Febriary, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



85 



t 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



tlition both as to stores and bees. This 

 season they arc packed in the brood-cham- 

 ber with an eight-inch chaff tray on top, 



r 



Another view of the Olsen hives. 



covered with tarred paper. I like that way 

 better than the double tier as shown in the 

 picture. Prepared that way I hardly ever 

 lose a colony. This fall I am trying a few 

 packed by the Demuth plan, as that appeals 

 to me as being the ideal way of fixing them 

 for winter. 



J make my own hives and frames, and can 

 say that no factory-made hives excel them 

 for durability, neatness, and fit. They are 

 interchangeable in every part. I believe I 

 have the best cover that can be made, ex- 

 cept the metal cover, for this trying climate. 

 ^t was only after several attempts that I 

 succeeded in making these good covers. A 



rim 2 inches deep was made, and then tak- 

 ing boards 6 inches wide I beveled them on 

 the outer edges and nailed these boards so 

 beveled on to the rim. This left 4 inches 

 between the two boards of the cover. This 

 four-inch space I filled at each end with a 

 block 4 inches long, and covered the length- 

 wise open space with a board 5% inches 

 wide, double-beveled on top. This plan gives 

 the top of the cover a slanting-roof effect 

 tliat sheds rain well and quickly. The covers 

 so made 25 years ago, out of good lumber, 

 are nearly as good as when first made, while 

 all other kinds (except a few metal covers) 

 went to pieces and were gone years ago. 

 Hooper, Utah. Sophus Olsen. 



WINTER-ENTRANCE QUESTION 



Small Entrance Good, but Should be Level with 

 Bottom-board 



OLsen's worlishop and high board fence in back- 

 ground. 



In reading November Gleanings I was 

 very much impressed with the perforated- 

 entrance-bloek plan. No doubt the fewer 

 holes you have the better; but that part of 

 it depends largely upon the locality. In 

 my section, which is along the eastern 

 shore of Virginia, I should not like to use a 

 very small entrance, on account of such 

 damp atmosphere prevailing here. I have 

 lost colonies in the winter because of too 

 small entrances, these not allowing enough 

 room for the damp air to get out. 



Speaking of the holes, I am bound to 

 acknowledge the fact that they are all 

 right; but why consider only the escape of 

 warm air, and not also the poor working 

 force of bees that is detailed to drag out 

 the dead bees. It looks like a man 's jump- 

 ing on a fence and then reaching down and 

 grasping hold of whatever he can get on the 

 other side. Why not cut pieces out of the 

 block % X % and then allow the block to 

 rest on the bottom-board? By doing so 

 you still have the holes, and all the bees 

 have to do is to drag the dead ones right 

 out without having to raise them up while 

 standing on their heads? M. L. Jones. 



U. S. S. Delaware. 



[If the entrances were too small to allow 

 damp air to get out, they would doubtless be 

 small enough to prevent damp air from 

 entering; and Dr. Phillips claims that if 

 bees are wintered in the way he advises 

 there will be no necessity for planning a 

 wa}^ to get damp air out of the hive, for 

 there will be none in. 



Dead bees that collect on the bottom- 

 board would be more apt to clog the en- 

 trance if the entrance were on a level with 

 the floor. If it is true that with these 

 small entrances the colony will not allow 

 dead bees to accumulate, of course this ob- 

 jection would not hold. We are trying 

 some both ways here at Medina. — Editor.] 



