1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



297 



out of the question to depend upon artificial 

 means to keep the combs warm. We sel- 

 dom have such weather as would be neces- 

 sary to prevent brood cooling off to a point 

 of danger, and therefore I deem it a ruin- 

 ous practice to leave unprotected brood to 

 its fate in the way mentioned. There are 

 better and safer ways to make increase. 

 Naples, N. Y., Jan. 24, 1905. 



HIVES PACKED IN MAPLE LEAVES. 

 Wintering Bees in an Open Shed Outdoors. 



BY W. H. KIRBY. 



The photo which I send you shows my 

 method of wintering bees, which I have fol- 

 lowed for the last 20 years with success. 



space at the back, maple leaves are crowded 

 in as closely as I can pack them, right up 

 to the top of the hives. The front is left 

 open, but a board stands on edge across the 

 front of the hives to keep the sun from 

 shining in the entrances, though not high 

 enough to keep it from shining on the ends 

 of the hives above the entrances, so it can 

 melt the ice that forms on the inside on cold 

 cloudy days and nights. Entrances are left 

 open from two to three inches, and are 

 raked out with a heavy hooked wire every 

 week, and in severe weather are looked 

 after, so they don't get filled up with ice 

 from the moisture coming from the bees.*! I 

 am convinced that bees packed as described 

 will winter successfully in much colder cli- 

 mates than this. 

 Oshawa, Ont., Feb. 16. 



WINTERING BEES IN AN OPEN SHED OUTDOORS. 



After the severe test of last winter, when 

 all the colonies came through safely, I con- 

 sider it a perfect system for outdoor winter- 

 ing of bees. 



The little sheds are 12 ft. long, 3 ft. high 

 in front, and 2 ft. high at back. The roof 

 is in four sections, cleated together ; the 

 whole rests on a floor. The hives rest on 

 2X2 strips. There are seven hives in each 

 shed, spaced evenly. The covers of hives 

 are deep, and are clamped on so the leaves 

 won't raise them up. Under each cover is 

 placed a box 4 inches deep, with burlap bot- 

 tom, filled with wheat chaff. This chaff-box 

 is the same size as the hive-body, and rests 

 on the hive true and even. Between the 

 hives, and under them, and in an eight-inch 



THE PRODUCTION OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 



How to Get Quantity and Quality at the Same 

 Time. 



BY VIRGIL WEAVER. 



I want a few words in regard to "Quali- 

 ty, not Quantity. " discussed nearly a year 

 ago in Gleanings. As between the two, 

 and as I am in it for the dollars, I will take 

 quantity in preference to quality, as your 

 correspondent put it. The very idea of put- 

 ting one 40-lb. super on a colony of bees 

 and letting it remain until after the honey- 

 flow! That will do for a man who has plen- 

 ty of money, but not for me. I will tell 

 how to get quality and quantity at the same 



