27 
rial about the cluster creates, without free ventilation, damp surround- 
ings, and again the temperature is lowered. It is only necessary, how- 



















ever, to surround the bees with sufficient material to protect them fully 
against the greatest cold liable to occur, and to take care also that this 
enveloping material is of such a nature and so disposed as to permit 
the free passage of the moisture which would otherwise collect in the 
interior of the hive, and to permit 
mosphere of such moisture as enters | 
this material from within. This pack- ili! | hh 
ing should also be fully protected 
from outside moisture. 
South of Virginia, Kentucky, and 
Kansas single-walled hives may be 
employed in most localities with good 
the approach of the eool or the rainy Fic, 17.—Double-walled hive adapted to out- 
7 t door wintering as well as summer use below 
season a close- fitting quilt should be 40° north latitude in the United States. 
laid over the frames and several Thickness of each wall, % inch; space be- 
folded newspapers pressed down on pees irons et ret tae 
this, or a cushion filled with dry chaff 
or roof should be absolutely rain-proof, yet between this cover and 
the cushion or papers should be several inches of space with free cir- 
culation of air. In order to permit this ventilation above the top pack- 
ing the cover should not rest upon the cap or upper story all of the 
way around, or if it does, an auger 
hole in each end, protected by wire 
cloth against the entrance of mice, 
In the more northern portion of the 
section referred to some further 
protection is advisable (fig. 17), and 
is really necessary in the mountain- 
ous parts of the same territory if 
the best results are to be obtained. 
Farther north, and especially in the 
Fic.18.—The American straw hive (Langstroth teetion becomes an absolute neces- 
Oe IS eas eat sity. Quilts with newspapers or 
thin packing above do not alone suffice. The side walls of the hive may 
be made of pressed straw (fig. 18). These, with top packing, if kept 
dry outside, are excellent for outdoor wintering, even in climates so 
cold that ordinary wooden hives do not afford sufficient protection. 
In the severest climates, however, still greater protection on all sides 
the escape into the surrounding at- 
| 
success in outdoor wintering. On ; | 
or some other soft material may be used instead of paper. The cover 
should give free passage to the air. 
cold Northwest, much greater pro- 
of the colony is needed, and packing with chaff or other soft material 
