1876 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



155 



and their owner said he had no tronble in 

 winterins; them in the open air : yet when left 

 undisturbed in our yard, thej' dwindled down 

 until almost nothins was left, and one of them 

 today has less than a teacupful of bees. They 

 have abundance of natural stores left yet, and 

 as we did nothing at all to them, why should 

 they thus run down ? From reports we should 

 judge that want of ventilation had killed al- 

 most as many bees as starvation, and yet 

 right in the face of this, we hear occasionally, 

 of bees that winter all right with every thing 

 gummed up apparently water tight as you 

 mention. We are inclined to think the box 

 hives you mention have cracks or crevices 

 that admit a small supply of air after all ; yet 

 we agree with you in thinking it utter folly to 

 bore holes all over a hive and cover them 

 with wire cloth. It should also be remember- 

 ed that unpainted hives admit the moisture to 

 pass out through the pores of thu wood to a 

 considerable extent. 



DOOLITTtiE'S APIARY. 



WjE moved our bees (106 stocks) to our new 

 house Dec. 11, putting 54 in a cellar built as 



— ■ (lecribed in Gleaning Vol.11, page 133, and 

 leaving 52 out doors, 24 of which were packed with 

 straw on 3 sides, and caps filled also. Jan. 1st, being 

 very warm, and our bees not having flown since Nov. 

 13th, and having been moved during the time, we 

 thought best to set them out for a fly. They flew fine- 

 ly and were set back at night, yet while those out 

 iloors specked things badlj', those from the cellar 

 hardly spotted anything at all. The temperature In 

 the cellar varied but 2^ all winter luitil March 35th. 

 After that time I could not keep it as steadj-. The 

 temperature was 41° to 43° until March 15th, and from 

 then on, from 43° to 4S°. Those out doors had a chance 

 to fly as often as once in three weeks. April llth be- 

 ing a line day we set the 54 stocks out, finding one 

 deail and three queenless which we united with oth- 

 ers leaving 1C2. On April ISth (it having been so cold 

 lor three days that bees were packed closely) we ex- 

 amined all our hives an<l found that the 24 packed 

 with straw averaged 7 it spaces occupied with bees; 

 those from cellar (1 spaces, and those out-doors with 

 no straw save in caps, oU spaces; showing a decided 

 advantage lor the straw packing and some advantage 

 for the cellar wintering. Our bees all consumed an 

 undue quantity of honey, but the average amount con- 

 sumed in the cellar was 5 lbs. more than that out- 

 doors. 



Hard maple opened May 15th, from which our bees 

 got an abundance of pollen. Willow commenced to 

 blossom May 19th and lasted three days, from which 

 our bees made a gain of about 2 lbs. to the hive on an 

 average. And here let mo say, we have several kinds 

 of willow and have observed very closely, but as yet 

 we never knew of a bee's getting a bit of pollen from 

 willow, although many writers claim it produces 

 large quantities. From all light we can get willow 

 produces no pollen, more than does the pumpkin or 

 gcjuash. 



Apple opened the 2nth, and lasted till June 2d, from 

 which the bees made a gain of about 10 lbs. to the hive, 

 for which we were very thankful as we had not over 

 100 lbs. in our whole yard when it opened. After ap- 

 jile we always have a time of scarcity to the 15th of 

 June, and unless they get in ai>ple we have to feed 

 when we are as short as we were this spring. 



June 3d we examined all our bees and all that had 

 500 square inches of brood and upwards (which w^o 

 43 in number) we let remain as they were, the balance 

 we are uniting so as to fill every hive with brood. Wo 

 shall therefore have 70 to commence the season with. 

 We have united bees at all times of the year and 

 think this the only practicable time to do it. 



June i)th we were visited by a terrible thunder 

 storm during which the lightening struck our house, 

 and the flood came down from the hills above us and 

 blocked up with brush, stone and mud so as to run 

 down through our bee yard to the depth of 15 inches. 

 Oh, how it rained and how we worked to get the bees 

 out. The water and mud rose high enough to reach 

 the combs of 39 of them, some of which were filled 

 two-thirds full, which killed nearly all the brood as 

 far as it went. Only those that would hatch in two or 

 three days lived. All empty cells were left one-third 

 full of mud which the bees seem loth to remove for 

 j the queen to deposit eggs. At least 400,000 bees were 

 killed in the brood state, and these were just our 

 basswood workers. But we are thankful to our Heav- 

 enly Father that our lives were spared, for Mrs. D. 

 was standing in the door right under where the light- 

 ening first struck, but escaped unharmed on account 

 of the tin roof we think, as it followed out to the con- 

 ductor pipe and thence to the cistern. 



We can exercise due charity toward Mr. Perrine af- 

 ter the Chicago fire, but his agreeing to pay ii? for the 

 honey delivered at the R. R., and not fulfilling does 

 not call for any charity. We believe you thought 

 your charity towai'd Mrs. Tupper was misdirected, 

 (i. M. DooLiTTLE, Borodino, N. Y., June 15, '76. 



L,OIV« ONE STORY HIVES. 



P>LEASE give us a chapter in Gleanings, on the 

 management of the single story 20 frame hive, 

 ^^^ for extracted honey. 



Walter Wade, Pettit, Ind., June 10th, '76. 

 The management of the long hive is very 

 simple. If the colony becomes weakened in 

 spring, close up the size of the hive with divi- 

 sion board to correspond to the number of 

 combs they can cover, and then enlarge as we 

 have before directed. When honey begins to 

 come in, give them room as fast as needed. 

 Our expersence seems to show that it matter.s 

 little whether the brood nest is near the en- 

 trance, or at the back part of the hive, only 

 that the bees plainly show a preference for 

 having one or more comds between the ends of 

 the hive and the brood. These combs are the 

 ones that will contain the greater pai-t of the 

 hone}' to be extracted. It will save both your- 

 self and the bees much labor if jon use drone 

 combs to hold the surplus honey, and keep them at :\. 

 greater distance apart than the brood combs. We 

 would commence extracting at the back end of the 

 hive, and as fast as the combs are emptied, put them 

 back in the hive turning the ([Uilt back only so far as 

 is re.iuired if robbers are troublesome. We would ad- 

 vise at present, that the brood combs be left undis- 

 turbed, and that enough honey be left in the hive at 

 all times to keep the colony over winter. In one 

 sense this might be considered wastel'ul, but for the 

 masses of the peoi)le, it is very safe advice to give. IT 

 we follow this plan, the long hives have very little 

 advantage over the two story hives, and it is eas- 

 ier work extracting from the latter where they stand 

 directly on the ground as far as stooping is concernc 1. 

 We find them now more disposed to store above the 

 cluster, than to go very far horizontally ; hence our 

 preference for the two stories. 



