October, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



591 



4. If there ever was a winter tliat eiii- 

 jihasized and proved the iniportam-e of pack- 

 ing, antl a lot of it, it was hist winter. If 

 I could take some of these no-packing fel- 

 lows, or those who believe in limited juick- 

 ing, with me over the trips where I have 

 gone during the last two or three months, I 

 think I could convince them that they are 

 making a bad mistake by persisting in the 

 policy of wintering or trying to winter with 

 limited packing. Wrapjiing hives in pa])er 

 is little better than nothing. But, fortunate- 

 ly, many of these no-jiacking or limited-[)ack- 

 ing chaps do not need to be shown, for they 

 have already been "shown." They lost 

 anywhere from SO to 95 per cent of their 

 colonies last winter. 



Granted that some packing is necessary, 

 how much must wo have? I am convinced 



large amount of packing — not less than 6 

 inches at the sides and ends, 4 at tlie bottom, 

 and 10 at the top. While that amount seems 

 to be excessive, it costs but little more to 

 make a case large enough to give the neces- 

 sary amount of packing. 



A good many of our best beekeepers think 

 that bottom packing is not only unnecessary 

 but expensive. It is decidedly so, says Dr. 

 Phillips, with the ordinary kind of winter 

 entrance. But when the entrance is reduced 

 to a single round %-inch hole during the 

 coldest i^art of the winter, bottom packing 

 is a necessity, says Dr. Phillips. I shall re- 

 fer to entrances later. 



Ira D. Bartlett of East Jordan, one of the 

 best beekeepers in Michigan, was one of the 

 first, if not the lirst, extensive honey-produc- 

 er to use four-hive packing cases, now rec- 



Fi?. 6. — This is another outyard belonging to R. F. Holtermaun, as mentioned in Fig. 1. Figs. 6 and 7 

 show thci form of windbreak adopted by Mr. Holtermann. The fence is 12 feet liigh, and the boards are not 

 nailed close together. Both figures show that tlie skyscraper is not a rare bird. If these 12-frame hives 

 could be converted into 8-frame hives, they would need a prop to keep them from tipping over. It pays 

 to have windbreaks, says Mr. Holtermann; and the proof of the statement is here shown. 



that A. I. Eoot, away back in the late 70 's 

 and early 80 's, was pretty nearly right when 

 he constructed his old two-story chaff hive 

 that provided for 5 inches of packing on the 

 sides, 10 inches on the top, and 2 on the 

 bottom. Indeed, Dr. E. F. Phillips told the 

 beekeepers at the Ohio field meet that A. I. 

 Eoot, who was then sitting before him, had 

 built the best winter hive that was ever 

 made. Then he went on to state that in 

 later years the mistake was made of pro- 

 viding improved (?) hives with less pack- 

 ing, w-ith the result that they had taken an 

 enormous toll of the bee j of the country. 



Under Dr. Phillips' directions a series of 

 experiments have been conducted at the 

 Government apiary showing the value of a 



ommended by the Government bee experts. 

 In this issue there is shown (See Fig. 9) an 

 illustration of some of the original Bartlett 

 hives made over 25 years ago, and which are 

 now coming to be irsed very generally by 

 some of our best beekeepers in the Northern 

 States for wintering. E. F. Holtermann and 

 numerous other Canadian beekeepers have 

 since adopted the same general scheme of 

 wintering. The case takes in four colonies, 

 leaving from 4 to 6 inches of packing around 

 the hives, 3 or 4 inches of packing on the 

 bottom, and 8 or 10 inches of packing on the 

 top. It is certainly cheaper to put four hives 

 in one case than four hives in four cases. 

 Moreover, when the four hives are placed to- 

 gether in contact it is neeessarv to afford 



