G9(J 



GLEANINGS IN liEE CULTUllE. 



Oct, 



of thetiiiie our hives contain honey oi' such chai-ac- 

 ter that, after the bees have subsisted upon it for 

 live or six months in that temperature, they will 

 come out in spring- in very unsatisfactory condition. 

 However, I think that this is not always the case 

 in all localities; but T think, as a rule, that if we so 

 work our colonies during- summer and autumn, that 

 at the close of the harvest the hives contain but 

 little natural stores, and then feeil syrup on top of 

 that, then if we carefully maintain the specified 

 temperature, we arc quite certain of success. T be- 

 lieve this, and shall g-ive it careful and compre- 

 hensive tests during- the coming winter. I hope 

 to adopt that system in the futui-e. 



When we adopt the outdoor-packing- system, we 

 take more or less chances regarding- temperature. 

 I have practiced the following- plan of protection, 

 and it answers well during- our open or moderate 

 winters; but during- the one just past it proved to 

 be inadeijuate for this latitude. 



First prepare youi- hives and combs to suit you; 

 then adjust one of our eases or supers on the hive 

 (with cloth between), and filled witli any good non- 

 conducting- material, witli the lii\-'-(-i)\ ( i- uii the 

 ease or super. 



Hy referring to the above cut I will now describe 

 our simple and cheap method of packing. A shows 

 the end of the permanent bottom-board of the hive: 

 F, the stand the hive sits on; D, the case as filled, 

 as above described; H, our summer shade-board; I, 

 the winter bridge, composed of four pieces, 1 piece 

 ll'o inches long (the inside width of the hive), by :JX 

 ■-8, and the others ll!iX4X',,, and the side-pieces 

 each '2X:'sX!t. Now let us proceed to push this 

 bridge into its i)osition, the points into the entrance, 

 the piece marked I, outside for an alighting-board, 

 and the other piece, forming the bridge, to keep the 

 packing- out of the bees' viassage-way. <iisai-im 

 made out of rough lumber, being (!,«, or 10 inches 

 larger, inside measure, than the hive is outside 

 measure, thus giving- !!, 4, or ."> inches of space on all 

 sides, to fill with jiacking, sawdust preferred by me, 

 and sawdust fresh from green logs does well, and 

 soon dries out. You will see by the engraving ihat 

 the sides and back end are widei- than the fi-ont, 

 and they may be enough wider to come down to the 

 ground, or no further than shown in the engraving, 

 as may be i)referred. The hive being ten inches 

 deep, the front end of our rim is rejiresented as be- 

 ing about \;i inches, and the sides and back pieces 



about sixteen inches wide; any old "cull" lumber 

 will do for this rim. When we use them as shown 

 in the engraving, we fill in the dust till it banks up, 

 on the ground, and thus stops running down, and 

 soon fills up. We press it snugly, and fill up to the 

 top of the rim, and the dotted line shown about 

 two-thirds of the way up the case, this line being 

 about two inches higher than the top of the rim. 

 In a windy situation I would advise having the rim 

 made wide enough to come to the ground at sides 

 and back end; here we do not need it, as we have 

 but little wind within our eight-feet board fence, 

 and sawdust is plentiful. Straw, chaff, or leaves, 

 or almost any thing, can be used to pack with. 

 Now adjust the shade-board H, as shown in the en- 

 graving, to keep the snow and rain from the pack- 

 ing. This boai'd is ~x;i feet, and any moisture that 

 drives into the top of the sawdust will dry out be- 

 fore it gets one inch deej); no dampness will arise 

 two inches above the ground. 1 place a 15-lb. stone 

 on the board to hold it in position. 



Now, ir this rim came down to the ground, and 

 were high enough to come up to the shade-board 

 M, and no \ipper case or packing were used, the 

 lii\-i-c(n('r resting tightly on the hive, allowing no 

 upward ventilation or absorption, you would have 

 your colonies protected in the same manner as 

 wci-c Di-s. Southard's and Han ney's 125 colonies at 

 Kalamazoo, Mich., dui-ing the past winter, and 

 their success was perfect, lam becoming of the 

 opinion, that our upper absorbents are usually use- 

 less, and oft times v,-orse. 



The two experienced honoN-produccrs just rel'or- 

 red to believe this and work accordingly, and their 

 success testifies in favor of their claims. There is 

 much more that might well be said, but this article 

 is long- enough. I might simply a<'d, that I can not 

 tolerate heavy ciunbersome hives for summer. 



Dowagiac, Mich.. Oct. 5, 1885. .lAMiiS Hkddo.v. 



Friend 11.. I feel pretty sure tliat bees will 

 winter all right, prepared as you direct 

 ttbove, but 1 should be a little "backward 

 about being .'io rcnj pasllire. as you seem to 

 be. I do not know that there is any thing 

 in the arrangement that 1 should object to, 

 except the untidiness of such outside shells, 

 made of rough cull boards. The ventilation 

 you secure by making the case G not up to 

 the top. is, Ibelieve. an excellent idea, and 

 your large shade-board il is also a good thing, 

 without doubt ; the same with your lo-lb. 

 stone, only I am afraid I coiUd n()t tolerate 

 the looks of the thing, as 1 have said before. 

 If there is any tiling 1 do dislike to see in 

 l)assing somebody's home, it is barrels sit- 

 ting around the yard, with ashes or some- 

 tlii'iigelse in tliein, a great awkward board on 

 the t(ij), and then a big stone to keep the 

 wind from blowing it off. May be it is one 

 of my notions, but it alwaj's makes me 

 homesick, and I want to look fother way, to 

 find some pleasanter subject for contempla- 

 tion. 1 like to see substantial, permanent 

 structures, and then liave them painted. 

 \o d()iil)t it is only a notion of mine, but 

 still I do like a chii'ff hive just on that ac- 

 cotuit. 15ut I suppose these same chaff 

 hives are just what your concluding sen- 

 tence is drifting at. One thing more, and 

 I close : If 1 am correct, you woidd do your 

 feeding between October 1st and loth". It 

 seems to me that I should prefer to do it a 



