1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



735 



one in this locality, and increased my apiary 

 to 135 colonies, all of which are supplied 

 with stores for winter. 



The double-entrance plan is very conven- 

 ient for dividing. When the flow is about 

 two-thirds over 1 get my queen-cells ready, 

 go through the yard, and place a cell in each 

 of the bodies above the excluder, and leave 

 them until the young queen is laying. I 

 then set the upper hive on another stand 

 whenever it suits me. I generally leave my 

 colonies with the double stories and the 

 queen in each story until spring, and then 

 separate them. I am aware of tne fact that 

 some may object to an entrance at each end 

 of the hive; but down here, where the tem- 

 perature sometimes is 115 degrees Fahr., I 

 rind it better to have a current of air through 

 the hive. I sometimes close the lower en- 

 trance from one-half to two-thirds, so as to 

 lessen the lower space that the bees have to 

 guard. I like this plan so well that I expect 

 to run my whole yard this way hereafter. 



D'Hanis, Texas. 



-^^-^^..-^^ 



WINTER CASES. 



Some Improvements Over the Usual Plan 



of Arranging Them on the Hives; 



a New Hive-stand. 



BY ANDREW M. KECK. 



I use the regular dovetailed winter cases 

 with good success; but there are several 

 changes that I have made which I would like 

 to mention. I prefer a flat galvanized cov- 

 er, since it is easier to put together, and is 

 more suitable for the use of shade-boards on 

 top. Hive No. 4 in the illustration shows 

 one of my winter-cases with a home-made 

 roofing-iron cover. 



On the front and the back of an ordinary 

 single-walled hive, as shown by hive No. 5, 

 I screw a cleat as long as the winter-case is 



DETAIL OF KECK'S HIVE-STAND. 



wide, on which the case may rest, using 

 two screws in the front cleat and one in the 

 center of the back one. I cut a quarter-inch 

 notch on the upper side of each end of these 

 cleats, which will hold the edge of the win- 

 ter case. Then I lay thin boards around the 

 hive, which are supported by these two 

 cleats, as shown by hive No. 7; and when 

 the winter case is slipped down over them, 

 these thin boards form a floor for the case so 

 that the planer-shavings are prevented from 

 falling down through. This plan supports 

 the winter case well above the hive-body, so 

 that there is room for an abundance of pack- 

 ing over the "op. I use no pads or cushions, 

 but pour the chaff or packing material in 

 loose, taking care to put in all that the case 

 can possibly hold. If I should have occasion 

 to examine the colony at any time when the 

 packing-case is on, I can merely remove the 

 cover and put it on the ground, bottom side 

 up, and with both hands scoop the packing 

 off into it while I make whatever examina- 

 tion is necessary. 



I always leave the deep side of the bottom- 

 boards up; but I contract the entrance with 

 a notched stick, one of which is shown on 

 the cover of hive No. 7 in the illustration. 



When the winter case is used on divisible- 



KECK'S METHOD OP^ SUPPORTING THE DOVETAILED WINTER CASES OVER THE HIVES. 



