April 24.1 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 5V 
FLOOR-BOARD FOR HIVES. 
The floor-board that we use is similar in principle to that 
described at page 10 of “ Taylor’s Bee-Keeper’s Manual,” 
3rd Edition; but lest your subscriber should be without that 
excellent little work, I will describe it as well as I can. 
It consists of two circular pieces of wood, one twenty 
inches in diameter and one in thickness, the other sixteen 
inches in diameter and barely half an inch in thickness; 
the smaller screwed down upon the larger in such a way 
that the grain of one piece may be at light angles to the 
i grain of the other. Before the small piece is fixed, a bit 
i two inches wide at each end, four inches long at the side 
i next the centre, and having a chord five inches long at the 
! circumference, is cut out of it, and an inclined plane formed 
from the opening thereby made towards the centre of the 
piece, the operator taking care to bear a little to the right 
I and left as the paring away progresses, so that the plane 
' may be eight or nine inches broad where it meets the level 
; of the board. This forms the entrance ; by the use of small 
blocks of wood its width can be handily altered according to 
the strength of the hive and the state of the weather. Un¬ 
derneath the thick piece are two clips, each nearly the length 
of the diameter of the thick piece, and about two inches 
deep, and one inch and a half broad. These clips are 
screwed firmly to the thick piece at right angles to the grain, 
i and are, therefore, parallel with the grain of the thin piece. 
These assist in keeping the whole from warping by the ex¬ 
posure to which it is subjected, and are placed just wide 
enough apart to fit over the cross piece of the post on which 
the board is to be placed. A wedge of thin wood between 
the cross piece and one of the clips keeps the whole steady. 
The main difference between the above and Taylor’s consists 
in its being formed of two pieces instead of one (setting 
aside the clips, which in Taylor’s are only used “ to prevent 
warping and for convenient lifting.”) It is, in my idea, 
thereby more easily made by amateur carpenters, and more 
effectually prevented from warping. 
There is nothing I like so well for a stand as an old nine 
gallon beer barrel, with the ends, or one end, out. Such 
things are often knocking about the yard waiting their turn 
to be burnt, and it has been my good luck to rescue several 
from such an ignominious fate. Painted up a bit, and 
plunged about eight inches in the ground, they not only 
look neat, but form such a broad basis that old /Eolus vents 
his rage upon the hives in vain. 
The jacket that stands upon the floor-board is the simplest 
thing in the world; merely a cylinder of zinc, seventeen 
inches in diameter ( t. t\, an inch broader than the thin piece 
of the floor-board) and eighteen inches high, with a stout 
rod of iron run into it round the top to give it stiffness. 
Upon this is placed the milk-pan. At the bottom a piece is 
cut out seven inches broad, and about six inches high, and 
round this opening a piece, about three inches broad, is 
soldered to form a kind of awning to protect the entrance to 
the hive, to some extent, from the sun, and altogether from 
the rain. The jacket may be made of old oil-cloth, stiffened 
with ribs of wood; but, of course, will not then be so durable 
as if made of zinc or tin. 
The hives I use are common flat-topped straw hives, with 
a 4-inch hole in the centre. In order to work four glasses, if 
expedient, at once, I have a circular piece of wood, nearly the 
diameter of the jacket, with two 2-inclx and two 4-inch holes in 
it, raised upon four pieces of wood an inch and a half in depth, 
which are nailed to the under side of the circular piece, and 
form a square sufficiently large to include within its area the 
four holes. This stands on an adapting board, with a 4-inch 
hole in the centre, placed over the 4-inch hole in the hive. The 
mode of operation is obvious ; the apparatus can, with a little 
ingenuity, be adapted to ordinary round-topped pieces. In 
cold weather a large piece of cloth can be thrown over the 
glasses. In winter, when only one glass for condensing 
purposes is required, a spare hive will cover it. The circular 
piece being nearly the diameter of the jacket, any light that 
may come from the opening at the bottom can be easily 
excluded by a piece of list, or something of the sort. When, 
however, a cloth is over the glasses, nothing at all will be 
required. 
RESULTS OF BURYING BEES. 
WINTER 1850-51. 
1 . 
c 
<u 
rO 
S 
3 
z 
What sort of 
hives have 
been buried? 
Swarms, 
casts, olil 
stocks, or 
preserved 
bees ? 
Date 
of 
inter¬ 
ment. 
Whether in earth, and in what kind 
of soil; or beneath a shed, out¬ 
house, on stone floor, or under 
leaves. 
State of 
weather 
at the 
time of 
inter¬ 
ment. 
Proba¬ 
ble age 
of 
queen. 
Weight of 
hives when 
buried, exclu¬ 
sive of hives, 
&c., as near as 
may be 
guessed. 
Weight of 
contents of 
hive when 
dug up. 
At what 
time was the 
stock, or 
stocks, dis¬ 
interred. 
State of 
hive on 
being disin¬ 
terred. 
What 
percep¬ 
tible 
con¬ 
sump¬ 
tion of 
food. 
1* 
A swarm in 
a straw’ hive. 
Nov. 
28, 
1850. 
Ground, on a stone floor ; in a 
gravel soil; two feet from top of 
hive to surface, with three inches of 
ashes at the bottom of hole; a tube, 
quarter.inch bore, placed at the 
entrance communicating with exter¬ 
nal air ; and hive previously encir¬ 
cled with straw bands. 
Sharp 
frost at 
8 p.m. 
One 
year. 
12 lbs., exclu¬ 
sive of hive,&c. 
831bs., ex¬ 
clusive of 
hive, &c. 
April 1, 
1851. 
The hive 
perfectly 
dry, except¬ 
ing at the 
lower parts, 
where it was 
mortared to 
the floor 
stone. 
33 lbs. 
2t 
A swarm, 
straw hive. 
Nov. 
28, 
1850. 
Side by side with No. 1, the only 
difference being its having no tube 
communicating with external air. 
Sharp 
frost at 
8 p.m. 
One 
year. 
14 lbs., exclu¬ 
sive of hive. 
April 1, 
1851. 
As No. 1. 
3+ 
A cast, straw 
hive. 
Dec. 
4, 
1850. 
In the hay-loft, under dried leaves, 
on a stone floor, with a tube, quar¬ 
ter-inch bore, at the entrance, com¬ 
municating with external air. 
Damp, 
foggy, 
at 8 
p.m. 
Young. 
10lbs., exclu¬ 
sive of hive, &c. 
1 lb., exclu¬ 
sive of hive, 
&c. 
April 2, 
1851. 
Hive per¬ 
fectly dry. 
The combs 
mildewed 
and in a 
wretched 
state. 
9 lbs. 
4$ 
A cast, straw 
hive. 
Dec. 
4, 
1850. 
Side by side, and just the same as 
No. 3. 
Damp, 
foggy, 
at 8 
p m. 
Young. 
6 lbs., exclu¬ 
sive of hive, &c. 
^ lb., exclu¬ 
sive of hive, 
&c. 
April 2, 
1851. 
Hive dry, 
comb damp 
and mil¬ 
dewed. 
5^ lbs. 
Furtiier Observations. _ 
* Very many of the bees were dead and putrid, the combs likewise much damaged with mildew, and evidently the bees have died of 
dysentery. I do not think I shall be induced to bury any more, certainly not without allowing plenty of ventilation, with a good inch-bore tube 
placed at the top of hive, not at the entrance.* 
f I could not weigh the hive, as the combs had all fallen down on to the stone floor; nearly all the bees dead, many been dead for a long 
time, as there was a great quantity of maggots and flies amongst the dead bees; many quite decomposed. All are now dead, April 7. Other 
bees robbed it of all the honey after it was placed upon its stand in the apiary. 
I A few bees alive, the rest dead, decomposed, full of maggots, and altogether in a miserable state. 
$ All the bees dead, decomposed, and full of maggots.— Edward Kingsford. 
* Since I sent you my report on the “ Wintering of Bees,” I am sorry to say that No. 1 hive has died; and on examining the contents 
i I found all the bees but about 100 dead ; the queen had evidently been dead some time. There was about five pounds of honey in the combs, 
which were quite mildewed.— Edward Kingsford, Sunbury, Middlesex. 
