156 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



have they bee-houses, and if they had 

 they would probably not attend to all 

 the requirements necessary to secure 

 the safety of their bees. 



We will now give the method we 

 deem the most feasible to the great 

 mass of bee-keepers using single wall- 

 ed hives; and which, if properly car- 

 ried out, will bring the bees safely 

 through, in majority of cases, the most 

 severe winters on their summer stands. 



We assume that our-instructions re- 

 garding fall management have been 

 complied with, and that your hives 

 contain young bees, some brood, a good 

 prolific queen, and about thirty 

 pounds of sealed honey each. Re- 

 move all boxes and honey boards; 

 place three strips, one half an inch 

 thick or less, across the top of tha 

 hive on the frames, over these strips, 

 place a piece of carpet or quilt, and 

 over this a straw mat about two inches 

 thick and closely put together. 



Put on the top and bore two holes 

 in its sides to allow the air to circu- 

 late above the mat. Place over the 

 hive a box without bottom or top, suf- 

 ficiently large to allow a space of four 

 or five inches between it and the hive. 

 Fill this space with chaff or straw 

 closely packed and covering all parts 

 of the hive except the entrance near 

 the bottom. Cover all so as to keep 

 perfectly dry. The stand on which the 

 hive rests should be about four inches 

 from theground. An opening should 

 be cut in the case at such a height 

 that when placed over the hive the 

 opening will be flush with the top of 

 the stand, thus giving bees an oppor- 

 tunity to fly and return when suitable 

 weather permits. The passage way 

 from the hive to the outer opening 



should be protected from any litter 

 used in filling in, by placing a strip of 

 board just above the entrance, which 

 may be kept in position by two short 

 upright pieces of the same width, 

 A strip or cleat nailed just below the 

 outer entrance, would form a sufficient 

 alighting board. 



The box coverings ought not to cost 

 more than twenty-five cents each, 

 and will last several years. Common 

 box-hives may be treated in the same 

 way, by first boring holes in the top. 



The thickness of the covering should 

 of course vary with the climate, and 

 in the South, a good straw mat placed 

 above the frame will probably lie all 

 that is necessarv, 



Some of the advantages of this plan 

 of wintering may be summed up as 

 follows; The space between the top of 

 the frames of the hive and the mats, 

 will enable the bees to pass over from 

 one frame to another, in a warm at- 

 mosphere, when it would be impossible 

 for them to go from one space to an- 

 other between the com lis if they had 

 to pass around the bottom or sides of 

 frames; sheets of comb hoving passage 

 ways made in them, afford yet a bet- 

 ter and safer means of communication. 



The mats above the frames will al- 

 low the moisture of the hive to pass off 

 without reducing its temperature, 

 while the outer case and filling, pre- 

 vent alike , the cold, piercing, bitter 

 winds and weather of winter, from 

 condensing the breath of the bees on 

 the sides of the hive until! they are 

 encased within ice-lined walls, or the 

 the lays of sun in warm spells of 

 winter and very early spring, from 

 decoying the bees abroad to be chill- 

 ed to death. 



