1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



955 



that theirs is the only method that is certain to 

 arrive at success. By their fruits ye shall know 

 them; and so let the Hoffman frame be judged.] 



OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



HOW DR. MILLER IIA.S PACKED SOME OF HIS. 



Last winter I wintered a few colonies of bees 

 outdoors, the first I wintered out for years. It 

 was a successful experiment, although the win- 

 ter was a mild one. Usually the winters are 

 very severe here, and Fm not sure that any way 

 •of wintering out would prove better than cellar- 

 ing. Still, on some accounts I'd like to be able 

 to winter out. and this winter I will try the 

 winter cases on a few colonies. If they do not 

 prove satisfactory, I will repeat' on a larger 

 scale. I think, the experiment of last winter. 



Partly because I should like suggestions con- 

 cerning it. and partly because I feel sure the 

 plan is a good one for some whose winters are 

 not too severe, I will describe it. 



Two hives were placed back to back, then 

 two beside these, back to back, and this 

 might be continued so that there would be 

 two long rows of hives, the backs of the hives 

 of one row standing against the backs of the 

 other row. Thei'e was nothing particularly 

 new in the manner of packing, and a glance at 

 the cut showing a transverse section will make 

 it easily understood. A strip was laid across 

 the front part of the deep bottom-board, mak- 

 ing a winter passage for the bees under it. with- 

 out allowing the packing to choke up the en- 

 trance. Then a board was set in front, its low- 

 er edge resting on the front ends of the bottom- 

 boards. The board was set in a slanting posi- 

 tion, so that the upper edge was much further 

 from the hive than the lower, and stakes driv- 

 en in the ground supported the board. Then 

 the whole was covered with straw taken from 

 the hoi'ses' bedding. Perhaps clean straw or 

 prairie hay would be better. It is much easier 

 packing, as well as warmer, to have a number 



HOW DR. MILLER PACKS HIS HIVES FOR WIN- 

 TER. 



of hives standing together; but the trouble is, 

 that you don't want them to stand that way 

 during the summer, and it makes trouble, fall 

 and spring, for the bees if you change their po- 

 sition. I think it can be managed to make lit- 

 tle or no trouble. If you want to try my plq,n 

 I'll tell you how I'll do if I try it again on a 

 larger scale. Next spring I'll set the hives in 

 one of the out-apiaries, in the way you see 

 them in the picture of the summer arrange- 

 ment. Of course, only a small section of the 

 apiary is there shown; and through the middle 

 you see the hives placed in groups of four, the 

 entrances facing in opposite directions, one pair 

 of hives standing back to back to the other pair. 

 Between each two groups is a vacancy lai'ge 

 enough to admit another group, and in front of 

 this vacancy at each side stands a pair of hives 

 with the entrances facing outward. 



Throughout the summer they remain in this 

 position, but for the winter they must be got in 

 position as shown in the cut of winter arrange- 

 ment. You will see at a glance that all that is 

 necessary is merely to move back the two out- 

 side rows to till up the vacancies between the 

 center groups. Foi' example, 5 and G will be 

 moved back into the space between 4 and 7. 

 When moved back into the two solid rows 

 shown in the winter arrangement, they are 

 ready for packing as previously described. The 

 position of the hives is such that changing from 

 summer to winter arrangement will not greatly 

 disturb the bees. You may move a hive direct- 

 ly backward quite a distance, and the bees will 

 readily find it. for it is directly in the line of 

 their flight, requiring them to go only a little 

 further in the same direction. But if a hive is 

 moved forward it troubles them a great deal 

 more, so that in moving them out in the spring 

 it can not be done at a single operation. It will 

 be necessary to move them perhaps only a few 

 inches the first time, and after a few days a few 

 inches more, and so on. 





i 1 ; -i 



SUMMER ARRANGEMENT. 



o o o 



o o ^ ? ^ ^ o o n o ^ * o o 



WINTEB AKRA.NGEMENT. 



It is pretty well agreed that large entrances 

 should be allowed for winter, but it is not well 

 to have strong winds blow, without any hin- 

 drance, directly into the entrance. So I would 

 have in winter a close board fence two or three 

 feet high on each side, in front of the hives. 

 The round O's in front of the hives in the cen- 

 tral groups show where the fence-posts will be 

 set. If eight-frame single-walled hives are 

 used, these posts will be about five feet apart. 

 The nails in these boards will not, be driven en- 

 tirely in, and then in the spring a claw-ham- 

 mer will easily draw them out. Would such a 

 fence make trouble in some places by making 

 snowdrifts over the hives'? 



The boards of this fence must be put out of 



