1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



563 



tion with the top fastened with either wax 

 or wedges, and the bottom fastened by a di- 

 vided bar or wax, might prove more satisfac- 

 tory than what has been used. 



Another way out of the difficulty would be 

 to make our splints of some smooth hard- 

 surfaced stems of grass or other vegetable 

 growth that the bees would not be as likely 

 to gnaw as they would a sawed splint. 

 Broom-corn has been suggested for this pur- 

 pose. The Japanese use in their matting 

 and other manufactures a variety of grasses 

 or stems that might prove to be just what 

 we want if they can be readily procured. 

 taThis article may not seem to you very sat- 

 isfactory or conclusive. I have tried to make 

 it suggestive. I feel sure that we need some- 



WINTER CASES IN THE FAR NORTH. 



How Bees are Wintered Year after Year 

 Without Loss in a Locality where they 

 are Confined to the Hives Near- 

 ly Five Months. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



At the extreme northern end of the south- 

 ern peninsula of Michigan, at East Jordan, 

 lives one of the most cat ef ul and successful 

 of bee-keepers — one who has won renown 

 for beginning with but one colony, when he 

 was but fifteen or sixteen years old, and, by 

 painstaking care and successful wintering, 

 increasing this one colony in six years to one 



Z^/A-'^SO'^ 



52" 



FIG. 1.— BARTLETT'S WINTER CASE FOR HOLDING FOUR TEN-FRAME COLONIES 



thing better than the plan of horizontal wir- 

 ing. The splint method seems to be the 

 most satisfactory substitute, but it is not with- 

 out its drawbacks. How can we best im- 

 prove it? 



I have not tried the plan of using a splint 

 only two inches or so long, using them only 

 in the upper part of the sheet of foundation; 

 but this would undoubtedly prevent much of 

 the trouble, while securing most of the ad- 

 vantages of the full-length splint. 



I used, along with the full-length splints, 

 quite a number that were somewhat shorter, 

 having been broken; and I do not think I 

 have ever seen such a splint gnawed. 



Grand Junction, Col. 



hundred colonies without the loss of a single 

 one during any of the winters; and, besides 

 all this, harvesting an average of 100 lbs. of 

 honey per colony each year. Mr. Ira D. 

 Bartlett, of whom I write, insists upon hav- 

 ing good strong colonies in the fall, for he 

 winters out of doors in hives packed warmly 

 in planer-shavings and sawdust. 



The orthodox method of wintering bees in 

 this northern part of the country is in a cel- 

 lar, in trenches dug in the sand, etc. I pro- 

 pose is this article to tell something of the 

 methods of wintering bees in packing-cases 

 out of doors. The various bee-keepers fol- 

 lowing this plan, including Mr. Bartlett, Mr. 

 Floyd Palmer, of Paris, Mich., and Mr. A. H. 



