3(54 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



December 



employed in most localities with good 

 success ill outdoor wintering. On 

 the approach of the cool or the rainy- 

 season a close-fitting quilt should be 

 laid over the frames and several folded 

 newspapers pressed down on this, or a 

 cushion filled with dry chaii" or some 

 other soft material may be used in- 

 stead of paper. The cover or roof 

 should be absolutely rain-proof, yet 

 between this cover and the cushion or 

 papers should be several inches of 

 space with free circuhition of air. In 

 order to permit this ventilation above 

 the top packing the cover should not 

 rest upon the cap or upper story all of 

 the way around, or if it does, an auger 

 hole in each end, protected by wire 

 cloth againt the entrance of mice, 

 should give free passage to the air. 

 In the more northern portions of the 

 section referred to some further pro- 

 tection is advisable and in the moun- 

 tainuous parts of the same territory 

 is really necessary if the best results 

 are to be obtained. Farther north, 

 and especially in the cold Northwest 

 much greater protection becomes an 

 absolute necessity. Quilt with news- 

 papers or thin packing above do not 

 alone suffice. The side walls of the 

 hive may be made of pressed straw. 

 These, with top packing, if kept dry 

 outside, are excellent for outdoor 

 wintering, even in climates so cold 

 that ordinary wooden hives do not 

 afford sufficient protection. 



In the severest climates, however, 

 still greater protection on all sides of 

 the colony is needed, and packing with 

 chaff or other soft material is decidedly 

 the best plan. The thickness of this 

 surrounding packing should be 2 

 inches to 8 orlO inches for single col- 

 onies, according to the severity of the 



climate, but if four or more colonies 

 are grouped for the winter, so as to 

 make the natural warmth generated 

 mutually advantageous, somewhat 

 less packing will be sufficient. A 

 most important point is to have the 

 soft warmth-retaining packing come 

 in close contact with the edges of the 

 combs, and above all not to have a hive 

 xoall, either thick or thin, hehveen this 

 viaterial and the bees. A good plan is 

 to construct an open frame-work or 

 skeleton hive of laths, cover it with 

 sacking, or, preferably, some less fuzzy 

 cloth which the bees will not gnaw, 

 and, after placing it in an outer wood- 

 en case large enough every way to ad- 

 mit of the necessary packing about the 

 colony, to fill in on all sides with 

 some dry, porous material. If the 

 frames are shallow like the Langstroth, 

 it is better to construct the inner case 

 so as to place them on end, and thus 

 give a deeper comb for the winter. 

 Layers of newspaper may come next 

 outsi<le the cloth covering of the frame- 

 work. Wheat chaff answers well to 

 complete the packing. Wool is to be 

 preferred, but unless a waste produce 

 is of course too expensive. Ground 

 cork, waste flax, hemp, sawdust, etc., 

 in fact, any fine porous material, if 

 thoroughly dry, may be used. 



A board passageway 3 or 4 inches 

 wide and three-eights of an inch high 

 should connect this inner apartment 

 and the flight hole of the outer case, 

 thus affording an exit for the bees 

 whenever the weather may permit 

 them to fly. When these preparations 

 have been completed, the hive is ready 

 for the combs, which with adhering 

 bees, are taken from the summer hive 

 and inserted in the winter hive. A 

 quilt is then laid on the frames and 



