212 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15 



OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



Packing Colonies in Straw in a Shed. 



BY W. T. DAVISON. 



During the winter of 1903 I tried absorb- 

 ents in supers. I did not lose a colony ; but 

 some of the forest leaves used for packing 

 in supers got wet, and I am satisfied they 

 were injurious to the bees; so last winter I 

 took off my supers and placed the excelsior 

 cover directly on the brood body. I did this 

 before it turned cold, as the bees must have 

 warm weather to do a good job of gluing the 

 cover down air-tight, and I also laid a stone 

 on each hive to hold the cover down solid. 

 My hives are in a shed with a floor, and 

 banked up with plank. Hives are about ten 

 inches apart, and ten inches from the back 

 wall. 



deep on top of the hives. Then I lay plank 

 on top of the straw to hold it down solid. 

 The straw must be kept dry. If it should 

 get wet and freeze, the bees may not do 

 well. I build the shed facing the south, so 

 the sun will shine on the front of the hives in 

 winter, and sometimes the hot sun shining 

 in at the entrance will cause the bees to 

 think warm weather has come, and they 

 will fly out when the wind is from the north, 

 and so cold that they become chilled and 

 drop to the ground and die. To avoid this 

 just set a board on the ground and lean it 

 up against the front end of the hive. This 

 will shade the entrance at noon, and will 

 also keep a cold south wind from blowing in 

 at the entrance. When the air outdoors 

 gets warm enough for bees to fly, take the 

 board down and let the bees have a good 

 flight. I think that Mr. G. M. Doolittle was 



W. T. DAVISON'S METHOD OF PACKING BEES IN STRAW FOR OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



To begin fixing for the straw to pack with 

 I take lathing or any thing that is handy, 

 and either nail these strips on the front part 

 of the hive just under the cover, or fix them 

 so they will be held firmly against the front 

 end of the brood body. When the laths are 

 made fast, get boards or plank and set them 

 on end between each hive at the front end, 

 and let them rest against the lathing. These 

 boards should be long enough to reach about 

 a foot above the hive. 



Now we are ready for the straw. Get 

 good dry wheat or oats straw. I am very 

 careful to place the straw in between and 

 back of the hives so that it will be perfect- 

 ly solid. I use straw until the hives are com- 

 pletely covered. The straw must be one foot 



the first to write about using a board in 

 front of the hive. The idea is valuable. I 

 have seen my bees lying dead on the snow 

 by the thousands, just for the want of a 

 board like this. Before I used this way of 

 packing my bees for winter I lost bees eve- 

 ry winter; but since I have used this method 

 I have not lost a colony. I believe I can 

 winter my bees as well (or better) outdoors 

 packed in this way as I could in the average 

 cellar. 



Don't think this is an easy place to winter 

 bees. The weather is so changeable that I 

 am satisfied the same amount of packing 

 that it takes here would do fully as well in 

 the northern part of this State. 



I leave this straw on my bees until it is 



