SEPTEMBER 1, 1912 



661 



Heads of Grain from Different Fields 



A Packing-case for Winter whicli Fits tlie Regular 

 Hive-cover 



Last year I used a winter case which is very 

 inexpensive, as it does away with the usual extra 

 cover and bottom-board. The box is six inches 

 larger all around at the bottom edge than the 

 hive, and tapers up to a point about a foot above 

 the hive, where it is small enough to take the 

 i-eg:ular cover. If made any shallower it comes 

 too close to the top edge of the hive and prevents 

 pouring the packing around the hive. To close 



the opening below I make a frame of six-inch 

 stuff the same size inside as the outside of the hive. 

 When ready to pack I slip the hive forward on its 

 bottom about one inch, and then slip the frame 

 down till it rests on the bottom at the front and 

 back. The packing-box rests on this frame; and 

 if the box is held in position until some of the 

 packing is poured around the hive it will not 

 move oflf its frame afterward. 



If the box is made of half-inch matched lumber 

 it will not leak; but if made of plain lumber it 

 should be covered with tar felt. 



Palermo, Ont. H. A. Smith. 



[This arrangement here shown will be satisfac- 

 tory provided a full foot of packing is used on 

 top, as shown in the drawing; otherwise there 

 would be too little top protection. — Ed.] 



An Extension Wheelbarrow in Use in the Apiary 



The illustration shows my "bee automobile," 

 which I made myself. It is long enough to hold 

 five hives. Mine is made of 2x2 oak, but I 

 believe the same size of pine would be strong 

 enough, and would be much lighter. The handles 



should be wide apart, as then it handles much 

 easier. 



For a spring I use one from a lumber wagon 

 seat. It should be a good stiff one. This is 

 very handy in putting bees in and out of the 

 cellar, as it carries them very easily. It is also 

 very handy in carrying empty supers to the yard, 

 also in returning filled supers to the shop. 



A. T. DOCKHAM. 



Eagle Bend, Minn.,- May 14. 



Sealed Covers Unsuccessful for Single-walled Hives 

 During a Cold Winter 



Colonies packed with sealed covers are winter- 

 ing disastrously. But first of all let me tell you 



how I packed them. I selected two colonies which 

 heretofore had wintered almost perfectly with 

 scarcely any mortality. They were exceedingly 

 strong in bees and brood late in the fall, as I 

 had fed them granulated-sugar syrup until late in 

 September: and when I packed them the last week 

 in September they had an abundance of sealed 

 stores and plenty of young bees, and the queens 

 (of current year's raising) were all right. I placed 

 a super cover over the brood-chamber, and over 

 this a full-depth hive-body filled with woolen rags, 

 dry leaves, sawdust, and newspaper on top of 

 all, and then the cover. Next I "ut several thick- 

 nesses of heavy cardboard around the hives and 

 fastened it securely with tacks and string. I next 

 reduced the entrance to 6 inches by %, and left 

 them with my other colonies to winter over until 

 spring. You will understand that I winter my 

 colonies out of doors on their summer stands. 



The first two weeks in January we had zero 

 weather, and one morning 11 below, with con- 

 siderable snow. When the cold had abated some- 

 wTt«4. I took a look at my colonies in order to 

 see how they stood the intense cold, and compared 

 the number of dead bees in each. I raked over a 

 quart of dead bees out of each hive one evening, 

 and the following day just about as many. At 

 that rate of mortality, they would soon have been 

 entirelv depopulated, so I immediately removed 

 the super cover, and, throwing a piece" of woolen 

 cloth over the brood-frames, I put back the supers 

 and filled them with cork chips. I then looked 

 to see how the other colonies fared, and was sur- 

 prised to see very few dead bees on the bottom- 

 boards. By means of a hooked wire I raked, on 

 an average, only about 30 or 40 bees from each 

 hive, and these were all packed with absorbents 

 over the clusters. The entrances were of the same 

 size — 6 inches by %. 



Since replacing the sealed covers of the two 

 colonies in question with absorbent packing there 

 has been practically no mortality, and therefore I 

 think that sealed covers are not a success. Theo- 

 retically it sounds very well when it is claimed tiiat 

 the moisture in the hive collects on the sides and 

 runs out of the entrance in the form of water. 

 In zero weather it does not ; and since the interior 

 of the hive is but a few degrees warmer than the 

 outside air it must necessarily collect just outside 

 of the cluster, and overhead especially, since this 

 warm moist air rises as a matter of course. It 

 can not pass through the wood, so it collects there 

 in the form of ice and frost. This icy covering 

 is not conducive to good wintering. 



I forgot to mention that these two hives were 

 soaking loct inside, and the dead bees I raked out 

 were saturated with water, and partially covered 

 with ice and frost. It is very evident that the 

 moisture from the bees congealed as fast as it 

 emanated, and that the clus- 

 ter was surely enveloped in 

 an icy covering. Of course 

 the conditions this year were 

 atiiorma! and we had zero 

 temperature for about two 

 weeks without interruption, 

 which in this localitv is a 

 rarity. I am fully convinced 

 that sealed covers in severe 

 winter localities are a fail- 

 ure, but in milder climates 

 they may be very satisfac- 

 tory. But for the best 

 results in outdoor wintering 

 nothing can compare with 

 absorbent packing. Two years ago the mortality in 

 wintering in this locality exceeded 75 per cent, 

 and one beekeeper near me lost 17 out of 18 col- 

 onies: but I had nine packed with porous packing 

 over the clu.ster and lost not a single colony. No 

 more sealed covers for me. 



THE IMPOBTANCE OF YOUNG BEES IN THE FALL. 



I have found that a colony will winter perfectly, 

 and be in the best possible shape in the spring, 

 if brood-raising is encouraged until late in the fall. 

 The hives will then be stocked with young bees, 

 vigorous and active, which are the very life and 

 backbone of the colony. My best colony. No. 2, has 

 even now, Oct. 21, six frames of brood in all stages, 

 the result of feeding about a pint of sugar syrup 



