100 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



April 



How I Winter Successfully. 



BY MRS. 03-1VER COLE. 



In the October number of the Bee 

 Keeper I gave a full description of 

 my method of preparing bees for win- 

 ter. I intended to have given a des- 

 cription of my favorite hive in the 

 November number but did not get 

 around to do so. I will give it now. 

 My favorite summer and winter hive 

 is a double walled chaff hive, the 

 dimensions of which are, length of 

 body 23J inches, width of body 12J 

 inches, depth of body 11^ inches, bot- 

 tom bottom boards 1 inch, length of 

 cover 24 J inches, width 20| inches, 

 depth of cover 12^ from center with 

 one inch slant each way. These are 

 all outside measurements. I use \ 

 inch thick pine lumber throughout. 

 The body has three inches of packing 

 of chaff all around. There is a 1 inch 

 cleat around top of body for the cover 

 to rest upon. The roof is tinned. 

 There is a | inch opening only. The 

 top bars of frames and also bottom 

 bars are 15| inches long ; the ends 

 are nailed onto the top and bottom 

 bars. The top bar is | inch thick, 

 bottom bar one-half inch thick. I 

 leave two nails in each end of top bar 

 out half an inch by which to hang the 

 frames on the tin cleats on inside ends 

 of hives. The frames are easily mov- 

 ed in this way. A frame is made to 

 hold nine hanging frames of 8 sec- 

 tions each. T! -' has a glass d >nt so 

 that one can see when the sec Ui'iis are 

 full. The frames can be lifted out, 

 the full sections removed and others 

 put in without taking the frame off 

 of the hive until fall. This makes a 

 very convenient surplus arrangement. 

 I leave my hives out until late in 

 December, and as they are chaff hives 



the bees are well protected and often 

 have a chance to fly after the single 

 walled hives are snugly stored in the 

 cellars. In the spring they can be set 

 out one month earlier and the bees 

 can get an earlier cleansing flight. 



Single walled hives must be carried 

 out on a day when the bees can safely 

 fly, and then carried back again or 

 the bees are lost by being chilled. 



1 have some bees in large chaff 

 hives on Langstroth frames, but they 

 do not winter as well as on the deeper 

 frames which I have described. 



For our northern climate I believe 

 I have found the right kind of hive 

 for all purposes. In swarming time I 

 can remove the cap and carry the 

 hive to the swarm and place it on a 

 sheet and shake the bees in front of 

 hive. I place a chaff cushion over 

 the frames of foundation to keep them 

 cool and put the cap on. When the 

 bees are all in the hive I remove the 

 cap again, carry the hive to the place 

 where it is to stay, and the work is 

 done. 



As the frames in my hives are deep- 

 er than usually used, more honey can 

 be stored for wintering of easy access 

 for the bees, more brood is reared and 

 as a result I have larger swarms. 



I keep the age of my queens by 

 numbering the hives. I keep a book 

 containing these numbers, so when the 

 bees swarm the first time I know the 

 age of the queen and Avhen she is 

 three years old I replace her in the 

 fall with a young prolific queen. 

 Sherburne, N. Y. 



Chaff Hives, Wintering Bees, 

 Etc. 



BY ED. JOLLEY. 



In the March number of the Bee 

 Keeper F. D. Bowers scores a few 

 points in favor of the double walled 



