 



Put them in that part which has 

 the most eveu temperature. Noise 

 will not injure it there is no jar.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



Put the bees nnder the kitchen. I 

 have no fear from the noise. I have 

 wintered bees perfectly under exactly 

 such conditions.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



The room that is freest from damp- 

 ness and preserves the most even 

 temperature, say from 40° to 50". 

 Noise will not hurt the bees, but jars 

 and vibrating motions will.— J. P. H. 

 Beown. 



After several such trials I never 

 could ascertain that kitchen noise 

 made any difference with the bees. I 

 would prefer to place the bees in the 

 warmest apartment.— C. W. Dayton. 



Put the bees under the kitchen. 

 Noise without a jar does not injure 

 bees ; if they are so arranged that 

 they stand on the ground without 

 touching anv part of the wood -work 

 to the house.' they will be all right.— 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



It will depend upon which will give 

 the nearest to an equable tempera- 

 ture. The noise will probable not 

 affect them unfavorably.— J. E.Pond. 



I would prefer the room under the 

 parlor in preference to the one under 

 the kitchen. If you use a non-con- 

 ductor of noise, it will be of heat also. 

 I have several times seen that the 

 noise and jar from rooms above is 

 detrimental to bees.— H. D. Cutting. 



I would put them under where the 

 Are is kept above all the time. I have 

 no fear of noise. A simple floor above 

 is enough. The fire above tends to 

 keep the room below from getting too 

 cold, and can be made to aid ventila- 

 tion.— A. J. Cook. 



It is very hard to be sure about 

 such things, and you will find out 

 better by trying some in each place. 

 Even then, you may not decide cor- 

 rectly, for if one room is full and the 

 other contains only a few, these latter 

 will probably have the advantage. I 

 think that under the kitchen would 

 be the better place, and although the 

 noise may do no harm (I hardly think 

 it will), I should rather have the 

 cellar plastered overhead. — C. C. 

 Miller. 



I know little practically of winter- 

 ing bees in the cellar, but I am aware 

 that noise does not interrupt bees, and 

 they are not interrupted by slight 

 concussion when closely clustered, if 

 it is not too continuous. Laying a 

 double floor and filling the space be- 

 tween with lime mortar, will deaden 

 the sound and remove all apprehen- 

 sions on this account. So far as I 

 have seen, this plan practiced in 

 erecting warm buildings the workmen 

 use " poor mortar," that is, add only 

 enough lime to make the mortar suf- 

 ficiently compact not to crumble.— G. 

 W. Demakee. 



I should put the bees in that part 

 of the cellar in which the tempera- 

 ture was the most suitable, without 

 regard to the noise made above. As 

 the cold of a room in which no fire 

 is kept affects the temperature of a 

 cellar beneath several degrees, I 

 should line that cellar room overhead 

 in preference to the other. For the 

 space of 3 feet I lined my cellar over- 

 head on the north side, and filled in 

 with the fine shavings made in saw- 

 ing white poplar. The temperature 

 now varies but little from 41° without 

 a fire, and no moisture can be seen 

 about the hive or cellar. Moisture 

 appears and water will run out of the 

 entrances of the hives at about 36" 

 and below. This was last January. 

 A fire in the cellar made the air sweet 

 and pure, and dried up the moisture. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



If the temperature is always high 

 enough there, I would put the bees 

 under the parlor. If not, I would put 

 them under the kitchen. Disturbance 

 sometimes seems to aggravate the 

 causes of bee-diarrhea, but when the 

 primary cause is not present it does 

 no harm. I have proven this to be 

 true. — Jame.s Heddon. 



Put the bees under the kitchen. 

 Bees cannot hear— therefore noise will 

 not disturb them, if there be no jar- 

 ring. Lining is unnecessary.— The 

 Editor. 



Bee-Spaces Between Cases. 



Query, No. 366 In tiering up sections, 



should a bee-space be left between the cases 

 rather than to have the sections rest on each 

 other?— Catskill. 



Most certainly, every time.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



A bee-space is left between mine.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



In my practice I want the sections 

 to come together, or as nearly so as 

 practicable. The first and second 

 bee-space is all right.— H.D. Cutting. 



Let the sections rest on each other. 

 — C. W. Dayton. 



There ought to be a bee-space be- 

 tween the tiers of sections.— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



Not necessarily. A bee-space facili- 

 tates rapid handling.— G. L. Tinker. 



To my mind such space is unneces- 

 sary ; but some prefer it.— G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



We should prefer to have them rest 

 on each other, if practicable.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



The sections are kept cleaner from 

 propolis by allowing them to rest im- 

 mediately on each other; though I 

 would allow U inch bee-space, and it 

 works well.— J . P. H. Brown. 



This question is a mooted one. As 

 for myself I prefer continuous pass- 

 age-ways, and the sections come out 

 cleaner and nicer than where a bee- 

 space is allowed.— J. E. Pond. 



According to my practice, yes. I 

 have tried both ways on a large scaler 

 and I could never " tier up " cases 

 crowded with bees without smashing 

 bees, if there was no bee-space inter- 

 vening between the cases. My bees 

 enter the cases through the bee-spaces 

 as readily as when no bee-spaces in- 

 tervene.— G. W. Demaree. 



Every time, and with the dawn of 

 a little more light, no one will ever 

 think of such a thing as allowing the 

 sections to come nearer together than 

 will allow a bee-space between- 

 James Heddon. 



In tiering up, each method (with 

 and without a bee-space intervening) 

 has its advantages and disadvantages. 

 AVhere no bee-space is given, the sec- 

 tions are kept cleaner than they are 

 where it is provided. Either plan 

 will be successful.- The Editor. 



Raising tlie Hives in tlie Cellar. 



Query, No. 367.— I have excavated un- 

 der the house, and put in a furnace to heat 

 mv house, and I also have dug a cyclone 

 cellar and put my bees into it. The tempera- 

 ture ranges from 42° to o4°. Now, by raising 

 the hives up nearer the rafters I can increase 

 the temperature as high as 60° or 65°. How 

 would it do about Feb. 1 to raise the hives 

 up so the bees would go to breeding fast?— 

 G. M.G., Minn. 



I would not disturb them until they 

 were ready to put out permanently. — 

 J. P. H. Brown. 



Do not go too fast. March 1 will be 

 soon enough in your locality. Are 

 you sure you can raise the tempera- 

 ture 20° by simply raising the hives 

 from the floor toward the ceiling V— 

 H. D. Cutting. 



As the result of two experiments, I 

 think this plan would be advisable. I 

 have more to learn of that method, 

 however. I will be better prepared 

 to answer about next April or May.— 

 C. W. Dayton. 



I should say do not do it. My very 

 best colonies, the past season, were 

 those which did not have a particle of 

 brood, not even eggs, when removed 

 from the cellar at the time elm and 

 soft maple were in bloom.— G. M. 

 Doolittle. 



