388 



THE BLE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



when the country was in a newer stage and less disease prevalent. 

 Still, with proper management and good judgement, bee-keeping is 

 still about as good an occupation as most rural pursuits. 

 1 thank von for vonr kind attention. 



An Unique Plan of Wintering 



By H. A. SMITH, Palermo, Ontario. 

 ^* HE first winter of my bee-keeping career I simply placed a 

 ^J deep super on each colony and parked it with chaff. That 

 proved a success with three out of twenty colonies. The 

 next season I made boxes large enough to hold three colonies each, 

 with six inches of chaff around, and on top of the hives. The bees 

 wintered fine, but I did not like tlie packing in tJie fall and the loose 

 chaff' falling around in the 

 spring. ]Nfv next ^■entu^e was 

 double walled hi\es with a 

 2-inch space packed all around 

 winter and summer and a six- 

 inch chaii' tray on top. These 

 did not seem to winter so 

 well as the single walled hi\'ts 

 placed close together in pack- 

 ing boxes. 



I now use a hive which has 

 the advantages of single walled 

 hives packed together, minus 

 the packing boxes and the an- 

 noyance of handling loose 

 chaff in fall and spring. The 

 drawing will illustrate how 

 the hives are arranged for 

 winter. The hive is double walled on one side only and sets on a 

 loose bottom. Four hives are placed on a stand, one pair lacing the 

 opposite direction from the other pair. The double side of each 

 hive is placed toward the outside, the single end and side against 

 the single end and side of its neighbors. To provide protection for 

 the outside ends of the hives I take out two outside comb? and in 

 their place I put in a packed frame two inches thick as shown in 

 drawing. The packing spaces on side of hives are packed with 

 chaff' cushions in Avinter. During the summer the space is left 

 empty and open when supers are on. When no supers are on, the 

 cover projects over this packing chamber. As the space is four 



Miyei grovftd. *er wititer 



