JANUARY 15, 1913 



55 



but in our long experience of years we have 

 found tliat tlie majority of Goldens are 

 below " par " on these two points. — Ed.] 



THE COMBINED SUMMER AND WINTER SHED 

 A NUISANCE 



BY G. C. GREINER 



The general tone of Mr. List's article 

 with its illustrations, page 766, Dec. 1, sug- 

 gests beekeeping after the old-fashioned 

 let-alone plan. For that kind of manage- 

 ment, liis combination summer and winter 

 sheds, or stands, as Mr. L. calls them, offer 

 some advantages, although 1 should prefer 

 a finer material, such as oats, wheat, or 

 clover chaff for packing instead of straw. 

 Hut for the beekeeper who aims to get from 

 iiis bees " all there is in 'em " by practicing 

 up-to-date methods, such a thing as " sum- 

 mer and winter stand combined " does not 

 exist unless we apply that term to the prop- 

 erly constructed chaff' liives as they are list- 

 ed by our regular bee-supply establish- 

 ments. And even these are not as readily 

 accessible and easily managed as a single- 

 walled liive. 



The only way that will allow the easy, 

 convenient, and time-saving manipulations 

 of a season's campaign, is to have hives 

 spread over the ground, on separate stands, 

 with about two feet space between. Does 

 Mr. List imagine the time and work it takes 

 to remove the sheds and spread the hives in 

 the spring, and then move them together 

 again in the fall for winter packing is lost 

 labor? If he will follow up the season's 

 innumerable maniijulations that are un- 

 avoidable with modern beekeeping, such as 

 examining in the spring, feeding, equaliz- 

 ing and spreading brood where necessary, 

 artificial increase, and " shook " swarming, 

 dequeening and requeening, adjusting and 

 readjusting of supers, then a little later the 

 extracting work, and, still later, removing 

 the last supers, feeding for winter, and 

 uniting where necessary, and many others 

 that may unexpectedly loom up in the rou- 

 tine of the season, he will see at once that 

 the time saved by having hives conveniently 

 l)laeed will do that little extra work he con- 

 siders " unnecessary " a dozen times. 



To the experienced beekeeper the disad- 

 vantages of ci'owding bees into close quar- 

 ters, as shown by Mr. L.'s illustrations, are 

 too well known to need any comment. But 

 I would caution beginners and prospective 

 beekeepers never — no, nev.er, if it can be 

 avoided, to plan aiTangements of this kind. 

 It is bad enough to fight the ill-tempered 

 individuals of one colony ; but when six are 



aroused every time one hive is touched, the 

 overdose becomes (to express it mildly) an 

 annoyance. Indiv-idually I am laractically 

 iimnune to bee-stings, although I do not 

 enjoy them; but to the great majority of 

 the human family they are an undesirable 

 donation. For the good of all concerned, 

 bees included, all unnecessary aggravation 

 should be avoided. 



In the sheltered position behind the rais- 

 ed roof of his stand Mr. L. may not notice 

 the disturbance he causes to all the inmates 

 of the stand whenever he maniijulates either 

 one of the six; but I can assure him that 

 the least jar, even the opening of his roof, 

 is felt by every bee in the lot; and under 

 certain conditions it would be sufficient 

 cause to put the whole comjDany on the 

 war-path. 



A slight change in the cons'.ruction of 

 his cases, which would greatly improve their 

 ettlciency as a winter pi'otection, and at the 

 same time preserve both cases and hives, 

 niay be an acceptable suggestion to Mr. 

 List; or if not to him to some one else. 

 The opening below the hinged front all 

 along the bottom should be closed by letting 

 the front — in fact, all sides and ends — pass 

 down below the floor. This would shut out 

 water, and keep the snow from blowing in. 

 As it is, a heavy drifting rain from the 

 right direction would saturate the whole 

 under part of the cases and their contents 

 full of water, which a sudden freeze would 

 transform into ice. Snow also is liable to 

 drift in around the straw, which straw 

 would, under certain changes of tempera- 

 ture, undergo the same transformation, and 

 surround his liives with an icy inclosure. 

 While these conditions may not be absolute- 

 ly destructive, they are in no way conducive 

 to the welfare of the bees. 

 La Salle, N. Y. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AND SURROUNDING 

 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED 



Windbreaks for Winter Protection; Too Much Shel- 

 ter Allows the Bees to Come Out when 

 the Air is too Cold 



BY A. J. HALTER 



I note with interest what Mr. Holter- 

 mann says on p. 776, Dee. 1, with refer- 

 ence to tight board fences for windbreaks. 

 Probably liis location is more adaptable, 

 owing to climatic conditions. I can not 

 argue from his standiJoint, and will only 

 relate my own experience, based on condi- 

 liors in this locality, a distance of 40 miles 

 south of Lake Erie. 



When I first began wintering bees with 



