^e Jee-j^ff peps' jH^v^i^Lo. 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 

 Devoted to the Interests of Honey Producers. 



a .00 A YEAR. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Editor and Publisher. 



VOL. XX. FLINT, MICHIGAN, JULY 15, 1907. NO. 7 



Doings at the Review Apiary for the 

 Last Few Months. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



n^HE picture opposite shows the Review 

 -'- apiary here at Flint as it appeared 

 just aftsr th3 "winter overcoats" of tarred 

 felt had been taken from the hives. It is 

 located in the southern edge of a forest of 

 oaks, and never before did I see demon- 

 strated so clearly the value of a protected 

 location as I did at this apiary during- the 

 trying weather of last spring. In go'.ng 

 over the hills to visit this yard the wind 

 would blow cold and sharp enough to 

 shave one. but as soon as th3 shelter of 

 the woods was reached not a breath of 

 wind could be felt, and it seemed quite 

 warm; in fact, it was not unusual to find 

 a few bees flying and taking little circles 

 in front of their hives. 



TARRED FELT NOT ALWAYS AN ADVANTAGE 

 AS A PROTECTION. 



By the way, while riding on the train 

 this spring, I met Mr. L. C. Woodman, of 

 Grand Rapids. He was goinc north with 



200 colonies of bees. He told me that 

 Mr. S. D. Chapman had written his son, 

 Mr. A. G. Woodman, that the use of tarred 

 felt on hives in the spring had proved an 

 actual detriment to his bees. The colo- 

 nies so protected were actually weakei, on 

 an average, than those not protected. He 

 said the trouble was that the dark color 

 of the covering absorbed the heat of the 

 sun and warmed up the bees en days 

 when it was too cold for them to fly, but 

 they did fly and were lost. If the loca- 

 tion is exposed and windy, I can see that 

 the results might possibly be like those 

 reported by Mr. Chapman, but in the 

 sheltered locations where my brother and 

 myself have used this kind of protection 

 we have always found it a decided advan- 

 tage. 



THE WONDERFUL INFLUENCE OF OUTSIDE 

 PROTECTION. 



While on this subject of a sheltered lo- 



