154 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 



and these frames will give her a 

 more perfect and larger eirele to lay 

 in. 



However, I am going to try it on 

 some hives this spring, and 1 am not 

 much afraid that it will not work out 

 well, but if I make any more of these 

 frames I shall have them cut to the 

 right size by the manufacturer, and 

 will order the foundation 12 inches 

 uidc Why not have a larger hive 

 at such a small expense? 



The inside dimensions of these 

 frames are 13^xl6J4, or 222 square 

 inches. This makes a 10-frame hive 

 some larger than a Dadant hive and 

 an 8-frame hive a trifle smaller than 

 a Dadant hive. 



If any try this plan, I shall be glad 

 to hear of their results. Criticisms 

 invited. 



Fremont, Mich. 



(The only fault we can find with 

 this economical trial of large hives is 

 the hanging of foundation 2 inches 

 shallower than the frames. The bees 



method of building up an apiary, and 

 more than once the count has nearly 

 reached ten. It is the purpose of 

 this article to make plain the cause 

 and offer the remedy. 



For many years the idea has pre- 

 vailed that bees and other insects re- 

 quire and use up much air. Witness 

 the innumerable instances of shut- 

 ting an insect into a pasteboard box 

 and then punching the cover full of 

 holes lest the poor insect suffocate. 

 In spite of the fact that many a suc- 

 cessful bee tree has offered evidence 

 to the contrary with its tiny knot- 

 hole, the only opening to the home 

 of the bees, the belief has prevailed 

 that bees consume air at an enor- 

 mous rate. Years back the writer be- 

 came convinced that bees, while 

 quiet use an extremely small amount 

 of air, and on one occasion wintered 

 a colony sealed in a packing case. I 

 therefore make unhesitatingly _ this 

 statement : Bees normally require a 

 very small amount of air. 



Wild Pennyroyal 



may build drone comb in that 2-inch 

 space. It would be better to cut the 

 foundation of the proper depth. Hut 

 foundation of such depth may be 

 more difficult to make and it may 

 sag still more than the same goods 

 of ordinary depth. However, these 

 things can only be known by actual 

 trial. — Editor.) 



Bees by Parcel Post 



By Allen Latham 



THE pound package business has 

 tin promise of a big future, both 

 for the man producing the bees 

 and tin- purchaser as well. If, how- 

 ever, the future is to give all it prom- 

 ises, or more, it is imperative that 

 the package of bees reach its destina- 

 tion in such condition of health and 

 vitality that a vigorous nucleus can 

 11 ted with the same. It is ar- 

 with half the bees dead and the 

 remaining half largely devitalized, 

 i In i (suiting nucleus will onlj bi •> 

 of annoyance and expense. 

 Some solar plexus blows have in 

 the recent past been given to this 



The former belief led to the mak- 

 ing of shipping cases with walls of 

 wire-cloth. This appeared logical, 

 and if the theory had been correct 

 would have yielded uniformly good 

 results. Practice soon proved the 

 contrary, or shall I say proved that 

 something was wrong? In looking 

 for the error we find that it is only 

 under stress of excitement and undue 

 activity that bees use much air. The 

 suggestion even arises that the pres- 

 ence of much circulation may, on oc- 

 casion, react upon the bee to cause 

 excessive activity. Even if the ex- 

 posure does not cause increased ac- 

 tivity, it is certain to lead to the 

 greater consumption of food. Bees 

 must eat to keep warm and if cool 

 air is blown through their prison 

 they eat excessively. Then, if not be- 

 fore, restlessness will conic upon the 

 bees, for much food consumption un- 

 der such conditions leads inevitably 

 to a congestion of the system that 

 creates in the bee an inordinate de- 

 sire to get out into the frei ail 

 Mm,, the poor bees struggle to get 

 out of their prison, and their strug- 

 gles do not end until death or the 



opening of the prison doors bring re- 

 lief. 



In an effort to counteract the evil 

 resulting from the excess of exposure 

 those seeking a remedy recalled the 

 quieting effect of spraying water 

 upon a newly clustered swarm. Was 

 it not logical to spray these impris- 

 oned bees to keep them quiet? Log- 

 ical according to the immediate 

 premises, but a most atrocious con- 

 clusion because of an undistributed 

 earlier premise. Bees in a clustered 

 swarm are one set of bees, those im- 

 prisoned in a cage are a different set 

 of bees. Like many a remedy in hu- 

 man ills, the relief was only tem- 

 porary, and the final effect of the 

 medicine was to make the patient 

 worse. The poor bees are wet and 

 chilled. They can get dry and warm 

 only by licking up the water. This 

 calls for further consumption of food 

 and in a short time their restlessness 

 is worse than ever. Added to that, 

 their intestines are full of water, and 

 soon their condition is similar to that 

 of bees dying from dysentery in win- 

 ter. Even before the sprinkling, the 

 bodies of the bees were surcharged 

 with water from excessive food con- 

 sumption, and their jailer adds to 

 their misery by the sprinkling. Is it 

 anything to wonder at, that the pack- 

 age of bees arrives at its destination 

 with half the bees dead and the re- 

 maining bees with barely life enough 

 to crawl about in their prison? 



It must be borne in mind, whenever 

 one seeks to diagnose a difficulty af- 

 fecting bees, that bees and human 

 beings ore not in the least alike. In- 

 sects and mammals are so far re- 

 moved in biology that a remedy for 

 one may be a poison for the other. 

 It is highly probable that bees pos- 

 sess no respiratory glands at all akin 

 to our own. That they possess in a 

 high degree the ability to eliminate 

 water is perfectly obvious, but elim- 

 inating water and getting rid of it 

 are two different things. Only two 

 ways are open to the bee, one is by 

 respiration and the other by expul- 

 sion of the bowels. The first is 

 achieved only by excessive activity 

 and heat production, the other only 

 in a cleansing flight. The imprisoned 

 bees cannot adequately use either of 

 these methods, and must suffer and 

 die If we are to find a remedy for 

 an evil affecting our bees let us first 

 of all cease to have any idea that 

 lues and human beings function 

 alike. 



It will be seen from what has al- 

 ready been written that success in 

 the shipment of bees by package 

 must lie in the conservation of bee- 

 energy, not in its waste. In every 

 possible way we must keep the bees 

 quiet. How, then, can we keep the 

 bees quiet? 

 In answering the question just put, 



I would follow the same channel of 

 thought that has led to the solution 

 of so many other bee problems. As 

 Dr. Miller WOUld say, take it to the 

 bei So 1 u ill ask another question : 



Under what conditions do bees I - ■ p 



quiet? Is not the answer. When 

 darkness and health are both pres- 

 ent? 



