36^ 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



real requisites of a Tir.'.t class luvc. It will be seen that 

 two kinds of pieces are necessary for the mse— side boards 

 niid end boards. Of course you must h;u'e a bottom and 

 ton. The top is any plain cover that will project over all 

 and which is water tight. 



No hive in the world can beat them for box honey, for 

 the reason that you cau get the brood and honey boxes so 

 near together. I do not speak at random, 1 know what I 

 am talkitig ab'out. Hundreds of these low hives are in 

 pse in this vicinity, and they are fast driving out all other 

 hives, and when they become generally known the name 

 .of their inventor— Mr. Tracy Flynti Bingham — will hold 

 a place among apiculturists, not inferior to Quinby or 

 Ijangstroth. JuLirs Tomlinsox. 



\ We believe six iuches, is about the greatest 

 •jextrt-mc of .shallowiiess that has been tried or 

 recomencled ; we admit its adaptability for 

 box houej', but we cannat well fail to caution 

 our readers, by reminding- them that great 

 losses in vfiutering have resulted where such 

 hives have been largely in use. It may be the 

 .shallow frame has nothing to do with it, but 

 scarcely one among us has reported the heavy 

 losses Mr. Bingham himself has. We would 

 like to ask if the combs are not very often 

 fastened to the bottom board where such 

 shallow bottomless frames are used. On so 

 long a frame, the bees would probably be so 

 lar from the ends, that we should have little 

 trouble in handling them, even if they were 

 closed ends. 



May we take the liberty of cautioning en- 

 thusiastic writers about using the names of 

 Quinby and Langstroth in that way ? Per- 

 haps ]\Ir. Bingham himself, feels more pained 

 by it than any one else. Instead of predicting 

 that any one will hold positions beside these 

 names, willit not be best to wait uutil the 

 WDlid .'jhull see iit to accord it them? 



, ^ BRITISH BEE JOUENAL. 



I A COUPLE OF HOURS IN A GEEMAJf AMAET. 



^ Having occasion to visit the small town of Fursten- 

 ,walde, situated on the river Spree, about 2.5 miles 

 ,from Berlin, I learnt that a member of one of the 

 German Ajnarian Societies had established an apiary 

 in a village at an easy walking distance Ircm the 

 town. 



He was most kind and courteous, anil after insist- 

 ing on my sitting still, 'to cool myself,' after what, in 

 kierman estimation, was a long walk, he con- 

 ducted me to liis apiary, most pleasantly situated be- 

 neath some tind old trees, which completely shaded 

 the hives from the sun, and enabled the operator to 

 manipulate them, at all hours of the day, without 

 getting violently heated. In the ceutie of a round 

 space about twenty feet in diaineter stood a sc!uai-e 

 .bee-liouse, from all four sicles cf whicli beeb were 

 issuing in large numbers. 'iDo you find that practic- 

 ^ally, it makes any differeritt's wiiich way the hives 

 face ?' I inquired, 'JTot the .slightest,' was the an- 

 swer., Not far rrorn this centre bouse stood the most 

 , remarlxable thing in the whole apiary, namely a 

 ^licleton hive, in which were twelve large bar-frames 

 and a stock of bees, which were then, and had been, 

 busily at work for weeks. I could hardly believe that 

 they wore not robber bees emptying some combs, un- 

 til assured by the bee-master that they formed really 

 a strong and healthy colony. They have been in 

 their present position since very early in the spring, 

 open on all sides and at top, and with no other pro- 

 tection from winds and drifting rain than a sloping 

 boaid fixed about four inches from the top of the 



bars. I stood for several minutes watching them, 

 .hardly even then able to comprehend the fact that a 

 colony of bees could exist, let alone prosper, with so 

 little protection and so close to over forty other 

 stocks, which, according to our English idea of bee- 

 keeping, ougiit to have attacked and demolished 

 them. 'Do they never rob each other?' I imjuiied of 

 the bee-master. 'Never.' I shook my head in per- 

 plexity and passed on to one of the stands or houses. 

 'lio you find it most desirable to keep the bees warm 

 in winter or cold?' 1 asked, seeing that his houses 

 were for the most part lined with nearly six inches of 

 dry moss, and that his liives had the same wedged in 

 between them.. 'I have practiaily proved that bees 

 keptasycu see these here eat considerably less du- 

 ring the winter, and are just as strong in the spring 

 as those kept cold ; in fact, I believe they cannot 

 have to great a thickness of moss around tlicm. In 

 winter it keeps them warm, and in summer cool, buc 

 they have, of course, all got a ventilating aperture at 

 top.' 'What about the entrances? Do you contract 

 them at all or not ?' 'On th:it point there is a diver- 

 sity of opinion, but as lar as my apiary is concerned, 

 I never make any difference between spring, summer, 

 autumn, or winter.' 'So,' I replied, and passed on to 

 what, as the bee-master told me, were the newest 

 and best hives in Germany. I must endeavor to. de- 

 scribe them. The hive itself is about two feet long 

 by about twelve or fourteen iuches wide, has a round 

 top, is made of straw and is well painted, and con- 

 tains sixteen bar frames. 



'Di5 you let your hives swarm naturally?' I asked. 

 'If they will do so sufllcientiy early; tliat is to say, 

 those which will swarm I let swarm and those 

 which won't I divide.' But do you not lose many ? 

 Do they not often Settle on one of the trees \vliere it 

 would be difficult, if not impossible to hive them?' 

 'Never,' he answered, 'for the simple reason that 1 

 always 'make them settle where I wish, often on my 

 hand.' Tlic bee-master lauglied on seeing my look of 

 slirpl'iso. 'This ap.pareritly wonderful feat is very 

 easy of accomplishment,' he said ; 'I cut the wings of 

 a'l my (jueens, so that, when one leaves tlie hive, she 

 falls to the giound; and I or my wife, being always 

 on the look-out, catch her and put her in n small 

 cage, which I place wherever I desire the bees to 

 cluster, or hold in iiiy hand, from whicli, in a few 

 minutes, I have thousands hanging.' 



I may here mention that most of his hives arc more 

 or less fixtures, that is to say, that three and foitv 

 stocks live in one large hive, being separated from 

 eacli other by dividing- boards, which he finds a 

 great saving of ti'oi'ible and eriuftlly good for the beeS; 



'Do you feed much ?' I askCd, seeing a number of 

 shallow tin trtiyS. 'in spring I feed but not at all in 

 slinnner ; sugar is too dear in Germany (best loaf sugar 

 erf per lb, and often 7c?.).' 'Do you know the bottle 

 feeders' I asked. 'Yes : but for sjiriug feeding I pre- 

 fer the shallow zinc or tin trays, which I put into the 

 hive, and from which the bees will feed, when they 

 would not touch the syrup if given to them in a bottle 

 at the top of the hive. I have had almost every feed- 

 er that has been invented, and tried them all; but 

 must confess that, according to my experience, noth- 

 ing beats this at once simple but efflcient method.' 



I enquired if he had ever had foul brood in his 

 apiary. 'No,' he answered ; 'but since Herr Emil 

 Hubert's valuable discovery of a cure for this former- 

 ly fatal disease German bee-keepers no longer diead 

 it.' 'What !' I exclaimed in surprise. 'Has a remedy 

 bnen discovered which is really lo be relied upon?' 

 'Yes,' he replied; 'a remedy which will effectually 



