890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Fig. 2. — Four hives in postion on the bottom. It takes but a short time to set the winter case on and 

 fill in the packing. 



ones. In summer I move the hives about 

 2 inches apart on the sides, and 4 to 6 inches 

 leng-thwise, which gives plenty of room to 

 work, and for wintering they are moved 

 together in the center, which gives three 

 inclips of packing on the sides. 



When first building I used a perfectly flat 

 bottom. I soon found this to be a mistake. 

 It is impossible to set these flat bottoms so 

 that water will not run in at the entrance 

 in the summer. I now taper each end down 

 about IV2 inches and let the taper run back 

 about 8 inches, half of which is used for the 

 alighting-board. This gives a large entrance, 

 which helps to retard swarming. 



It will also be noticed how easy it is to 

 use the Boardman feeder, the feeder being 

 placed well back in the side of the hive. 

 This eliminates robbing, and the feeder is 

 out of the way. It can be left on all sum- 

 mer if one wishes. 



The cases are built 24 inches high, and 

 rest on the bottom across the ends, telescop- 

 ing by the bottom on the sides. These can 

 be made either sectional or in one unit. In 

 case the apiary may be moved I would 

 recommend the sectional; but for a perma- 

 nent location I would rather have the case 

 fastened together solidly. In the summer 

 the cases can be placed one on top of an- 

 other, making a good place to store the 

 packing material. The case should be built 



of matched stuff; or, if j^lain boards, they 

 should be shiplapped to shed water. 



I make the top perfectly flat, and just 

 large enough so that it will cover well. It is 

 roofed with a good grade of paper roofing. 



Seventy feet of lumber will build the 

 entire case, top and bottom, if one is care- 

 ful and buys in lengths that will cut to ad- 

 vantage. The first I built were made from 

 hard i^ine. This stuff shrinks too much, and 

 is heavy to handle. I prefer No. 2 soft 

 white-pine. It is good enough, and is light 

 in weight. Don't forget the paint. 



A great many beekeepers winter their 

 colonies in too many frames. It is very 

 seldom that ten frames are wanted or need- 

 ed. In this case the bees have only a room 

 which is just 40 per cent too large for them, 

 and it must be kept warm. Is this econo- 

 my? I think not. More often six combs 

 are enough. Remove the outside combs and 

 put in a division-board, and pack that 

 empty space. Then add combs in the spring 

 as they are needed. Your bees will be all 

 the better for it. This applies whether 

 wintered in cases or otherwise. 



One would think that bees would not fly 

 readily from these cases on warm winter fly 

 days on account of their being packed so 

 heavily that it would take some time for the 

 outside temperature to have an effect on 

 them. I find that my bees will fly just as 



