SEPTEMBER 1, 1912 



that are wet are wet because of iioor drain- 

 age, etc., it would seem to us that the 

 lime would be of advantage. — Ed. 



WINTERING IN SINGLE-WALLED HIVES IN 

 KANSAS 



BY ARTHUR V. SMALL 



I winter my bees out of doors in single- 

 walled hives, protected in the following 

 manner: Two frames are removed from 

 each hive. A piece of shingle, with a 

 half-inch strip under each end, is placed 

 crosswise over the frames, which provides 

 an u^Dper passageway for the bees from 

 one comb to another. A piece of oilcloth 

 is placed over this, extending nearly to the 

 bottom-board on each side of the frames. 

 The space between tliis oilcloth and the 

 side of the hives is filled with about fifty 

 thicknesses of newspaper which are sus- 

 pended from a strip similar to the top-bar 

 of a frame. The pa^Ders extend to within 

 an inch of the bottom-board. It is im- 

 portant that they do not touch the bottom- 

 board, for the moisture winch condenses 

 on the back of the hive flows over the bot- 

 tom-board to the entrance, and these papers 

 must be kei^t dry. A super filled with 

 newspapers and shavings gives protection 

 above. With this arrangement, practically 

 all of the moisture is condensed on the 

 ends of the hive where it can run off with- 

 out doing any harm. 



The Hoffman frame gives a double- 

 walled end for the upper part of the brood- 

 chamber, and the bees do not suffer seri- 

 ously in this locality from the unprotected 

 hive ends. In very cold weather, little 

 icicles will form at the entrance; but I 

 have examined the jiacking at various times 

 during the winter, and have always found 

 it dry. I have followed this method for 

 the last four years with very good results. 



TAKING THE TEMPERATURE OF THE HIVE. 



This winter I placed an 8x10 glass half 

 an inch above the frames of a ten-frame 

 hive packed as above, and beneath this 

 glass a thermometer lay on top of the 

 frames. By iJuUing aside the super pack- 

 ing, the thermometer could be read through 

 the glass. After a long cold spell in Jan- 

 uary the outside temperature dropped to 

 19 below zero. At the same time the ther- 

 mometer above the frames registered 32 

 degrees. That afternoon the outside tem- 

 perature rose to 5 below, and the hive 

 thermometer read 39. I have watched this 

 thermometer all winter, and a zero tem- 

 perature will send it down to 36 or 38 

 in the early morning, but during the day 



547 



the bees raise the temperature to 42 or 

 higher, and mov© about freely on the top- 

 bars, the entire cluster being below the 

 top-bars. On days when it is warm enough 

 for the bees to_fly, the hive thermometer 

 registers about 70. 



With this difference in temperature be- 

 tween the outside atmosphere and the air 

 above the top-bars of a hive I consider 

 top protection almost a necessity, and pro- 

 tection on the sides or ends a decided ad- 

 vantage as long as the hive can be kept 

 dry. 



A piece of six-inch board with two V- 

 shaped notches cut in the under side, leaned 

 against the front of the hive, and fast- 

 ened with a small nail, gives good protec- 

 tion from cold winds and sifting snow. 



Toioeka, Kan. 



[This is virtually double-walled winter- 

 ing. It amounts to the same thing as a 

 brood-nest covered with a good many thick- 

 nesses of paper, with this difference: The 

 l^aper is inside rather than outside of the 

 hive. Right here there may be an ad- 

 vantage. 



With regard to the question of taking 

 temjierature, see answer to Mr. Ben B. 

 Edgerton in this issue. 



The matter of upward ventilation or 

 sealed cover and ventilation only from the 

 entrance is a mooted question. For very 

 cold climates we generally consider that 

 upward ventilation plus entrance ventila- 

 tion gives better results than a sealed 

 cover and entrance ventilation only. In the 

 milder climates many prefer the last 

 named. We have had excellent results 

 with it in our locality, taking one year 

 with another. — Ed.] 



WINTERING IN A DOUBLE - STORY HIVE 

 PACKED IN LEAVES 



Importance of so Placing the Stores that They will 

 be Available to the Bees 



BY F. H. CYRENIUS 



Much has been said about the necessity 

 of using large frames to accomplish satis- 

 factory results when wintering bees out of 

 doors. It is a well-known fact to the 

 observing beekeeper that bees during very 

 cold weather do not shift their cluster from 

 side to side, but will consume all the honey 

 in the combs containing the cluster, and 

 will then starve with plenty of honey on 

 each side of them. Thousands of colonies 

 starve in this way. 



This condition could be remedied if this 

 honey at the sides were arranged directly 



