SEPTEMBER 1, 1914 



cold weather. This is 

 particularly true of bees 

 packed. With us, Oct. 

 15 is not too late. A 

 feeder that brings the 

 food in contact with the 

 top of the hive is best 

 for cool or cold weather 

 feeding. I use a two- 

 quart jar with a perfo- 

 rated top. 



To mix the syrup I 

 use 2^4 parts of sugar 

 (by measure) to one of 

 water. Bring the water 

 to a boil, then stir in the 

 sugar until dissolved ; 

 then add one teaspoon- 

 ful of tartaric acid (first dissolved in water) 

 to every 12 lbs. of sugar. The main object of 

 the tartaric acid is to prevent crystallization 

 of the thick syrup. Now this syrup is free 

 from pollen and honey-dew, and, having 

 been fed late, will constitute the early winter 

 stores for the bees. In our locality a strong 

 colony well wintered, during almost any 

 spring, with the help of the beekeeper bruis- 

 ing capped honey when natural stoi'es are 

 not coming in. will use all the stores that are 

 left in the hive. 



METHOD OV PROTECTING FOR WINTER. 



Fig. 1 illustrates four colonies of bees 

 before putting them into the winter case, 

 showing their position in summer, two side 

 by side, and the pair back to back. During 

 summer they should be far enough apart to 

 permit one to get around them when the 

 supers are on. In the packing-case they are 

 close together so one hive protects the other 

 from cold on two sides. There is about two 

 inches of packing ac the bottom, and four to 

 six at the front and sides. Fig. 2 shows the 

 packing-case with basket of forest leaves 

 standing by it. The bas- 

 ket is made out of a 

 wooden framework cov- 

 ered with burlap, and 

 large enough to hold the 

 top packing. It is made 

 of light material for 

 convenience in carrying. 

 In the case where the 

 cloths are partly remov- 

 ed, two 12-frame Lang- 

 ptroth hives can be seen. 

 Two covers are also 

 shown set at the side of 

 the hives against the 

 outer case where they 

 act as packing. For the 

 12-frame hives the sides 



Pig. 4. — The end and sides of a case ready to assemble. 



are made of 4-ft. walls high enough to per- 

 mit a super and queen-excluder on the hive. 



Fig. 3 shows the bottom of the case. 

 Notice there are three one-inch by four-inch 

 foundation pieces. In length each end 

 projects % inch beyond the platform board, 

 and the outside 1 inch by 4 inch pieces for 

 their entire length also project % inch be- 

 yond the end of the platform boards, giving 

 only % inch of a nailing surface for the 

 boards resting on them. The object of this 

 is to let the side pieces of the case drop over 

 the floor of the case, thus shedding water, 

 tlie sides resting on the projecting platform 

 supports. 



Fig. 4 shows the end and side of a case 

 and its relative position on the jilatform. 



Fig. 5 shows another view of the side and 

 end of the case. 



Fig. 6 shows the under side of the cover 

 and the method of nailing the cover-boards 

 on the cleats. The latter fit otuside of the 

 case. The wooden cover made of one-inch 

 boards is made water-tight by covering with 

 roofing-paper. 



Fig. 7 shows the winter case packed and 



Fio. 5. 



Another view of the end and side of a case, showiiif 

 position on the flooi' or platform. 



their 



