18 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



James Woodzell, Webster Springs, W. Va., and his apiary of 38 colonies. Tlie shade-boards are the covers 



of winter cases made from coffee-boxes. 



was eight inches in height and two inches 

 broad in the stroke. 



HOW THE LETTERS WERE ARRANGED. 



First of all, I made frames one inch 

 wide out of quarter-inch stuff, similar to 

 brood frames. I then obtained some bare 

 half - inch well - seasoned boards, screwed 

 them together, and cut them to fit the 

 frames. They were then handed over to a 

 man having a fret-saw, to cut out the let- 

 ters right through the two boards. Each 

 frame afforded space for two letters. The 

 boards were next taken apart, and a sheet 

 of foundation laid between the two boards, 

 and the latter screwed together again. Now, 

 the only places within the frames the bees 

 could build when they were in place was 

 where the letters were cut out on each side 

 of the boards. 



HOW TO GET THE LETTERS BUILT OUT QUICKLY 



The quicker the letters are built, the bet- 

 ter appearance they will have. For this 

 purpose, choose extra strong two or three 

 story colonies, and see that the queen is 

 confined to the brood-chamber with an ex- 

 cluder above the frames. Place a couple of 

 frames of lettering in the center of the top 

 box immediately above the brood-chamber, 

 with one frame of comb between, and re- 

 move them directly. The comb in the let- 

 ters are capped over. The lettering should 

 be done when the honey-flow is fully on. 

 My first attempt was made over thirty 

 years ago. 



Auckland, N. Z., Sept. 16. 



WINTER CASES MADE OF COFFEE-BOXES 



BY JAMES WOODZELL 



The i^icture shows a corner of my apiary 

 of 38 colonies, all of which are in eight- 

 frame dovetailed hives. Grapevines on 

 three sides, and a wood-house and dairy on 

 the other side, give considerable protection 

 from cold winds. 



I winter my bees on their summer stands. 

 I take coffee-boxes, such as are used for 

 Lion's or Arbuckle's 100-lb. packages, and 

 cut off the bottoms and tops. Then I cut 

 out three inches from the bottom of one 

 end and nail the piece back in such a way 

 as to make a shelf over the entrance. I 

 set this prepared box over the hive, and 

 thus have about three inches of space on 

 all sides, and nearly as much over the top, 

 Avhich I fill with hay. The tops and bottoms 

 of the boxes make the covers, Avhieh are 

 used in the summer for shade-boards as 

 shown in the engraving. I nail four pieces 

 of narrow boards together, making a frame- 

 work on which are nailed the- top-boards of 

 the coffee-box. Then I cover the whole 

 thing with cheap felt roofing. These covers 

 telescope over the winter cases. By using 

 these cases I have had very little winter 

 loss. 



My hive-stands are made by nailing ten- 

 inch legs on a square framework made of 

 four narrow boards, and covering this with 

 one-inch boards for a top. 



