166 EIGIITEEXTH AXXUAL EEPORT OF THE 



Mr. Kindig. — May I ask in what way it differed? 



Mr. Foster. — I don't know that I recall exactly what his direc- 

 tions were, except that I had about from six to fifteen inches of chaff, 

 top, bottom and sides, all the way around, and a contracted entrance. 



A Member. — How much contracted? 



Mr. Foster. — Oh, I use a hole about as large as — wellj you 

 could get your thumb into it. 



A Member. — Just one hole? 



Mr. Foster. — Mostly. Some of the holes were oblong in shape, 

 and inch long and three-eights wide. That was as large as I used. 



A Member. — -Was it packed underneath? 



Mr. Foster. — Yes. 



Mr. Krause. — I would like to ask a couple more questions now. 

 Have you top ventilation? 



Mr. Foster. — No. 

 , Mr. Krause. — I think that is where you fall down, then. That 

 is where we fall down in our climate. 



Mr. Foster. — There was no top ventilation recommended by 

 Dr. Phillips. 



Mr. Krause. — In Ontario if we top for the winter with a sealed 

 cover we figure on dead bees in the spring every time. Now, Dr. 

 Phillips spoke this morning, he just got on to my line, you know every 

 bee-keeper is a crank on wintering or doing some work on bees, and 

 I have always packed bees right from the start, and the only difference 

 between what Dr. Phillips told us this morning and the way I am doing, 

 I don't unpack in the summer, I keep them packed all the time. When 

 I recommended that to some bee-keepers in Ontario they said that was 

 a lazy man's way to keep bees, but I did not pay any attention to that, 

 because I was getting results and that is what I was after. We ex- 

 perimented with it for five years, and we found the bees that were 

 packed through the whole season did better every time than the bees 

 that were unpacked, so we kept right along on that line. But we 

 dare not leave on sealed covers. Now, Mr. Dunn, of Ridgeway, who 

 is in a different climate altogether, he winters the other way, he has 

 everything sealed down as tight as possible, but it is a different climate 

 altogether than Guelph. But I would like Mr. Foster to try just some 

 colonies with top ventilation. 



A Member. — May I ask Mr. Foster whether he has a double or 

 single hive body? 



MR. Foster. — I have different ones. There was a slight pre-er- 

 ence for the double hive, because they were up away from the entrance 

 and there would be less chance for any circulation of cold air. 



A Member. — That is where you had two brood nests. 



Mr. Foster, — Two brood chambers, one brood nest. I believe 

 that a good deal of advantage can be derived from this packing if 

 it is handled right. But I haven't yet been able to explain why those 

 bees that were packed did not breed up when they got started faster 

 than the others, and they did not. They did not produce the crops 

 that those that were not packed produced, and I think it was because 

 they did not get a start. The bees that were out and flying when the 

 first willows bloomed and the first dandelions came out are the ones 



