684 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



had died out, and the rest were weak with 

 an occasional strong one which was doing- 

 very well. 



The next apiary visited was some six 

 miles further on, and the last one a few 

 miles further away. They were carefully 

 packed for winter the same as the first two. 

 The first one opened up well. The bees were 

 breeding well, and getting plenty of honey 

 to go on with. The last one did not come 

 out at all well. About one-third were dead, 

 one-third alive, but very weak, and the rest 

 with about two frames of brood, though 

 they all had plenty of honey. Even those 

 which had died out had left honey behind. 

 This was a bit of knockout, and set me to 

 thinking why they should do so badly when 

 the other farms only a few miles off, and 

 under the same conditions, did so well. I 

 found the cause of it, or thouglit I did, in 

 the exposed jDosition. The bees were on a 

 slope facing toward the west, and they had 

 been meeting the cold westerly winds all 



winter. The hives which did best were those 

 which had been protected by bushes growing 

 on the westward side of them, and the ones 

 which had died out had had no such protec- 

 tion at all. It was decided to move them 

 on to the easterly slope of the liill, and no 

 doubt in that position they will do as well 

 as the others. 



The lesson from the whole thing is this: 

 1. That it paid well in actual cash to pack 

 the bees; 2. That if the weaker colonies 

 had not been packed they would all have 

 died out, and that, through not packing the 

 eighty-hive farm, nearly forty pounds' 

 worth of honey was used which could have 

 been saved if the bees on that particular 

 farm had been packed the same as the 

 others. The condition of the various farms 

 also showed the utility, in fact, the absolute 

 necessity, of sheltering the hives from strong 

 winds, either by giving artificial shelter or 

 taking advantage of growing bushes. 



New South Wales, Australia. 



THE WINTER CASE IS WORTH TWO DOLLARS PER YEAR 



BY E. G. CARR 



A visit to Mr. C. H. Root's yards, near 

 Red Bank, in winter, is likely to make the 

 average New Jersey beekeeper think Mr. 

 Root had not learned that winter packing 

 is unnecessary in such a fairly well-shel- 

 tered location, as has been selected for the 

 yards; but he has no trouble in wintering 

 bees without packing, as the term " winter- 

 ing " is commonly used. His wintering ar- 

 rangement is not like any thing I have seen 

 before, and deserves particular notice. The 

 preservation of the bees through the winter 

 is not the only object of the winter case — 

 in fact, it is, perhaps, the smallest item in 

 mind in using this case. Bees are not kept 

 by Mr. Root for the fun of the thing, but 

 for the amount of honey he can get from 

 them — nothing else. 



By the use of this winter ease the bees 

 winter on an average of ten pounds of 

 honey per hive less than is required by the 

 bees in the unprotected hive. Because of 

 this protection, brood-rearing is exceedingly 

 rapid in the spring, so that the bees take 

 advantage of all early honeys before the 

 main flow, which is from alsike clover. Mr. 

 Root figures the extra profit from the use of 

 this case at $2.00 per colony each year. 



The wintering is such that at one yard of 

 over 20 colonies last year there were not 

 more than a pint of dead bees all told m 

 front of the 20 hives in the spring. 



This winter case is a double-walled box 



willi two-inch space between the outer and 

 inner wall, which is filled with ground cork. 

 The cork is used because it can be obtained 

 easily, but other packing would probably be 

 equally effective. No packing at all would 

 be used if the space could be kept perfectly 

 air-tight ; but since this is impossible the 

 packing is thought to be necessary. The 

 packing space is entirely enclosed so there 

 is no danger of spilling the packing. 



The case is of such size as to telescope 

 readily over the regular hive-body with the 

 hand-hole cleats left off. This rests on a 

 double hive-stand jDacked with leaves. The 

 hive-stand rests on four stakes driven into 

 the ground projecting about two inches. 



On the hive-stand is the bottom-board 

 with %-ineh rim, and the entrance is con- 

 tracted to 1/4x8 inches for winter. On the 

 brood-chamber is placed a half-inch inner 

 cover, and over all is a six-inch-deep tele- 

 scope cover filled with leaves held in by 

 burlap cleated around the sides so that this 

 cover telescopes down over the outer case 

 about one inch. This cover is made of wood, 

 and roofed with paroid roofing. Mr. Root's 

 experience with wood convinced him that it 

 alone cannot be made satisfactory as a roof. 



If for any reason the bees are to be 

 examined before time for removing the out- 

 er case, it can be readily done with no 

 trouble from loose packing. 



New Egypt, N. J. 



