June 21, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



389 



A New Winter-Case Arrang-ement. 



BY V. B. THOMPSON. 



SOME time ag-o I wrote that I used a hive, or rather a 

 winter-case, that I had not seen on the market, and 

 think it a complete success. For those wishing- to win- 

 ter bees on the summer stands, which is my only successful 

 way on account of dysentery, I have seen nothing- so easily 

 manipulated, simple in construction, and cheap. 



The bottom-board, which I use for both summer and 

 winter, is cut 3 or 4 inches wider and longer than the inside 

 hive-bodies, according to the width of chaff space desired. 

 The edges may be rabbeted or not, as the winter-case which 

 is made of 9-inch shiplap siding, can rest on the edge of the 

 bottom-board, but is safer in a rabbet. Then nail a frame 

 on the bottom-board for the inside hive to rest on, the thick- 

 ness of which will regulate the depth of the entrance, and 



1 — Summer Entrance. 



2 — Winter Entrani\ 



let the front ends extend out to the outside case. This 

 frame should be nailed so that there will be equal chaff 

 space all around, and be beveled off at the sides and back to 

 run the rain off in summer, as indicated in the outline 

 drawing. 



To prepare for winter, set the outside cases over the 

 hive and down in its place on the bottom-board, and then 

 lay a thin strip, as wide as the chaff space, across the en- 

 trance-frame to keep the chaff out of the entrance ; then 

 pour in the chaff, and pack tight with a stick, and put on 

 the chaff cushion and cover. 



I have said nothing about the inside hive arrangement, 

 as this case will not interfere with whatever may be de- 

 sired. I use a "4^ -inch honey-board in winter, with two 

 holes to feed thru in the spring, and a 3-inch entrance, 

 altho the entrance may be cut as large as in summer if 

 desired. 



The cover I made of tin, for the chaff must be kept dry. 

 I use the same cover in summer, but it is a little warm and 

 unhandy. 



My bees in winter were quiet and dry, and came out in 

 the spring strong and healthy, without loss. 



Wayne Co., Ind. 



My Experience as a Bee-Keeper in Tennessee. 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 



I BEGAN bee-keeping in 1886 or 1887. I first bought four 

 bee-gums, paying $5.00 apiece, taking the pick of the 

 apiary. I made my hives according to the instructions 

 of some European books advocating the Dadant plan ; only 

 I made them smaller, as I thought such would be better for 

 this country. The only American book I had was Quinby. 

 I soon after bought the " A B C of Bee-Culture " and sub- 

 scribed for Gleanings in Bee-Culture. It was a revelation 

 to me. I concluded that I would begin by following the 

 " authorities," with the exception of experimenting on a 

 small scale. Well, I did not do any good. I blamed the 

 bad seasons, the greenness of the apiarist, accidental cir- 

 cumstances, etc. Gradually I realized that I was confronted 

 by not only one but five conditions, viz.: 



1st. Considerable loss of bees in winter by coming out 

 during warm spells, and loss of brood reared during these 

 spells and chilled afterward. 



2d. Excessive swarming at the expense of surplus. 



3d. Bee-paralysis. 



4th. Long but very irregular flow, never strong. 



Sth. Poor locality, decidedly. 



There I was. However, all this did not come all at 

 once, but gradually. 



WINTKKING BHKS. 



I use chaff hives, or rather, some equivalent, only one 

 and a half or two inches of any kind of packing that hap- 

 pens to be handy. Not only the brood-nest but the supers 

 and covers are double-walled and packt. Only ,''2-inch lum- 

 ber is used, and the weight is not increast. The advan- 

 tages are, protection against cold, or rather, variations of 

 temperature during the winter, and against excessive heat 

 in summer. And in the spring of the year that protection 

 keeps the supers warm, and induces work therein much 

 sooner, which, in this locality, is a very important item. 



The Dadants say they would rather have their bees fly- 

 ing occasionally. That's all right, if occasionally means 

 three or four times during the winter, but when it is an 

 almost weekly " condition " the loss in bees and brood is 

 fearful. 



EXCESSIVE SWARMING. 



This is chiefly what decided me to adopt large hives and 

 correspondingly large colonies. I had some correspondence 

 with the Dadants, and stated that there was no demand 

 here for extracted honey. They replied that a market 

 could be created, that they had donesG. Unfortunately our 

 honey is rather dark and of very variable quality, and to 

 create a special market it is necessary to have honey of 

 good and uniform quality. 



As I expected, large hives prevented swarming only to 

 a certain extent. I then experimented with non-swarmers, 

 and with fair success. But while experimenting two of my 

 colonies became queenless somehow or other, and while 

 queenless filled two supers each in a short time. 



Needless to say that " removing queens " became my 

 hobby. However, in this locality removing queens has a 

 serious disadvantage. The swarming occurs in May ; our 

 last honey-flow is in July. Removing queens in May means 

 the loss of the very bees which would be field-workers in 

 July. It is necessary to requeen, otherwise, if the queen 

 is not vigorous, swarming may occur again later. 



Later on I discovered that by using the kind of hives 

 described above, giving all the bait-sections possible, put- 

 ting on the supers earl)' and protecting them against the 

 cold nights, having queens not too old, etc., I could reduce 

 the swarming to from 5 to IS percent of the number of col- 

 onies. So now I only treat the colonies that actually 

 swarm, or that I discover to prepare for swarming. This I 

 do by removing the queen and letting the young queens 

 fight it out (a queen-trap is necessary), or remove the queen 

 and queen-cells, and give a young queen, but not until they 

 have been at least four days without unsealed brood. This 

 point is the key to success. Giving a young laying queen 

 before would not help very often. The queen-cell building 

 would go on all the same, but will not be resumed after a 

 few days without unsealed brood ; unless later on the queen 

 fails or is lost, or the hive becomes too hot or too crowded. 

 But such things can be avoided. 



BEK-PARALVSIS. 



For quite a number of years I did not know that there 

 was bee-paralysis in my apiaries, and in fact in all api- 

 aries of this section of the country. I had seen, every 

 spring, black, shiny bees in countless numbers, but I 

 thought they were robbers. I had seen bees die rapidlj' and 

 thought they had been poisoned, and noticed other irregu- 

 larities, but never suspected what was the matter for sev- 

 eral years. This condition is not entirely solved. 



I keep camphor in my hives from early in the fall until 

 as late in the spring as possible. That is so as not to in- 

 jure the surplus as the honey takes the odor and also the 

 taste of the camphor. As long as the camphor is there the 

 malady will not develop itself, but will reappear invariably, 

 more or less, about six or eight weeks after, showing that 

 the presence of the camphor has only prevented its develop- 

 ment. It is necessary also to renew the queens everj- two 

 years at least, as they eventually contract the disease, and, 

 if not superseded before, eventually lay infected eggs. 

 Needless to say that the loss of the colony follows almost 

 invariably. This is what some writers have called the sec- 

 ond stage of the disease. 



HONEV-FLOW AND ITS MAN.\GEMKNT. 



This and generally all the Southern States have a diSi- 

 cult honey-flow to manage. It lasts several months, or 

 rather there is a succession of flows during that time. But 

 some of these flows fail, some are very abundant for only a 

 few days, some last longer, but are only light. And the 

 worst of it is, you don't know which flows will give, and 



