1878. 



GLEANLNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



45 



nearer the top of the hive. If the entrance 

 is a little below the bottom board, cold 

 winds and storms, are not so readily ad- 

 mitted. 



It has been said that an entrance part way 

 up, will not be so liable to become clogged 

 with dead bees. This I admit, but I think 

 it would be much better, to liave no dead 

 bees at all in the hive, and we seldom, if 

 ever, see any in the chaff hive or in any hive 

 that is equally well protected. It has also 

 been said, that if the bees could get in near- 

 er the top of the hive, they would have a 

 short path to the center of the brood nest, 

 where they generally make their way about 

 as soon as they gain a foothold. This I ad- 

 mit in part, but if we give the bees this short 

 cut in, we also give the warm air of the 

 brood nest, a short cut out. Besides, with 

 the shallow L. frames we use and advise, 

 the bees have but a short distance to climb. 

 All things considered, I think we cannot do 

 better than to have the entrance just below 

 the bottom board, as in the two hives we 

 have illustrated. In the Simplicity hive, the 

 entrance is made by pusliing the hive for- 

 ward so as to project a little over the bottom 

 board. This arrangement, while about as 

 simple as anything can be, has some very 

 decided advantages ; if the entrance is to be 

 enlarged, it is done by simply moving the 

 hive forward still farther. This gives the 

 most thorough ventilation, without in any 

 way confusing the bees by making unusual 

 openings ; and with a very strong colony, it 

 permits all hands to rush out for the fields 

 in the morning, with a facility I have never 

 seen in any other arrangement. With the 

 old style L. hives, we used to have a venti- 

 lator at the back. Of course these ventila- 

 tors, would be used by the bees as places of 

 exit. If we covered them with wire cloth, 

 bees would be constantly biting and buzzing 

 at the wires, trying to get out. Why not let 

 them use these for entrances V Well, so we 

 did, but when it became desirable to close 

 them in the fall, many bees would be con- 

 fused and lost, when by simply enlarging 

 and contracting the usual entrance, we have 

 no such trouble. 



I need hardly add that where we have the 

 Entrances arranged in this manner, close to 

 the ground, we must have the ground clean 

 and free from weeds for several feet around 

 and in front of the hive. See apiary, and 



ALIGHTING BOxVRDS. 



The entrances to all hives, in the winter 

 time, should be closed to such a width that 

 no mice can by any possibility get in ; if they 



do not exceed f of an inch, there will be no 

 danger. When bees are wintered in the open 

 air without protection, the dead bees are 

 liable to fall down, and clog the entrance. 

 As soon as a warm day comes, they will try 

 desperately to get out. The apiarist should 

 be on hand at such a time, and while he lifts 

 the hive from the bottom board, an assistant 

 should, with a broom quickly brush off 

 every accumulation. The hives and combs 

 should then be fixed so that no more may 

 straggle away from the cluster and get fro- 

 zen between the empty combs. 



SIZE OF ENTRANCES. 



With strong colonies, this is a matter of 

 no great importance, providing the entrance 

 is large enough to let all the bees out and 

 in readily in the height of the honey season, 

 and not so large as to let in too great an 

 amount of cold air during the severest win- 

 ter weather. In the house apiary, we use a 

 two inch auger hole, but it is in reality, re- 

 duced to about If, by a piece of thin white- 

 wood veneer steamed and rolled up into a 

 tube. The size of these entrances seem 

 about right for a strong colony ; if the colo- 

 ny is weak, we reduce it with a wad of pa- 

 per. The entrances are left full size all win- 

 ter, and all things considered, I think the 

 size is about right. We were, one winter, 

 troubled somewhat by mice getting in at the 

 lower ones, and metal guards were made, 

 reducing the size to a f inch slot ; this kept 

 out the mice, but it bothered the bees so 

 much that we were glad to take them away, 

 and get a big cat, to guard the outside, 

 which he has done so faithfully, that we 

 have had no farther trouble. See enemies 



OF BEES. 



The entrances to the chaff hives, are f 

 wide, by about 8 inches long. If the colony 

 is a full one, we leave them open full length 

 all winter. If weak, contract to about one 

 inch ; and for nuclei, sometimes, so that 

 just a single bee can pass. We contract 

 them by cutting a piece of wood just the 

 right length and thickness. Some apiarists, 

 I believe, practice closing the entrances to 

 all hives during very severe weather, opening 

 them again when the weather moderates. 

 This, I think is carrying the matter entirely 

 too far, and it reminds one of the philan- 

 thropic old gentleman who stood in the rain 

 while he held his umbi-ella over the ducks 

 in a puddle. We have wintered bees in the 

 chaff hives, with the entrance open its 

 whole length, during the most severe win- 

 ters, with scarcely a dead bee having been 

 brought out when it came off warm, and I 



