THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



3JI 



disturbed when a hive is set on, or re- 

 moved in the spring. 



For the past two winters I have left the 

 bottom-boards on, and for reasons I will 

 not here take space to explain, I consid- 

 er it better to leave them on and raise the 

 body of the hive up so as to leave an open 

 space all around under it. Before com- 

 mencing to carry the hives in, I set emp- 

 ty hives about a foot apart in rows 

 through the cellar, and level them up 

 sidewise, but raise one end so that it is 

 about an inch higher than the other. I 

 use a spirit-level for leveling these stands, 

 for it is an important matter to have them 

 about level, if the hives are to be tiered 

 six or seven high, as mine are; for if they 

 are not they may lean over so far that in 

 a cellar that has no floor but the ground, 

 one tier may topple over, and its fall 

 throw other tiers over, like a set of nine 

 pins. 



For carrying the hives from the yard 

 to the cellar, I use a carrier that is made 

 so that two hives, or even three, if they 

 are not too heavy, can be carried at once 

 by means of handles similar to those of a 

 wheel-barrow, that project out at each 

 end. It requires two men to carry them 

 in this way, but if the hives are some 

 distance from the cellar it is, I think, 

 much better to use something of this kind 

 instead of a wheel-barrow, as with a car- 

 rier the bees hardly seem to know that 

 they are being moved. 



On a cloudy day, with the temperature 

 at 40 degrees or lower, I seldom find it 

 necessary to close a hive-entrance. After 

 a hive has been put on its stand in the 

 cellar, I raise it from the bottom-board, 

 which has been loosened a day or so be- 

 fore, and a short piece about "4 an inch 

 thick is put under at each corner; and 

 from sonic pretty extensive experiments 

 I have made in this line, I am convinced 

 that a colony will winter fully as well 

 with the hive raised half an inch from 

 the bottom-board all around as it will if 

 it is raised an inch, or as it will with the 

 bottom-board left off entirely; in fact, 

 many of my hives that have strips on the 

 bottom-boards I only raise the thickness 

 of a lath all around, and have decided 

 that with me it is better than to have 

 them raised higher. I try, though, to 

 keep the air in the cellar pure, and the 

 rows of hives are far enough apart so that 

 one can walk between them and remove 

 the dead bees on the bottom -boards, if 

 they accumulate so as to make it neces- 

 sary. 



I consider it better to give ventilation 

 enough to keep the air pure, even if do- 

 ing so does, to some extent, cause an un- 



even temperature. .V few colonies in a 

 cellar of considerable .size will, in most 

 cases, obtain plenty of air without any 

 special means being taken to give ventil- 

 ation, but in a cellar that is well filled up 

 with bees, some means should be taken 

 to admit fresh air at will. 



Of the numerous methods I have tried 

 for giving ventilation, I prefer a pipe or 

 tube running from the cellar up through 

 the roof, independent of any other pipe 

 or chimney, with a suitable hood over the 

 top to prevent rain or snow from running 

 down, and with a damper on the same 

 principle as a damper in a stove-pipe, 

 where it can be most easily reached, .so 

 that it can be regulated as the weather 

 demands. 



BEE-KEEPING AS A PROFESSION. 

 The Views of the Editor of the Review. 



Many beginners are booking forward to 

 the time when they can depend upon 

 their bees for their living; and some who 

 are now depending upon bee-keeping 

 for their livelihood are finding that 

 livelihood a very precarious one. These 

 classes may be interested in the short 

 paper that I read at the Philadelphia 

 convention. It reads as follows: — 



The time was when many industries 

 were represented in one familv. Flax 

 and wool were grown, spun, and worked 

 up into cloth and made into clothing. 

 Cows were kept, and cheese as well as 

 butter made for home use. Poultry and 

 a few colonies of bees added to the com- 

 forts of the household. But there is no 

 need of going into detail; every one knows 

 how people lived 100 years ago. Cheap 

 and rapid transportation has encouraged 

 the invention of machinery, the building 

 of factories, and the cla.s.sification of labor. 

 This has brought about specially. No 

 one disputes that this condition of things 

 is better; by it our comforts are more than 

 trebled. 



Some industries iranched out as .spe- 

 cialties much sooner than others. Bee- 

 keeping was among the later ones. At 

 last, however, it has been recognized as 

 an industry of itself. How does it com- 

 pare with other professions? What are 

 its advantages and disadvantages? Can 

 it be depended upon as a means of liveli- 

 hood? These are questions that have 



