596 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



necessitates a cleansing flight, or diar- 

 rheal difficulties ensue, combs and hives 

 are soiled, the air of the hive becomes 

 polluted, and at last the individual bees 

 become too weak to generate proper 

 warmth or drive off the surplus moisture 

 which then invades the cluster and 

 brings death to the colony; or, what is 

 more frequently the case, a cold snap 

 destroys the last remnant of the colony, 

 which has been reduced by constant loss 

 of bees impelled by disease to leave the 

 cluster or even to venture out for a cleans- 

 ing flight when snows and great cold 

 prevail. 



The problem then is: To retain the 

 warmth generated by the bees, which is 

 necessary to their well-being, and at the 

 same time to prevent the accumulation of 

 moisture in the hive. A simple opening 

 at the top of the hive would permit much 

 of the moisture to pass off, but of course 

 heat would escape with it and a draft 

 would be produced. Absorbent material 

 about the cluster creates, without free 

 ventilation, damp surroundings, and 

 again the temperature is lowered. It is 

 only necessary, however, to surround the 

 bees with sufficient material to protect 

 them fully against the greatest cold likely 

 to occur, and to take care also that this 

 enveloping material is of such a nature 

 and so disposed as to permit the free 

 passage of the moisture which would 

 otherwise collect in the Interior of the 

 hive, and to permit the escape into the 

 surrounding atmosphere of such moisture 

 as enters this material from within. This 

 packing should also be fully protected 

 from outside moisture. 



South of Virginia. Kentucky, and Kan- 

 sas single-walled hives may be employed 

 in most localities with good success in 

 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 chaff 

 or some other soft material may be used 

 instead of paper. The cover or roof 

 should be absolutely rainproof, yet be- 

 tween this cover and the cushion or 

 papers should be several inches of space 



with free circulation 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 against 

 the entrance of mice, should give free 

 passage to the air. In the more northern 

 portion of the section referred to some 

 further protection is advisable, and is 

 really necessary in the mountainous 

 parts of the same territory if the best 

 results are to be obtained. Farther north, 

 and especially in the cold Northwest, 

 much greater protection becomes an abso- 

 lute necessity. Quilts with newspapers 

 or thin packing above do not alone suf- 

 fice. The side walls of the hive may be 

 made of pressed straw. These, with top 

 packing, if kept dry outside, are excel- 

 lent for outdoor wintering, even in cli- 

 mates so cold that ordinary wooden hives 

 do not afford sufficient protection. 



In the severest climates, however, still 

 greater protection on all sides of the col- 

 ony is needed, and packing with chaff or 

 other soft material is decidedly the best 

 plan. The thickness of this surrounding 

 packing should be from two inches to 

 eight or ten inches for single colonies, 

 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 advanta- 

 geous, somewhat less packing will be suf- 

 ficient. 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 wall, either thick or thin, between 

 this material and the bees. A good plan 

 is to construct an open framework or 

 skeleton hive of laths, cover it with sack- 

 ing, or, preferably, some less fuzzy cloth 

 which the bees will not gnaw, and after 

 placing it in an outer wooden case large 

 enough every way to admit of the neces- 

 sary packing about the colony, to fill in on 

 all sides with some dry, porous material. 

 If the frames are shallow, like the Lang- 

 stroth, 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 



