November, 1916. 



385 



American Hee Journal 



rows facing east and west, with just 

 room for the winter cases between the 

 rows. The stand consisting of 10 inch 

 boards is leveled and the floor placed 

 on it. Four hives are lifted back from 

 the summer stands onto this, being 

 placed in the center back to back and 

 side to side. The sides of the case are 

 then set up, after the entrance bridges 

 are adjusted, and packing material 

 filled in even with the tops of the hives. 

 The summer covers are removed and a 

 feeder board placed on each hive. This 

 feeder board consists of a honev-board 

 with a number of 2>^-inch holes bored 

 in it— usually about four. Feeding is 

 done by placing the syrup in 10 pound 

 friction-top honey pails, with a number 

 of small holes punched in the lid. 

 These are inverted over the holes in 

 the feeder boards, and. of course, the 

 pressure of the atmosphere prevents 

 any drip, provided the lid is sealed 

 properly. The bees do the rest. 

 One great advantage for this style of 



Summer Covers are Removed and a 

 Feeder Board Placed on Each hive 



feeder is that it places the feed as near 

 as possible to the cluster, allowing the 

 bees to take it without breaking clus- 

 ter at all, as is necessary in almost any 

 other style of feeder. If the nights are 

 cool when the feeding is done, packing 

 material is placed around the pails to 

 keep the cluster heat from escaping 

 through the thin feeder board. It is 

 better to have the feed cold when it is 

 put on, as there is more danger of 

 leaking with warm syrup, and the bees 

 take the cold syrup quite rapidly. At 

 present prices of tin, these feeders are 

 rather expensive, but if handled care- 

 fully they last quite a number of years. 

 This method of feeding is followed by 

 a number of our leading beekeepers, 

 and is becoming more popular every 

 year. 



After the feeder pails are taken off, 

 cloths cut from outer sugar sacks are 

 spread over the feeder boards, several 

 thicknesses of newspaper over that and 

 the packing material is filled in over 

 all. Sometimes the upper packing is 

 held loosely in sacks for convenience 

 in examining colonies early in spring 

 before they are unpacked. 



This method of outdoor wintering I 

 have found very satisfactory and have 

 continued to practice it. I do not wrigh 

 my hives before packing them, but aim 

 to get them in the cases as soon as pos- 

 sible after the supers are taken off 

 early in September. As soon as the 

 colonies in one yard are packed, the 

 feed is put on, usually three or four 

 pails to the hive By the time the feed 

 is taken down, another apiary is packed 

 and ready for the pails. Colonies that 

 were heavy in stores will not have taken 

 all of their feed. This is collected and 

 given to colonies that are being fed 

 later. If a fall flow causes brood rear- 

 ing in September, feeding is delayed. 

 Only best granulated sugar is used in 

 preparing feed. Loss from granulated 

 stores is too serious a matter to take 

 any chance on feeding honey, or to 

 leave rven the heaviest hives without 

 giving them the opportunity of taking 

 some sugar syrup. 





>,-^' ^ . r '* *^ 



#^.S'?i.:. 





-i^^^v 



rifft-BK.' 



I find it ad.isable to have each apiary 

 well sheltered by natural or artificial 

 wind screens. The bees winter much 

 better, and it is pleasanter working in 

 the apiary during the windy days, which 

 we often have in the late spring and 

 early fall. Where one has many colo- 

 nies, the work must go on from day to 

 day whether things are exactly favor- 

 able or not. 



We clipped queens in the apiary 

 shown in the illustration, last spring 

 when the wind was blowing cold out- 

 side, and could not detect any ill re- 

 sults from loss of brood or queens. 



It is important that an apiary so shel- 

 tered be provided with shade, or that 

 the wiridbreak be taken down in the 

 summer, if one would avoid excessive 

 swarming. 



Another method of cellar wintering 

 which I tried with an apiary of about 

 80 colonies of bees may be described 

 as follows : 



The cellar was deep and large, and 

 had been blasted out ot a rocky hill- 

 side. The owner had his dwelling over 

 it, and used a part of it for other pur- 

 poses. Within the cellar a small com- 



SIDES AND ENDS ARE SET UP AND PACKING MATERIAL PLACED IN 



Collapsible Quadruple Case-. Contain 



iNG Four Colonies Fixed for the 



Long Winter 



partment was built, boarded up walls 

 and ceiling, and covered with building 

 paper on the sides. On the ceiling he 

 spread sawdust to hold the warmth, 

 and cracks were left in the boards of 

 the ceiling to allow for upward venti- 

 lation. 



In this cellar within a cellar, the 

 hives were stored away, piled one on 

 top of the other as usual, completely 

 filling the room they occupied, with the 

 exception of narrow aisles just wide 

 enough for one to pass between the 

 piles of hives. In this cellar so com- 

 pletely insulated from outdoor condi- 

 tions, the bees wintered perfectly. Ven- 

 tilation was given by opening the outer 

 cellar door, the inner cellar bein^ 

 always left closed. They came out in 

 splendid condition in .^pril. 



There are a great variety of outdoor 

 packing cases and devices for feeding 

 used. There are many variations of 



