THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



97 



the cloth peels off follow it up with smoke. 

 My bees build brace combs between the 

 cloth and frames, which always stay with 

 the frames, and when the cloth is put back 

 on, the bees get out from between it and the 

 brace combs before the cover is put on. I 

 would rather take off four cloths than one 

 cover without it. 

 Fillmore, Calif., May 29, 188!). 



Humanity Demands a Shade for Bees. — The 



Apiarist Needs It. — Best Supplied 



by Large Trees. 



JAMES A. GKEEN. 



■^i^ BELIEVE it to be not only unwise but 

 OJj almost inhuman to allow bees in thin 

 ^^ walled hives to stand in the sun without 

 any protection from its rays. 



No one who has ever seen how bees will 

 cluster on the outside of the hive at such 

 times, keeping in the shade cast by any pro- 

 jecting part of the hive, can doubt that they 

 suffer greatly from the heat at such times. 

 It seems almost certain that the work of the 

 hives must be greatly interrupted when the 

 combs are thus almost deserted by the bees. 

 When the hives are unpainted or painted in 

 dark colors we see plainly enough at times 

 the necessity of shade in the shape of melted 

 combs. 



It is not from the heat generated by the 

 bees themselves that we have to guard, nor 

 from the heat of the atmosphere as a whole. 

 When the thermometer stands at 100^ in the 

 shade, the whole atmosphere is heated up to 

 that point, not altogether by the sun's rays 

 passing through it, but largely by heat given 

 off by the earth, buildings and other solid 

 bodies that have been warmed by these rays. 

 A piece of metal, for instance, or a board 

 painted a dark color lying in the" sun may 

 become much hotter than KM) at such a time. 

 Then the inside of a bee-hive, standing in 

 the sun, whether tenanted by bees or not, 

 may be much warmer than would be indi- 

 cated by a thermometer hanging in the shade 

 close by. 



The walls of a chaff hive, being non-con- 

 ducting, the heat absorbed by the outer walls 

 does not readily reach the inside of the hive, 

 so bees in chaff hives do not suffer so much 

 from heat as those in thin walled hives. 



Shade in the spring months is probably a 

 detriment, and for a large part of the sum- 

 mer season unnecessary. For these and 

 other reasons there are some decided advan- 

 tages in the use of shade boards. If I were 

 looking only to the welfare of the bees, I 

 would shade my hives with shade boards. As 

 I have considerable regard for my own com- 

 fort, though, I would prefer to have an 

 apiary, or at least a part of it, shaded by 

 large (not too large) trees. These should 

 not stand too close together and should be 

 trimmed so that the limbs will not come too 

 close to the ground. 



These, in connection with a few shade 

 boards where required, will add very much 

 to the comfort of both bees and bee-keepers. 



My own apiary is shaded mostly by trees 

 and grape vines. Grape vines answer excel- 



lently for shade. I like the looks of them. 

 I like to take care of them, and I specially 

 like the grapes they produce, but I do not 

 believe they pay in an apiary. Better have 

 them somewhere where they will not require 

 such careful training to keep them within 

 bounds. Many other plants, such as sun- 

 flower, tomatoes, &c., may be used for 

 shading hives, but in a large apiary, for 

 business, I should recommend only trees 

 and shade boards. 

 Dayton, III., June G, 1889. 



Quilts and Shade-Boards Unnecessary, and 

 Why? 



fLONG ago voted quilts a nuisance. 

 The first quilts were made of two thick- 

 nesses of heavy cotton cloth aad stuffed 

 with cotton batting. In a few months 

 use they became propolized to stiffness, and 

 holes were eaten in them, making them dis- 

 agreeable to handle, besides shrinking so aa 

 to allow bees to come up through. 



The next improvement was enameled 

 cloth. This was so much of an irhprovement 

 that I went for it as a duck goes for water, 

 and now, after using this for a few years, I 

 wish to discard that also, for the enamel 

 soon tarnishes, the edges become frayed, and 

 holes will come through. The cloth cannot 

 be put down evenly and just as it was taken 

 off. In consequence the wax builders waste 

 much time filling in all interstices. If I 

 wished to start a bees-wax factory I think 

 that would be the best way to get the bees to 

 provide the crude material. 



Early in the season the enameled cloth is 

 hardly thick enougli to retain the heat, then 

 grain bags and rags of all kinds are resorted 

 to, which, in turn, become the resort of ants 

 and bugs. The enameled cloth is sure to 

 catch more or less bees under it as it is put 

 down, and as you pass from the hive you will 

 hear a plaintive peep, peep, from bees so 

 caught, and if you do not relieve them an 

 accusing conscience will follow you. 



Anothep point in favor of the bee-space 

 cover is that we do not remove it in winter, 

 and substitute chaff cushions, etc., and bees 

 winter finely under such a cover. 



There may be an advantage for the cloth 

 in peeping into one corner of a hive, or re- 

 moving one frame*, but I think it so small 

 that all the disadvantages enumerated here- 

 tofore in the Review greatly counterbalance 

 it. In handling hundreds of both kinds I 

 find the bee-space honey-board and cover a 

 great improvement. 



In relation to shade boards I am trying to 

 dispense with them altogether. Some people 

 like to see stone heaps piled up on their 

 hives, but I do not : bricks are handier, but 

 why shade hives when there are but a few 

 hours in a day, and only a few days in the 

 year, when they really need it ? And, when 

 the temperature is so very hot, there is but 

 little honey coming in ; and, as I have re- 

 cently stated in Gleanings, the bees may as 

 well loaf on the shady side of the hive as to 

 loaf inside. If there is honey in the flowers, 

 has the heat made any difference with the 

 bees in their work of gathering it ? And to 



