Decembek, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



921 



DEMUTH'S PLAN OF WINTERING 



Some Improvements on the General 



Plan Illustrated and Described on 



page 842, November Issue 



By E. R. Root 



SINCE o u 1- 

 last issue 

 we have 

 been giving this 

 general plan a 

 jrreat amount of 

 study. We have 

 called in our en- 

 tire e d i t o rial 

 staff as well as our Mr. Priteliard and his 

 son, who raise so many queens. We asked 

 Mr. Pritchaid, who is a genius in making- 

 new fixings, to study out the problem of a 

 cheap inner case for holding six or seven 

 Langstroth frames on end. As a result of 

 this study he brought into the editorial sanc- 

 tum a nearl}^ square long or deep box with- 

 out" ends, made of cheap thin lumber. In his 

 opinion it is not necessary to have the more 

 expensive case with a hinged lid of the kii:d 

 illustrated and described on page 843 of our 

 last issue; and he therefore made a plain box 

 (as shown in the subjoined illustrations), 

 of %-inch stuff nailed at the four corners, 

 without rabbets, and of such dimensions as 



Pig. 1. — The Deniufh inner case with the Pritch- 

 ard improvement, just large enonarh to liold seven 

 Langstroth frames on end, leaving 2 inches on top 

 and one inch beneath. A bridge in front connects 

 the inner with the outer entrance. It is placed 

 centrally on the bottom-board when the regular sum- 

 mer equipment of supers is placed around as shown 

 in Fig. 2. 



would take in 



seven Lang- 



stroth frames, a 



bee-space deeper 



than the frames, 



and three inches 



longer. From his 



box the frames 



can be lifted out 



after being packed if need be. It may b^' 



necessary in the spring to substitute combs 



of stores for those that are empty. 



Fig. 2. — The new scheme of winter packing, us- 

 ing the regular equipment of hive-bodies and supers 

 found in any beeyard. Two hive-hodies and one 

 super or three hive-bodies make up the outer case. 



A cleat running ci'osswise thru the center 

 of tlie box, and one inch from the bottom, 

 supports the seven frames when they are 

 put up on end. A flat board cover, a piece 

 of burlap, or two or three thicknesses of 

 new'spaper, cover the top, after which pack- 

 ing is poured over the whole, as shown in 

 Fig. 3. A slot is cut in one side at the 

 bottom for an inner entrance. 



It will be found by measuring up the 

 inside dimensions of a ten-frame hive that 

 it is perfectly practicable to use either the 

 seven or eight frame inner case. A seven- 

 frame ease provides ample packing room of 

 two inches one way and three inches the 



