NOVEMBKR, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



843 



some pollen, to provide for early brood- 

 rearing. Then it may be advisable to feed 

 a little sugar syrup to fill the combs solid 

 full of sugar stores after the bees are pack- 

 ed. In lieu of sugar synip, unsalable dark 

 COVER extracted hon- 

 ey might be 



used, wjth the 

 assurance that 

 it contains no 

 bee disease. If 

 the colony is 

 too large to be 

 squeezed into 

 a six - comb 

 si^aoe, a cajD 

 might be pro- 

 vided, leaving 

 four or five 

 inches of clus- 

 tering s p a ee 

 above the ends 

 of the frames 

 now at the top. 

 In the cut 

 sorrow BOARD ^^^ mitted 



FiQ. 2. — ■ Sectional diagram ■. • , i •■,-> 



showing the Demuth method of nereAVllU, lliUS- 



packing. t r a t i n g the 



idea, we have had ona end of the case 

 lengthened out beyond the ends of the 

 frames so as to provide this four-inch extra 

 space for clustering room. This space may 

 or may not be used; but if the colony is 

 exceedingly populous, room could be given 

 in this way. It might be a wise precau- 

 tion to put above the frames a slab of hard 

 candy. 



It will be seen at once that the only ex- 

 pense involved will be a cheap six-frame 

 box without ends made of % lumber to hold 

 the cluster. The 



outer 

 sists 



case con- 

 of three 



regular 

 bodies, 

 a n d 

 which 

 a r i s t 

 lias. 



hive 

 cover, 

 bottom, 

 the api- 

 alreadv 

 To hold 

 the frames there 

 s h u Id bs' a 

 framework with 

 a rabbet on one 

 side as shown in 

 Figs. 1 and 3. 

 The c h e a p est 

 kind of %-inch 

 lumber can then 

 h? nailed around 

 and the case is 

 complete. No 

 ends are requir- 



FiG. :5. — The Demuth inner winter packins;-case. 



The drawing is out of proportion for the Langstroth frame, 

 ?jut it illustrates the principle. It is made of thin cheap lum- 

 ber nailed around llic square frames. Thete latter a-i'e rabbet- 

 ed at tlie top to receive the ends of the six lirood-frames. The 

 lid ;s folded down, when the whole is set down on end in three 

 liive-bodies as shown in figure. 



ed beyond a suitable cover of a board or 

 cloth for the top to prevent the packing 

 material from mixing with the bees in- 

 side. 



So far the directions for packing in this 

 way involve the use of extracting supers. 

 When one has only comb honey supers he 

 can pack in this way, but it would be neces- 

 sary to use twice as many supers, assum- 

 ing that they are half the depth of the regu- 

 lar. They would work just as well as the 

 deeper supers. 



We do not go so far as to say that this 

 is equal to the quadruple-ease plan; but 

 it probably would be equal to the much 

 more expensive double-walled chatf hive. 

 It cel'tainly would be better than a single- 

 walled hive; and if the plan were intelli- 

 gently carried out it would be the means 

 of sa\dng tens of thousands of colonies 

 thruout the northern states. The expense 

 is so sligiit that there would be no excuse 

 for the beekeeper not to use it. Of course, 

 it will not be as handy as the double-walled 

 hives; but it will save dollars and dollars 

 of extra outlay. 



It will not be too late in most localities 

 to pack bees immediately] after the receipt 

 of this issue. " Better late than never " 

 applies to packing bees. 



While this idea of packing bees in this 

 way may not be strictly new, the credit of 

 suggesting it at this time belongs to Mr. 

 Geo. S. Demuth. This inner winter case 

 was developed and given a practical testin 

 his apiaries in Indiana, so it is no untried 

 theory, but has stood the test. A. I. Root, 

 away back in the 70's, actually tried out a 

 similar scheme of wintering, with one colo- 

 ny. The early files of Gleanings show that 



it worked suc- 

 cessfully. If the 

 bees ai'e packed 

 e a tr I y enough 

 they wiould re- 

 a d just fheir 

 stores. 



We would not 

 advise the aver- 

 age beekeeper to 

 tiy it out too ex- 

 tensively. We 

 icxpect to pack 

 ten colonies in 

 each of our out- 

 yards to see how 

 they compare 

 with other colo- 

 nies packed in 

 Government or 

 quadruple win- 

 ter eases. 



