NOVEMBRR 1, 1915 



901 



MAKING AN AIR-TIGHT FENCE 



I'.V XOAH BORDNER 



./■ 



-i-.S 



In the view of my 

 apiary of 84 colonies, 

 notice the windbreak. 

 This is made by bolt- 

 inj; a strip 1x3 inches 

 on each side of llie 

 fence-post with a 

 block 3 inches square 

 and 1^1 inches thick, 

 between the strip and 

 )iost at the top and 

 bottom end of the 

 strip. By doin.c: this 

 T can slide all the 

 boards in these slots 

 in the winter without 

 using a nail, and take 

 them out in the sum- 

 mer to give all the 

 air possible in the 



apiary. I used posts 5 inches thick, so it 

 requires two bolts V2 x 10 inches to each 



kf^J..i-«*8'- ^. 



^,T'rm-rmf~nTBr»-r3B^z 



The windbreak fence can be seen in the background. 



post to reach through strips, blocks, and 

 post. 

 Holaate. Ohio. 



WINTER CASES -AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. E. F. PHILLIPS 



P.Y L. A. P. STONE 



A fcAv months ago the members of the 

 beekeeping fraternity were invited by Dr. 

 Phillips, in Charge of Apiculture in the 

 I'nited States Bureau of Entomology, to call 

 on him at his experimental station. Mind- 

 ful of tliis invitation, while in Washington 

 some time ago I decided to pay him a visit, 

 and was more than amply repaid in doing 

 so. 



I began the con\'ersation. by asking his 

 advice on what I consider the gi'eatest 

 problem to northern beekeepers, the prob- 

 lem of wintering. "What is best and in the 

 long run, the cheapest wintering-case for 

 };)rotecting bees in the climate of Ontario?" 



" I think that the quadruple wintering- 

 case, such as is used by Mr. Holtermann, i.? 

 best, except tl1.1t it may be well to make the 

 case high enough to winter the bees in two- 

 stories. My reason for the two-story idea 

 is that, during our study of the question, I 

 have come to the conclusion that it is far 

 safer. 



" Tf colonies are weak in going into win- 

 ter quarters they are not an asset in any 

 kind of case; while an ordinary strong 

 colony, if wiiitered in two stories, well 

 packed in a <]iiadruple case, will build up 



stronger and steadier iu' the spring with 

 two stories than with one." 



The two-story idea was not entirely new 

 to me; but still I had never had so able an 

 authority as Dr. Phillips recommend it be- 

 fore, and I feel that it must, therefore, be 

 well worth trying. I believe Mr. 0. L. 

 Hershiser told me lliat he had tried it with 

 one or two exceptionally strong colonies, 

 and was quite astonished at the splendid 

 way the bees came through the winter. He 

 seemed rather cautious in recommending it 

 universally as was Dr. Phillips. 



Another interesting point discussed in 

 our conversation was one which Gleanings 

 has discussed — degree of temperature at 

 which bees winter best in their cluster. 



" The temperature should be about 57 

 degrees I'ahrenheit : and the better this tem- 

 perature can be kept by the bees, the belter 

 the wintering; because, above this point, 

 bees tend to brood-rearing, wliile below it 

 tlie bees are forced to exercise to keep 

 warm. Bees have little recuperative power, 

 as do human beings, so this extra exercise 

 only shortens (heir period of life. From my 

 ohsen'ation the quadruple wintering-case is 

 best for maintaining this temperature, and 



