618 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1921 



Fig. 5. — ^Creasing edges nf cover 

 before piittini; in I'liice. 



such a manner that it will he taken down 

 and stored quickly. 



Some beekeepers, who use a separate 

 ' ' food chamber, ' ' manage to have the 

 combs in these filled with some of the best 

 honey for winter, and then, after brood- 

 rearing ceases, they put this super or "food 

 chamber" below the brood-chamber. When 

 this is done the bees soon carry some of 

 this honey upstairs, storing it in the cells 

 recently vacated by emerging brood. This 

 is one way of feeding good honey, to cor 

 rect the quality of the winter stores. 



It usually happens that the poorest honey 

 for winter use is stored last, being placeil 

 where it will be used first, leaving the 

 good honey in the upper corners of the 



frames to b(^ 

 used the next 

 spring. By 

 late feeding 

 this condition 

 is reversed, ns 

 it should be. 

 Honey fro m 

 white clover, 

 alsiko clover, 

 buckwheat {if 

 not mixed 

 with h o n e y 

 from other 

 fall flowers), 

 a n d alfalfa, 

 if not granu- 

 lated, is con- 

 sidered good for winter stores; but, when 

 there is any doubt about the honey, granu- 

 lated sugar syrup is the safest winter food 

 for the broodless period in the North, leav- 

 ing the honey for brood-rearing in the sjiring. 

 Winter Protection. 

 Colonies which have plenty (if young 

 bees in October and which are supplied 

 with an abundance of stores of good qual- 

 ity, as described above, are h;ird to kill by 

 severe weather. It might be better if they 

 could not stand so niufrh abuse; for, if they 

 were less able to fight their way thru the 

 winter, many beekeepers would be com- 

 pelled to protect them better than they do 

 now or quit trying 

 to keep them. 



In wintering out 

 side, some prefer to 

 have the packing 

 built in as in dou- 

 ble-walled hives; 

 others prefer to use 

 a winter case to 

 hold one, two, or 

 four colonies. 

 Equally good re- 

 sults should be ob- 

 tained by any of 

 these types of win- 

 ter packing, provided the protection is ade- 

 quate, and almost any of them should pay 

 back their first cost every year in increased 

 profits from the apigry |p [h^ northern half 



Fig. 6. — Cords are used 

 to hold cover in place. 



Fig. 7. — Arrangement for using 

 regular hive cover. 



of the United States. The four-colony win- 

 ter case is rapidly gaining in favor among 

 northern beekeepers. 



The first cost of winter cases need not 

 stand in the 

 way of good 

 w i n t e r ing, 

 however, for 

 bees can be 

 well protect- 

 ed for only a 

 few cents per 

 colon y for 

 cost of mate- 

 rial, by using 

 a cheap grade 

 of tarred pa- 

 per to hold 

 the packing 

 in place and 

 keep it dry. 



An Inexpensive Winter Case Made of Paper. 



To pack a single colony in a regular 10- 

 frame hive, cut two pieces % x 2 x 20% 

 inches, two jiieces % x 2 x 24 inches, two 

 pieces lath 20 inches long and two pieces 24 

 inches long. From a roll of 36-inch sin- 

 gle ply slaters' felt, cut one piece 8 feet 

 long and another 4 feet long. 



Make a rim of the 2-inch pieces which 

 fits around the lower part of the hive (Fig. 

 1), by lapping over the corners and fasten- 

 ing with a single nail. The piece in front 

 should rest on the side i-ails of the bottom- 

 l)oard, leaving the entrance open. The two 

 side pieces should come below the end piece 

 in frout and above the end piece at the 

 back, tlius dropping the rim % inch lower 

 on the sides than in front, and % inch 

 lower at the back than on the sides. A 

 small nail driven part way into the back 

 mcl of the bottom- 

 board supports the 

 rim at the back. 



Stand the 8-foot 

 strip of paper on 

 edge around the 

 hive and tack on 

 the lath to fasten 

 the paper to the 

 rim, using two nails 

 in each lath driven 

 only part way 

 home" (Fig. 2). The 

 paper should touch 

 the ground all 

 around the hive, the 

 entrance now being 



covered with the paper. Cut a hole % x 2 

 inches thru the paper for an entrance (Fig. 

 3). This hole can easily be enlarged next 

 spring when a larger entrance will be need- 

 ed. Where the ends overlap, pin the paper 

 together with two or three wire nails. 



The packing material should be packed 

 down in the corners to make them stand out 

 square, after which the packing is simply 

 poured in at the sides and ends without 



Fij 



8. — Regular hive 

 cover in place. 



