738 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



mortality here in the South is much greater 

 tiian at the North, where they semi-hiber- 

 nate. As a result, more or less brood-rais- 

 ing is continued all winter provided the 

 bees are furnished the necessary food. Bee- 

 keeping in this part of Florida is a rather 

 difficult problem to the beginner and to 

 most of the native people. As a result, 

 but few bees are kept in a modern way, 

 and those that are kept in "gums" and 

 box hives succumb to the moth-worms and 

 ants in due time. Fortunately Ave have 

 no foul brood now; and, notwithstanding 

 the fact that bees require feeding a long 

 time if any honey is secured, yet it will 

 pay every owner of an orange-grove to 

 keep a few colonies of bees, and properly 

 care for them, in order to secure the per- 

 fect pollination and fertilization of his 

 bloom. The added increase of fruit will 

 more than pay for all the sugar, time, and 

 trouble expended. 

 Auburndale, Fin. 



A WINTER CASE FOR ONE COLONY, WHICH 

 MAY BE TAKEN APART 



BY H. FISBECK 



^^^^^^^ 



Having read the different methods for 

 packing bees for winter in the Sept. 1st 

 issue, 1 feel as though T should like to give 

 my method in the past and for the future. 

 After taking out the two outside frames 

 of honey I see that the remaining eight L. 



frames contain 

 at least 25' 

 p u n d s. The 

 empty spaces 

 are filled with 

 pads of newspa- 

 pers (the outside 

 sheet being a 

 sheet of oiled 

 c raft paper) 

 tightly scjueezed 

 in. These jads rest on small sticks on the 

 bottom-board, allowing any water that might 

 accumulate to run under. A %-inch board, 

 the same dimensions as the inside of the 

 hive, separates the paper from the combs. 

 A tin spacer is nailed on the bottom of 

 each end of the boards to keep them 

 straight in the ^ 

 hive. I then put 

 on a bee-escape 

 boar d, leaving 

 out the Porter 

 bee-escape for 

 upward ventila- 

 t i n. When 

 brood - rearing 



SIDE PANEL 



starts I close up this hole. Closing up this 

 hole in spring, I believe, is a means of sup- 

 plying bees with Avater, for it condenses 

 more readily in a sealed hive. 



I then place over 

 the hive the winter 

 case, of which I en- 

 close the plans. The 

 case is first bolted 

 (not tight) and set 

 down o\er the hive. 

 The pajjer pads like 

 those described be- 

 fore are set down in between the hive and 

 case. The reason I like these pads is be- 

 cause, when spring arrives, there is not a 

 muss made in taking out the packing. Any 

 Avay, I am a firm believer in paper for 

 keeping in the heat. On top of the cover 

 shavings a foot deep. I 

 I put on a cushion of 

 then put on the winter- 

 case lid which has a 

 sheet of rubberoid laid 

 on, lapping over. Then 

 a stri}) of tar paper is 

 wrapped around the 

 four sides of the case, 

 being lapped in the 

 front. The ends of the bolts are forced 

 through the paper, and the washers and 

 nuts tightened. This tightening makes the 

 packing one solid mass of paper. I then 

 push in a row of thumb-tacks around the 

 top and bottom of the tar paper. 



Th£ paper 

 pads are made 

 by f-olding an 

 ordinary news- 

 paper in half 

 and placing one 

 paper inside 

 another, etc. 

 That necessi- 

 tates maki n g 

 each inside pa- 

 per smaller than the one it is placed in. 

 They are II/2 and 1% inches thick. These 

 pads are saved for the next winter, etc. 



The principal advantage of this case is 

 its cheapness, and its being easily stored 

 away in the summer. This case is large 

 enough in this 

 latitude. M y 

 smallest colony 

 wintered p e r- 

 fectly through 

 the last very 

 severe season. 

 Colonies can 

 be easily in- 



