368 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Be§t Coverings for Over Frames 

 in Winter. 



Query 889.-What do you consider the 

 very best covering- for frames in winter, re- 

 gardless of cost ?— Iowa. 



Indian-head muslin. — Mks. L. Har- 

 rison. 



Quilts made out of burlap. — J. P. H. 

 Brown. 



I believe wood is as good as anything. 

 — A. J. Cook. 



Use a straw mat, or some other pervi- 

 ous texture. — Dadant & Son. 



Probably a mat made with ground 

 cork, or cork shavings. — Eugene Secor. 



Enameled cloth, with a good non- 

 conductor on top of it. — H. D. Cutting. 



A sheet of best cotton-cloth, and a 4- 

 inch deep sawdust cushion. — G. M. Doo- 



LITTLE. 



I don't know. Possibly a very thin 

 board with a pile of bed clothes over it. 

 — C. C. Miller. 



Burlap, covered with sawdust or shav- 

 ings to a depth of six or eight inches. — 

 J. H. Larrabee. 



A flat board cover is good enough for 

 me ; perhaps a large bag off chaff might 

 be better. — R. L. Taylor. 



We use a solid honey-board, with 

 straw or chaff cushions over them. We 

 winter our bees on the summer stands. 

 — E. France. 



A cushion of dry, powdered leaves. 

 The point with me is something porous, 

 with outlet in cover for all dampness. — 

 Will M. Barnum. 



A " duck " spread, with five inches of 

 chaff above. Put four or five corncobs 

 crosswise on the frames, before putting 

 on the spread. — Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



An inch board ; but it is not always 

 the most convenient. With my method 

 of placing a cake of sugar candy on top 

 of the frames, a cloth and a half dozen 

 old newspapers are better. — Emerson T. 

 Abbott. 



Pieces of old rag carpet are as good as 

 anything. Three or four inches of chaff, 

 or dry absorbent of any kind on top of 

 it, makes a nice winter cover. Sealed 

 covers are a failure with me. — C. H. 



DiBBERN. 



A piece of old carpet, with five or six 

 inches of forest leaves pressed in over it. 

 This, if a large entrance is given, will 

 allow moisture to pass off imperceptibly 

 above, retain the heat, and ventilate the 

 hive sufficiently. — J. E. Pond. 



In this climate (Ky.) a solid board 

 made of soft wood — poplar or pine — put 

 on in time for the bees to glue it tight, 

 over which a second cover goes to keep 

 all dry. A "cloth" will do, but you 

 ask for the best. — G. W. Demaree. 



In this country (Texas) common duck, 

 stretched on a board, and one side 

 dipped in melted beeswax. Place on the 

 hive waxside down, and it is not only 

 best for winter, but for all times, as the 

 bees do not cut holes in them. — Mrs. 

 Jennie Atchley. 



That depends upon the hive, and 

 whether wintered in-doors or out. Out- 

 doors I should use a quilt cover with a 

 few inches of buckwheat chaff; in the 

 cellar, we use a quilt cover with a board. 

 In a very damp cellar the board might 

 be left off, if the quilt is thick. — P. H. 

 Elwood. 



I expect that cork shavings is the very 

 best. My plan is to fill the spaces be- 

 tween the frames with strips of wood so 

 as to keep the bees below the top-bars ; 

 put burlap over the tops of the frames, 

 and on the burlap three or four inches 

 of dry sawdust. I think that passages 

 over the tops of the frames are worse 

 than useless for out-door wintering. — M. 

 Mahin. 



Late years I have about come to the 

 conclusion that anything which will 

 make the top of the hive air-tight is all 

 right. Enameled cloth or wooden covers 

 made tight with bee-glue during warm 

 weather,and left on undisturbed through 

 the winter, have given good results. 

 Some will tell you that tight covers will 

 be death to the bees, and others just as 

 emphatic that the porous covering will 

 kill them. What would be the very best 

 covering for wioter would depend upon 

 what condition the bees were in, where 

 to be wintered, etc. — S. I. Freeborn. 



A Binder for holding a year's num- 

 bers of the Bee Journal we mail for 

 only 50 cents; or clubbed with the 

 Journal for $1.40. 



