MANAGEMENT OF HONEY-BEES.-NO. 3 . 
275 
MANAGEMENT OF HONEY-BEES.—No. 3. 
The bottom being hung three-eighths of an inch 
from the body of the hive, affords ingress and 
egress from all sides, which contributes greatly to 
the success of the bees, for the reason, that they are 
enabled to perform much more labor than when re¬ 
stricted to a single opening in front, on the ordinary 
plan. When they are confined to an entrance of a 
few inches, the clusters of idle bees that almost 
constantly, in the heat of summer, hang about the 
entrance of every strong stock, prevents, in a great 
measure, the entrance of the workers, or, at least, 
retards their operations, and after having gained 
admission, they are then compelled to force their 
way through a solid mass of bees, to such parts of 
the hive as they wish to attain ; whereas, if admis¬ 
sion is afforded on all sides, they can enter on 
such side as they wish to deposit their honey, 
pollen, or farina, whatever it may be, with no ob¬ 
struction, and depart in the same easy manner. I 
look upon this system of arranging the bottom 
board as the most important branch of the manage¬ 
ment of bees, and of sufficient importance to justify 
me in dwelling upon it. Indeed, I am fully satis¬ 
fied that no system can ever fully succeed ‘perma¬ 
nently , on any other plan. It appeals so forcibly 
to our reason, as a mere matter of ingress and 
egress, that we cannot but admit its necessity; yet, 
as a means of ventilation , it is of no less conse¬ 
quence. That bees require the healthful influences 
of fresh air, in the greatest possible degree, does 
not admit of a doubt in my mind, yet it must come 
from the bottom of the hive ; and to stop up every 
avenue for the admission of air to hives, except a 
small aperture in front, and then place them on the 
south side of some close fence or building, exposed 
to the burning rays of the sun, I consider down¬ 
right cruelty, yet this is the practice of many 
people. 
The subject of ventilation of hives has long 
occupied the attention of bee-masters, the different 
modes of which are too tedious fo mention ; suffice 
it to say, that in my opinion, no air should be ad¬ 
mitted at any place except at the bottom. Let us 
look into the philosophy of this. Bees, while in 
the embryo state, require a heat of at least 
seventy degrees, in order to arrive at maturity. 
This heat is artificially produced by the bees when 
the temperature is lower without the hive ; now, if 
a ventilator is placed at the top, or side of a hive, 
near the top, the only effect must be to operate to 
the detriment of the larva in its natural state of 
development, by causing a current of air to flow 
among the brood combs, rendering the natural heat 
of the hive, in certain parts, below what is requi¬ 
site to bring the young broods to maturity. This, 
as I view it, is placing a strong barrier to the natu¬ 
ral and successful operations of the bees, as nature 
intended them to be, in the matter of the re-produc¬ 
tion of their species. Again, if we examine the 
operations of the bees, we find them carefully 
cementing every crack and corner of their domicil 
above, and if any small aperture is made, though 
the rains cannot possibly penetrate in any situation, 
yet they close such openings with great care, when 
hot too large, which, to my mind, is conclusive 
evidence that it is not necessary that they should 
have any ventilation above the bottom of the hive, 
presuming that the bees w r ould never take the pains 
to so closely cement the upper structure of their 
hives, if it were necessary that they should have 
ventilation in that quarter. Now, a few more 
words regarding ventilation below. I have found 
that the more the fresh air is infused among the 
bees at the bottom of the hive, both in summer and 
in winter, the healthier are the bees—the greater 
their increase—the few T er die, and when spring 
opens, my hives are full, strong, vigorous, and 
healthy; in fact, I am astonished at their appear¬ 
ance, being but a very few bees less in March than 
there were in November preceding. These facts 
taken into consideration, satisfy me that my plan of 
hanging the bottom-board is absolutely necessary 
to perfect success. I do not say that it is solely 
my plan. I believe it was first practised in the 
Eastern States. 
Having settled the matter of size of hives &c., 
the next point is the bee-house or bee-stand. Bee- 
houses I condemn in toto. If I had a dozen pros¬ 
perous hives of bees, and wished to get rid of 
them in the course of a year or two, I could not 
more effectually do it, than by housing them up ex¬ 
posed to a hot' sun, and the cool air excluded from 
the back and ends. The winter season would do 
the job for them, if placed in some very w r arm nook 
or corner, w T here the rays of a mid-day winter sun 
would raise the thermometer to about 50 or 60°, 
when in the open fields it would stand, say at 30 
or 40°. This is the w r ay many people do. They 
think if they but place their bees in some nice 
warm place in winter, where the bleak westerly 
winds cannot reach them, they are safe enough. 
This is the very best way to destroy bees that I 
know of, except the brimstone method. All you 
have to do is to let them stand, and almost every 
clear still day, when the thermometer in the open 
fields would stand at about 35 or 40, hundreds will 
be allured forth, by the false temperature immedi¬ 
ately around them, never to return. But the best 
sport of all is immediately after a heavy fall of 
snow T , when the sun shines clear and warm, just 
around the hives. It is a most capital trap for 
them. The silly bees take it for granted that there 
is no difference in the surrounding warmth, and 
they come out by thousands—fly a few rods—give 
a wheel or two, and drop down on the snow 
It is a beautiful sight to see one’s bees all lie dead 
upon the snow, or it w r ould not be practised to so 
great an extent! Some people who dislike seeing 
them killed off that way, prefer closing the en¬ 
trances, and causing their death by partial suffoca¬ 
tion, or artificial heat produced in the hive by the 
rays of the sun, without any opposing coolness 
from the rear, to counteract it. In this way 
most of the bees may be taken out dead about the 
first of March. For my part, I am not partial to 
this amusing way of killing bees; I like to have 
my hives as full in February and March, as in the 
fall previous, so I follow a different plan. I hang 
them up in the open air in the following way. I 
select a place as near my house as convenient, in 
which there can be no deception as regards the 
general temperature of the atmosphere, I do not 
shun a northerly or westerly exposure in the 
least, nor do I want any board fence, shed, or any 
