1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



673 



CONDUCTED BY ERNEST R. ROOT. 



OUR NEW DOVET.\ILED AVINTER CASE FOR THE 

 DOVETAIEEI) HIVE; ALSO OUR ONE- 

 STORY DOVETAILED CHAFF 

 HIVE. 



While the two-story chaff hive wintered bees 

 successfully, it is cumbersome and expensive, 

 and not adapted to out-apiaries or for general 

 moving. We (Mr. Calvert, Mr. Warner, and 

 myself) have been considering the matte)' a 

 good deal, and after two years' experimenting 

 we now tind ourselves ready to otter the bee- 

 keeping public an outside winter case, and also 

 a one-story dovetailed chaft' hive that is both 

 light and portable, as well as cheap. We don't 

 therefoi'e propose^ to offer to beginners and oth- 

 ers something we have not tried; and although 

 the winter case differs in some slight details 

 from the one we used with success for the past 

 two winters, the essential principle has been 

 ■retained. 



The fact confronts all who have single-walled 

 hives, and who are not disposed to winter in 

 •cellars or repositories, that they desire some- 

 thing which, at a slight additional expense, 

 will convert their hiv&s into double-walled 

 abodes for bees during the winter. Again, 

 there are other bee-keepers who winter in- 

 doors who wish something cheap and service- 

 able in the way of a protection to put over the 

 hives after they ai'e set out in the spring, and 

 here it is. 



on the single- walled hive is adjusted to the 

 single-walled case. Well. then, you ask, how 

 do you provide against the cold entering uiuler 

 the bottom of the case ? To the bottom inside 

 edges of both sides and ends is luiiled J<-incli- 



FIG. 2. DOVETAILED WINTER CASE. 



square Sticks. As the whole space to be taken 

 up is 1}^ inches, these sticks are piidded the 

 same as division-lioards, with a roll of burlap 

 (see Fig. 3). The outside winter case is then 

 slid down so that it covei'S the whole body of 

 the hive. The front end of the case is left so as 

 to leave an entrance, the back end being let 

 down a littln lower, something of the style of a 

 baton the back of th(^ head. All this provides 

 for dead -air space around the sides of the hive 

 and chaff' packing above, which my experirnents 

 thus far in this locality say is enough. If any 

 one doesn't wish to risk the dead-air space, he 

 can pour in packing material before he puts on 

 the cover, and before he puts on the cushion. 

 This done, he can tuck in the cushion, when he 

 has a packed hive. 



The diagram below will make the matter a 

 little planer. The position of the cushion and 

 the padded square sticks is shown. The space 

 between the two walls is \% inches. The space 

 between the cover and the brood -frames is 3 

 inches. 



FIG. I. DOVKTAILED WINTER CASE. 



This is simply a shell made of ^^-inch lumber, 

 dovetailed at the corners, and is large enough 

 so as to leave IJs inches space between the sides 

 and ends, and deep enough to allow of a cush- 

 ion 3 inches deep. To save the expense of a 

 cover we conti'act, as it were, the top, with an 

 ordinary chaff-hive water-table. This makes 

 it possible to use a regular Dovetailed-hive 

 cover. 



Fig. 2 shows how the case is set down over the 

 Dovetailed hive. Our experiments last winter 

 demonstrated pretty clearly that a chaff cusli- 

 ion on top of the brood-nest is one of the things 

 we can not very well dispense with. We need 

 sometliing to take up the moisture arising from 

 the cluster, at the same time something that 

 will tuck down around snug to the top edge of 

 the hive. The cushion should be three inches 

 deep, just large enough to tit down inside the 

 winter case, and is to be set on top of the brood- 

 frames with a Hill's device under as shown in 

 diagram Fig. 3. This cushion, therefore, will 

 be large enough to project over the sides of the 

 inner hive about 1>8 inches all around. The 

 case is then slid over, and the cover that was 





:d 



FIG. 3. SHOWING THE CROSS-SECTION OF OUT- 

 SIDE WINTER CASE, HIVE-CUSHION, 

 AND PADDED STICKS. 



This winter case is also wide enough to be 

 set down over a ten-frame Simplicity or ten- 

 frame Dovetailed hive, but. of course, it doesn't 

 leave the same space between the sides, al- 

 though that between the ends is the same, but 



