AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



783 



first lay three or four corncobs or sticks 

 across the frames to hold the cloth up, 

 and give the bees a passageway over the 

 frames. On top of the cloth put about 

 four inches of dry chaff, and cover tight. 

 Close the entrance to from two to four 

 inches, according to the strength of the 

 colony. — Mks. J. N. Heatek. 



Give full width of entrance. Allow 

 one inch space over the top of the 

 frames, Fill above that with 5 or 6 

 inches of forest leaves, pressed loosely 

 down ; the idea being to allow moisture 

 to pass off through the top of the hive 

 imperceptibly, with ventilation through 

 entrance. The so-called " Hill's device" 

 is as good a means as any to give space 

 above the tops of the frames. Its equiv- 

 alent in any form may be used with 

 equal advantage. — J. E. Pond. 



Chaff is probably the most popular 

 packing. I prefer something porous 

 above, over corncobs or a "Hill's de- 

 vice," and t'nen a couple quarter-inch 

 ventilating holes in the cover. The 

 chaff can be used in sacks, or without. 

 Take out useless combs, insert division- 

 boards, and pour in the chaff. Leaves, 

 when dry, are also good. Paper is a 

 good, warm material. Many build an 

 outside case, and fill in all around; this 

 is undoubtedly better still. Have some 

 kind of protection on the windward side. 

 — Will M. Baknum. 



My way of packing hives of bees that 

 has been successful for nine years, is as 

 follows: I use a thin outer case (which 

 has a bottom and a cover) for a thin, 

 single-walled, storifying hive that may 

 be used the year around in the case, or 

 taken out at any time and used as a 

 single hive. The case is 3 inches larger 

 all around than the hive, and there is 

 left a space of 6 inches between the 

 brood-frames and the cover. To pack 

 this case I have used dry forest leaves, 

 dry planer shavings, white poplar ex- 

 celsior ; wheat, oat, and clover chaff, 

 and dry sawdust. After all these years 

 I find the first three to be the best in 

 the order named, although either one 

 makes a reliable packing that may be 

 saved each spring and used from year to 

 year. The poorest of all is dry sawdust 

 — it is in fact worse than no packing, as 

 it takes up the dampness and holds it. 

 It should be borne in mind that the thin 

 outer case is a good protection in itself, 

 and, with a warm cushion over the 

 frames, will winter quite well with 

 scarcely any dampness of the inside hive 

 or outer case. But the bees consume 

 far less stores and winter best with good 

 packing. — G. L. Tinker. 



tkik^Am^tk^i 



How I Became a Bee-Keeper. 



Written for the American Bee Jotirnal 

 BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



When I was quite a small boy, father 

 took a colony of bees of a neighbor liv- 

 ing about a mile distant, to keep on 

 shares, each to have half of the surplus 

 boney and half of the increase. In 

 those days section-boxes were unknown, 

 and the honey was obtained by " brim- 

 stoning " the bees. Thus, when fall 

 came, the neighbor and my father would 

 look over the bees and decide how many 

 and which colonies should be killed, 

 after which the honey obtained was 

 divided equally between them. If more 

 was obtained than was needed in the 

 family, it was taken to town and ex- 

 changed for groceries, boots, etc., the 

 best and whitest always being taken for 

 this purpose. 



I well remember the pails of beautiful, 

 snow-white combs carried to town, 

 which was obtained from second and 

 third swarms, thought to be too light to 

 winter, while all the darker combs and 

 those filled with bee-bread, were left at 

 home for our consumption, to be used in 

 the shape of "strained honey." As per- 

 haps many of the readers of the Bee 

 Journal do not know how honey was 

 strained in olden times, I will tell how 

 mother did it, for this part of the work 

 was always allotted to her ; 



The combs were chopped up till every 

 cell was broken, and then put into a bag 

 made of thin cotton-cloth. This bag 

 was then hung close to the fire, and 

 allowed to drain all it would into a ves- 

 sel placed underneath. The quality of 

 honey so gotten out was pretty nearly 

 equal to our extracted honey, if no 

 dark or inferior honey was in the combs. 

 After all had drained out that would do 

 so by hanging by the fire, a large pan 

 was placed in the oven, and several long 

 sticks placed across the top, when the 

 bag was placed on the sticks ; the oven 

 was then kept as warm as possible and 



