1908 



GLEAN IN(^,S IN BEE CULTURE. 



L^81 



in ail eight-frame body. The combs are mostly 

 sealed when we extract, and very heavy. We 

 cut down to the frame in uncappinjj, thus secur- 

 ing a large amount of wax and leaving the combs 

 in nice shape for future use. We have always a set 

 of empty or partially filled combs next to the 

 brood-chamber to catch the green honey, and 

 thus avoid getting any of it into the extractor. 

 This new way of getting rid of the cappings I 

 consider a great improvement and one that will 

 come into use rapidly. 



Bridgeport, Wis., Aug. 19. 



[It may be well to state that both Mr. Lathrop 

 and the editors of Gleanings were working on 

 this plan independently until the above article 

 was received in August, showing that Mr. La- 

 throp had arrived at practically the same conclu- 

 sions in regard to the plan. 



Mr. Lathrop and Mr. Fowls soon saw the im- 

 portance of allowing the honey and wax to escape 

 as soon as possible in order to increase the capac- 

 ity of the can, and to prevent any danger of in- 

 juring the honey. — Ed.] 



OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



Holes Cut Through the Combs to Per- 

 mit an Easier Passage from one Par 

 of a Hive to Another. 



BY C. O. FLUHARTV. 



My bees are all in regular ten-frame hives, 

 well filled with solid slabs of honey, sufficient to 

 winter three ordinary hives of bees. However, 

 in years past, colonies died just the same, and I 

 was surprised to find the mortality greatest in the 

 hives that contained the most food. I decided 

 that this was due to the fact that, when once 

 these solid masses of honey became cold, the bees 

 were unable to generate heat sufficient to rewarm 

 them. Then with the appearance of a sunny 

 day dozens of bees would leave the cluster and 

 roam about over the surface of these combs. As 

 night approached and the air became cooler these 

 bees once more drew toward the cluster for 

 warmth; but each time this would occur, num- 

 bers of stragglers would become isolated from 

 the main cluster and collect together in the form 

 of compact little knots on the surface of the out- 

 side combs, where they slowly chilled to death. 

 In this way I found by actual observation that 

 strong hives of bees positively dwindled down to 

 a mere handful, and, with a sudden fall of the 

 temperature, they would succumb. I was not 

 prepared to cellar my bees, so I tried the tarred- 

 paper plan and found it all right, except that 

 there was too much labor and expense connected 

 with it; so I started experimenting, with the re- 

 sult that I no longer lose any colonies here in my 

 home yard from the rigor of winter, and it is 

 pretty cool here too (17 degrees below zero last 

 winter four nights in succession). 



Here is just the plan I have hit upon, and the 

 one I mean to follow until somebody shows me 

 that I am wrong: Late in October, after all the 

 honey-flow is past and Jack Frost has cut down 

 all the flowers, I go into my yard armed with 

 only a large pail and a long slender-bladed knife 

 (the type generally known as a "physician's 



knife " is best). 1 have the knife whetted to a 

 razor edge. As it is late in the evening I experi- 

 ence no trouble from robbers, so I at once pro- 

 ceed to open the first hive I come to. This done 

 1 remove the frames in the center of the hive one 

 by one, and, after shaking the bees off very close 

 to the entrance of the hive, 1 place the comb 

 firmly against some very solid object and begin 

 by cutting out a circular piece of the honey 1 !4 

 inches in diameter, directly in the center of each 

 comb, replacing each comb as soon as the hole 

 has been made through it, and putting the circu- 

 lar chunks of honey in the pail. Having cut this 

 opening through eight of the frames of honey 

 and brood (always leaving the two outside ones 

 intact) I close the' hive and proceed to the next 

 one. 



The bees clustering in a hive are compelled to 

 keep each frame of honey warmed to a certain 

 point all of the time or there will be grave danger 

 of the entire hive perishing, it being very similar 

 to a person lying down to sleep upon a block of 

 ice with another block over him. Once the hon- 

 ey becomes chilled through, most of the heat 

 communicated from the bees passes back and 

 forth over or under the frames, especially over 

 them; consequently I think you will agree with 

 me that a hole through each of the central frames 

 is what is needed to remedy this, and concen- 

 trate the warmth of the hive. 



TYPE Of UNift UStB 



Since adopting this method of preparing for 

 winter I have not lost a single hive of bees. Two 

 years ago I tried this plan at the home yard on 

 eight hives that were not so well stocked with 

 bees as they should have been, and, to my sur- 

 prise, they came out in better condition than the 

 ones that were stronger in bees in the fall. Last 

 winter I tried the same plan with 35 colonies, 

 with no loss whatever, and this winter I mean to 

 prepare all the colonies in my home yard in this 

 way, as I have full faith in its merits. However, 



