792 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1917 



HEADS OF GRAIN T PP Q ilQirm FFERE NT FI E LDS 



and banked with clover straw. It was 10 x 

 10 X 6 ft., single floor, and tar paper for 

 windows. 



I put in the bees about Dee. 15, and the 

 temperature was 45 degrees. Dec. 26 it was 

 32 degrees; and until March 20 it varied 

 from 25 to 28 degrees most of the time. 

 Fifteen of the colonies were strong, and all 

 wintered except the weakest one, which died 

 of starvation, not having one drop of honey 

 left in the combs. Jan. 25 the entrances on 

 all hives were closed with ice from the 

 moisture which had accumulated inside. 

 They had metal covers with inner covers 

 and bee-escapes. So I gave each a %-inch 

 hole in the hand-hole. They remained as 

 quiet as could be expected, and did not 

 freeze. Later in March three showed signs 

 of dysentery and were a little uneasy at the 

 approach of a candle. Apl-il 1 they were 

 set out. Two weeks later most of the colo- 

 nies covered six combs; and, altho there was 

 a strong wind and freezing weather, they 

 stood it first rate. 



The middle of March I opened the cellar 

 window on the south side and cut an eight- 

 inch hole into the inside. This was open 

 day and night till now the inside walls and 

 tar paper on the window have a crust of ice 

 about 14 inch thick. Where could it have 

 come from? 



On the whole, they wintered better than 

 those wintered in my home cellar where the 

 temperature is mostly 45 degrees. This 

 coming winter I shall winter about 30 

 swarms in the same cellar. In seven years 

 wintering in cellars and outside I have lost 

 but one swarm and that was the one that 

 starved. C. II. J. Baumbach. 



Fall Creek, Wis.« 



Quadruple or Double In recent issues I 

 Cases for Wintering? have noticed some 

 reports of trouble in 

 wintering in quadruple cases. I am glad 

 that I am not alone in seeing faults in that 

 style of wintering. There is one part of 

 my apiary in which I cannot winter suc- 

 cessfully in quadruple cases especially if 

 they face east and west. Just why it is 

 worse in that particular part I do not know, 

 as the conditions are much the same, only 

 perhaps the ground is a little lower. Last 

 winter I tried facing them north and south, 

 and they did better; but I notice in the 

 spring when I put supers on the strongest 

 colonies that it is the same all over the 

 yard — the south colonies have the supers. I 

 have a number of double cases facing south, 

 and have lost only one colony yet by dwin- 

 dling. My two single cases facing south have 

 never given me any trouble, so I naturally 

 conclude that single cases facing south are 

 the best; but for economy's sake I am mak- 

 ing double cases of three-eighths matched 

 lumber. There is quite an advantage in 

 having either single or double cases all face 

 the same way, especially if the bees are 

 cross, for it prevents the necessity of pass- 

 ing between entrances of colonies that are 

 too close. Two years ago I purchased two 

 supposedly pure Italian queens and pro- 

 ceeded to requeen my yard of 120 colonies. 

 The queens were prolific and their progeny 

 were- good honey-gatherers; but when they 

 joined themselves to an apiarist it was a 

 case of ' ' till death us do part. ' ' I believe 

 in cases like this it is quite an advantage to 

 have colonies face one way, and the further 

 apart the better. Thomas Martin. 



Wanstead, Ont., Canada. 



Tliirty colonies in oUl style double v ailed hives loaded on the Root 

 for T ton tiiK-k. 



truck — a good load 



