856 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



brood-franic, they allow rdoiii t'ov eiyht 

 frames of scoies wliicli 1 need in my Daii- 

 zenbaker hives. Above the inner cover 1 

 put a super, tilled with the same material 

 to about an inch from the top, and then 

 put the cover over all. When the bees have 

 not had the time to seal the inner cover of 

 the brood-chamber with iDropolis (v/hich 

 may happen on account of feeding them 

 up too late in the season as a result of a 

 late delivery of sugar by our beekeepers' 

 association), I paste strips of paper over 

 the cracks between the inner cover and the 

 brood-chamber. I consider an entrance of 

 2% by y^ inch quite sufficient, and close 

 the summer entrances up accordingly. 



The inner covers I use in wintering all 

 have a hole in the center to fit the mouth of 

 a common fruit-jar, which enables me, if 



neccssaiy, to feed the bees in early spring 

 without disturbing them, and with no fear 

 of robbers. Before putting the peat-dust 

 in the supers, this hole is covered, of course; 

 but 1 think it essential to use a very thin 

 board for this purpose, and I prefer to 

 have it fit not too nicely, so that the mois- 

 ture, rising up from the center, may be 

 absorbed readily by the peat-dust above. 



With this system of wintering I lost a 

 colony only once. This colony had been 

 fed in autumn with syrup made of unre- 

 fined cane sugar. I found the top-bars of 

 the brood-frame of this colony smeared 

 with excrement, and I noticed a sour smell 

 coming out of the hive, which convinced me 

 that the food and not my system had been 

 at fault. 



Soest, Holland. 



WINTER PROTECTION WITHOUT LOOSE PACKING 



BY H. H. SMITH 



I have tried nearly all methods of pack- 

 ing bees for outdoor wintering. While I 

 have had success Avith most of them if the 

 colonies were in good condition, with young 

 bees and good stores, I have found that 

 nearly all the methods have some serioi^s 

 drawback. The single-colony double-walled 

 hive is expensive, and heavy to handle. 

 Properly made cases to hold four colonies 

 cost nearly as much as the four liives, and 



'COV^P 



I never could get used to the muss of loose 

 packing material in the fall and spring. 

 Besides, there is not one part of a packing- 

 case which can be used for any other pur- 

 pose during the season after bees are taken 

 from the cases. 



The drawing shows the way I wintered 



a part of my yard last year. I make a 



frame of 2 x 4 scantling, large enough to 



hold four colonies, 2 colonies facing east 



and 2 west. Two 



""""- -_._ pieces of 2 x 4 scant- 



'i ling, 6 inches apart, 



I run across the center 



of the frame to su]?- 

 port the back ends of 

 bottom-boards of each 

 pair of hives. This 

 arrangement allows 

 the hives to be sjDread 

 apart during summer. 

 At feeding time in 

 the fall two oufside 

 combs are taken from 

 each colony, and a 

 chaft'-packed follower 

 or division-board is 

 put on in their place. 

 These division-boards 

 are made of a fi'ame 

 of 1/2-inch i^ine 2 

 inches wide and Yo 

 inch shorter than the 

 hive is long inside. 

 The sides are made of 

 wall-board, manufac- 

 tured by the concern 

 that makes paroid 



