158 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mai!. 1. 



OUTSIDE CASES FOR WINTER. 



SltCCESSFULIA- USED BY .1. A. (iliEEX. 



From the references that have appeared in 

 Gleanings lately in regard to outside shells for 

 packing bees that are to be wintered on their 

 Slimmer stands, the novice would almost be led 

 to think that it is a new and untried device. I 

 have used such packing-cases for four years: 

 and at present I have over a hundred colonies 

 protected in this way. In fact, with the excep- 

 tion of a few in your chaft" hives, every colony 

 that I am wintering out of doors is snugly 

 packed in leaves or shavings held in place by an 

 outer case. Besides this, thei'e is a great stack 

 of them waiting to be put over the bees now in 

 the cellar when they are brought outdooi'S. 



'"What." you say. "do you go to tlie trouble 



pieces should be nail(>d to the flat side of the 

 u])rights. and two or three left off at one end 

 for the entrance. Now put a "bridge"' over 

 the entrance, set the packing-case over the hive 

 so that the front rests on the bridge, holding it 

 firmly in place, and put in your packing mate- 

 rial. Tills may be whatever is convenient. I 

 generally use leaves. Soft leaves, such as those 

 of the soft maple, are excellent. Planer shav- 

 ings or sawdust are more easily handled, and 

 bettei-. 



We now want a roof over it. Above all other 

 qualities it must be water-tight. Wet packing 

 is worse than none at all. I have given consid- 

 erable thought to the matter of making a roof 

 that would be cheap, duraiile, and effective. 

 All these qualities are hard to combine. A very 

 good and cheap roof may be made by nailing 

 barrel-staves crosswise to a three-inch strip a 

 little longer than the packing-case, putting 



.1. A. GIiEp;N S AI'lAKY IX WINTER. SHOWING OUTSIDE I'Af'KING-CASES. 



of packing bees that have passed through the 

 winter safely in the cellar?" Ves, that is just 

 what I am going to do. I lielieve that it pays 

 to protect bees, and I think there is no time 

 when they need protection more than in the 

 spring, when we want them to rear as much 

 brood as possible. Thin-walled hives are too 

 easily affected by changes of temperature at 

 this time, and brood-rearing suffers in conse- 

 quence. 



To make my packing-cases I use ordinary 

 lath cut into two pieces, 20 and 28 inches long. 

 These are nailed to three-inch corner strips to 

 form the ends and sides of a box without top or 

 bottom. It is made of such height that, when 

 set over the hive on its stand, the outer case 

 resting directly on the ground, it will be five or 

 six inch(>s higlier than the hive. The end 



over them a sheet of roofing-paper, then nail- 

 ing on another layer of staves so as to break 

 joints with the first ones. The most satisfac- 

 tory covering, though, and the best, all things 

 considered, is a sheet of corrugated iron, large 

 enough to cover th<' whole. An ordinary sheet 

 (9() in. long) makes three pieces just right. 

 Nothing further is required. Just lay the 

 sheet of iron on to]), and lay a stone on it to 

 keep it fi'om blowing away; or, better, lay a 

 short piece of board across the top, and the 

 stone on that. This makes a roof that can not 

 Teak; and with ordinary care it is practically 

 indestructible. With a coat of paint occasion- 

 ally, it will last as long as the owner. When 

 not in use they can be stored in a very small 

 space, as they nest into one another. They 

 make the best of shade-boards for summer, if 



