DECEMBER 15, 1914 



997 



Headg (D)f Grmm fFcTDim Biffereelt Fields 



THE BACKLOT BUZZER 



// )iropolis is a secretion, why the Sam Hill don't 

 tJuij use it with discretion? 



Winter Cluster — Where should it be in an 

 Outdoor-wintered Colony at the Begin- 

 ning of Winter? Importance of 

 Windbreaks 



I am using a double-walled hive, and am going to 

 winter outdoors. Now, I was told that I would 

 surely lose my bees for the reason that they cluster 

 below the frames; and as there was little room, I 

 ought to put a three-inch super on the hive bottom 

 to give them this needed space to cluster. I have 

 only single-walled supers, and know that wouldn't do 

 under a double-walled hive. Tell me about it. Will 

 they go through as the hive is, or should I put a 

 super under? They are heavily loaded with stores 

 for winter ; in fact, combs are nearly full, as I took 

 my supers off early to let them fill up and also fed 

 them well. 



Cedar Rapids, la. H. L. Walker, M. D. 



[There is no reason why you should lose your bees 

 in the double-walled hive. It does not need an extra 

 super under it nor one on top. The fact that the 

 bees are low down on the frames near the bottom- 

 board is just exactly where they should be. If they 

 were up near the top-bars there would be danger of 

 your losing them before spring. The further fact 

 that the combs are filled with iitores is another thing 

 in their favor; and the only place they should clus- 

 ter is near the bottom, just as you find them in 

 your hive. If your colony is of fairly good strength 



tliere is no reason why you should lose the bees 

 unless you leave the hive exposed where the piercing 

 winds from a level stretch of country would strike 

 the hive hard. If the hive is shielded by windbreak 

 in the form of fences, shrubbery, or bviildings of any 

 sort, there is no reason why you should not get good 

 i-esults in wintering. In cold weather the cluster 

 iirdinarily is not much larger than a double fist. As 

 it warms up to a temperature of about 50 or 60, 

 the bees, if the colony is strong enough, should cover 

 nearly all the frames; but when the temperature 

 drops down to about 10 degrees above zero, especial- 

 ly if there is a high wind, or if it is below zero and 

 still, the cluster will shrink down to about the size 

 of the double fist, as first mentioned. — Ed.] 



Hand's Convertible Hive; Further Particu- 

 lars Concerning It 



Mr. J. E. Hand : — I read with interest your arti- 

 cles on the 16-frame hive in the American Bee Jovr- 

 nal and Gleanings ; but while, to an experienced 

 beekeeper, jour description may be all that is nec- 

 essary to me as a beginner, some of your statements 

 are not as plain as they might be. 



If your hive is such an improvement on othei 

 makes, why don't you give us all the details, so that 

 some of us tan make and try them? Would yon 

 advise a beginner to start with such a hive, or had 

 lie better take one like the ten-frame dovetailed? 



As I understand your article in Gleanings for 

 Nov. 15 there must be a duplicate hive for each 

 colony when you divide it into two of eight frames 

 each and pack for the winter. What is done with 

 these extra hives the following spring? Are the 16 

 frames united into one colony again? Is there an 

 entrance at the bottom on one side, so that the bees 

 can reach the entrance to the hive proper? Are the 

 16 frames placed in the hive parallel to the entrance, 

 like Arthur iVIiller's, or at right angles in the regular 

 way? Shonld you write another article for the 

 journals I hope you will make the description of 

 this 16-frame hive so plain that a novice can under- 

 stand i^nless you intend to manufacture and place oi. 

 the market tliese hives joiirself. 



Reading, Pa. H. B. Shollenberger. 



[Mr. Hand sends the foregoing and his reply to 

 us. As others are doubtless interested, we are 

 pleased to place them before our readers. — Ed.] 



I am not advising any one to adopt the Converti- 

 ble hive : but if you feel the need of improvement in 

 hive methods it may helj) you. In construction it is 

 exactly like the two-story dovetailed hive except in 

 length. As we now make it, it is 20 x 24, with 14 

 frames and a % division-board, and frames parallel 

 with entrance in summer, and at right angles to it 

 in winter. The wintering equipment is a simjale box 

 without cover or bottom, made of half-inch stuff, 13 

 inches wide and 12 deep. To prepare for winter, 

 assemble eight of the best-filled combs, including the 

 bees, within said box, and place it on the floor inside 

 the hive, with frames extending at right angles to 

 their former position, and at right angles to the hive 

 entrance, which is at the end. This creates a liberal 

 .space surrounding the inner chamber except the end 

 having the entrance, which faces south or east, and 

 is protected by a heavy sheet of flax-board paper 

 between the two hives, the two entrances correspond- 

 ing in position. The deep inner chamber creates a 

 liberal space under frames, and the top story of the 

 hive holds packing material above. The hive is not 

 moved, nor the entrance changed in position or ap 

 pearance. Increase is optional. 



Birmingham, Ohio. J. E. Hand. 



