G L K A N I N G S IN B K K C U L T LJ K E 



Ou'VOBaa, 1921 





FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



M 



iiels will be flooded with sunlight, so that 

 the bees will be iu full flight almost as soon 

 as those in unpacked hives. In the spring, 

 if the bees are getting crowded for more 

 entrance space, all that is necessary is to 

 loosen the door just enough so that the bees 

 can pass between it and the front of the 

 ease. 



While this case is ratiier expensive, my 

 cases more than jiaid for themselves in in- 

 creased honey production the first year. I 

 have tried both flooring and ship lap for 

 the sides, but prefer the ship lap because it 

 is lighter in weight and less expensive. 



St. Charles, Iowa. Paul Laird. 



BUILT IN WINTER PACKING 



How Uniformly Successful Wintering is Accom- 

 plished in British Columbia 



The appliances and the methods used by 

 W. J. Sheppard, Chief Apiary Inspector for 

 British Columbia, were not evolved all at 

 once, as they have been the result of sev 

 eral years of close study and numerous ex 

 periments, until a system was worked out, 

 that, by its convincing results, in regard t(t 

 good wintering and large honey crops, acted 

 as such a strong inducement that almost 

 every beekeeper in this territory has adopt- 

 ed it of his own free will. Now one can 

 travel over this whole region and see a 

 large number of hives, all looking the same 

 and working the same This, as most bee- 



keepers know, is unusual among people who 

 keep bees. This much desired uniformity 

 reflects great credit on the educational 

 work carried on by Mr. Sheppard with lan- 

 tern slides and demonstrations. 



It must be understood that this system 

 was worked out entirely to suit the condi- 

 tions in this particular region where the 

 winters are long and cold, followed by a 

 prolonged building-up time and a late honey 



Tlie outer entriiiue is two inches deep, the upper 

 portion being covered with a strip of glass in win- 

 ter. 



Kxtra stories are added to the outer case as ad 

 ditional supers are put on. 



flow. The most striking example of the 

 suitability of the system was the man who 

 in 1919 obtained 2100 pounds of honey from 

 three colonies, spring count, and increased 

 to ten. 



The backbone of the whole system is the 

 Kootenay hive-case which is used all the 

 year round and always kept packed. This 

 hive-case provides a three-inch space for the 

 packing all around the hive and has a 

 packed bottom as well. The outer entrance 

 is two inches high and extends three inches 

 under the bridge to the hive-body. The en- 

 trance block fits in this space against the 

 hive-body. The inside entrance cut in this 

 block for winter use is three-eighths of an 

 inch by three inches. A very useful addi 

 tion that has been made, is a strip of glaiss 

 covering the upper part of the outside en- 

 trance, leaving a three-eigiith inch space 

 underneath. This makes a sort of sun porch 

 between back and front entrance, and in 

 actual practice has been found to cause all 

 dead bees to be carried out all the winter 

 long. With this glass the bees also fly far 

 less when the snow is on the ground. 



The bees are Avintered in a single ten- 

 frame brood-chamber of Langstroth frames. 

 In the spring a second hive-body is added, 

 which the queen soon occupies; then just 

 before the honey flow the queen is put down 

 again, and an excluder is put on to keep her 

 in the lower hive-body. Others are added 

 on top as necessary. Extra stories are also 

 added to the outer hive-case to keep pace 

 with the supers; consequently there is no 

 overheating from the hot sun, and the bees 

 neither have to stay at home to keep up 



