January. 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



15 



Fig. 3. — Ten-frame hive standing on end with a super cover taeked on the bottom, and a queen-excluder 

 on the top. Before nailing, the super-cover is slid up enough to make an entrance at the lower end, then 

 a cleat is nailed on as shown, to support the packing. 



THE MODIFIED DEMUTH PLAN 

 OF WINTEEING. 

 At the Ohio state convention at Lima, the 

 secretary, Ernest Kohn, after hearing onr 

 description of the Demuth plan of wintering 

 as illustrated on page 921, December, aslced 

 why we needed to have a special inner case 

 at all; he mentioned using an eight or ten 

 frame super and standing it on end in an- 

 other hive-body in such a way that it would 

 leave a packing-space on the sides and one 

 end. What he was driving at will be more 

 clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. His idea is that 

 without making any special device or inner 

 case, one may utilize the material already 

 present in a well-regulated extracted-honey 

 apiary. On coming home we arranged the 

 combination as shown in Fig. 3. The brood- 

 nest was lifted off its hive-bottom and an 

 empty hive-body put on in its stead. On the 

 top of the brood-nest was tacked a queen- 

 excluder, after nailing two 5/16 inch cleats 

 between the excluder and the frames to hold 

 the latter in position. See Fig. 4. The bottom 

 of the hive-body was covered with a super- 

 cover or bee-escape board made to project be- 

 yond one end about two inches, and then tack- 

 ed in place. The purpose of this is to pro- 

 vide an entrance way to the bottom of the 

 frames so the bees can get out. At the sides 

 and top of this opening was tacked a strip 

 of wood to prevent the packing from clos- 

 ing up the inner entrance. The whole thing 

 is then placed on the regular bottom-board 

 and then shoved tight against the front 

 end of the hive so that the frames are stand- 

 ins on end and crosswise of the outer hive. 



Common forest leaves are now packed in 

 around the sides and back of the inner case 

 now on end. Another hive-body is then put 

 on, and more leaves packed in. Last of all, 

 another hive-body or a shallow super is put 

 on top. This is likewise filled with leaves. 



It will be noted that Dr. Kohn's scheme 

 of wintering requires no other equipment 

 than that found in the regular extracting 

 apiary. If one had an extra super-cover he 

 would not need to use the queen-excluder; 

 but the queen-excluder will hold the pack- 

 ing away from the top of the frames just as 

 well, provided leaves are used. The excluder 

 would not be satisfactory if sawdust or fine 

 shavings were used. 



We see no reason why this scheme of pack- 

 ing should not be very satisfactory for 

 wintering; but in order to get the best re- 

 sults, the super should be placed on end 

 about the first part of September so the 

 bees may begin forming their winter case. 



There is one serious objection to this 

 method of packing. It is impossible during 

 the fall or spring to get at the inner brood- 

 nest for the purpose of seeing the queen 

 and the amount of stores, unless one unpacks 

 the whole hive. 



In the fall, this trouble might be avoided 

 by using the sui^er-cover, at the top and 

 bottom of the inner hive before standing it 

 on end. Then the bees could be left un- 

 ])acked until cold weather. Just prior to 

 this the inner hive could be lifted out, stood 

 up in its former position, and the frames ex- 

 amined. 



It should be noted that the entrance pas- 



