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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



doubt if it pays. I prefer to use a frame 

 so shallow that holes are unnecessary. 

 With a shallow frame, double brood- 

 chamber hive, there is a free communi- 

 cation directly through the center of the 

 hive. 2. Yes, provided the hives are 

 not moved more than a foot or two from 

 their usual position. — Jas. A. Geeen. 



1. We give our bees room to get out 

 and in the hive during the winter 

 months, but not as much room as in 

 summer. Our frames let the bees have 

 room over them, also around the sides. 

 I don't want any holes through the 

 combs. 2. No. With our quadruple 

 hives, there are four in each cluster, 

 and that is all I would put together. — 

 E. France. 



1. I do not know what the most ap- 

 proved ventilation is. I simply leave 

 the entrance to the hive wide open, let 

 It be large or small. I prefer to let the 

 bees pass over the tops of the frames, 

 but a cake of sugar candy should be 

 placed above the passage-way to make 

 sure that no bees died from starvation. 

 2. In my opinion nothing is gained by 

 so doing. — Emekson T. Abbott. 



1. Bottom ventilation with a half- 

 inch hole in front of the hive one-third 

 the way up from the bottom. It is easier 

 to provide a passage-way over the top of 

 the frames than to make holes through 

 the comb — either would answer the pur- 

 pose. 2. I have wintered a good many 

 colonies in clamps, ten or twelve in a 

 clamp, set close together, all covered ex- 

 cept a small part of the front. — S. I. 

 Freeborn. 



1. All the ventilation required is what 

 will go through the absorbing material 

 with which the hive should be packed. 

 A small hole should be left near the top 

 in the outer case. A bee-space should 

 be left over the frames in some way. 

 Holes through the combs are good, but 

 require too much attention to keep them 

 open. 2. Yes, it is a good plan where 

 but few hives are to be cared for. — C. H. 

 Dibbern. 



1. With the entrance clear, a porous 

 covering above, and a half-inch hole in 

 the cover — the ventilation will ba all 

 right. But be sure to keep the entrance 

 clear. By all means, have a good double 

 bee-space above the frames. Use a 

 Hill's device, or two or three corncobs. 

 2. When convenient, I would place the 

 hives together — it insures considerable 

 warmth and protection. — W.M.Barnum. 



This query is to the pointy and should 

 be fully understood by all bee-keepers 

 who follow out-door wintering. Refer- 



ing to my answer to Query 902, it will 

 be seen how bees may be safely packed 

 for winter, and it only remains to give 

 the proper ventilation. I give an en- 

 trance 7/16 inch deep by 11 inches 

 long. It is left open in winter. Over 

 the brood-frames I use a single thickness 

 of heavy duck cloth which costs 3 cents 

 to the hive. This I lay flat on the 

 frames. In ray 7-inch brood-frames the 

 bees always go under the combs in going 

 from frame to frame in winter. In a 

 deep frame I should place two or three 

 small sticks ,Vi-inch apart crosswise of 

 the frames, and lay the cloth over them. 

 The "Hill's device" gives too much 

 open space. I put on the cloth late (so 

 the bees will not gnaw and pull at it or 

 wax it), and take it off early in the 

 spring, and replace by a thin board. 

 Over the cloth I use 4 or 5 inches of 

 packing. No holes are made about the 

 top of the winter case or cover for the 

 wind to sweep through, but all air that 

 circulates (and it does circulate) must 

 go through small cracks or spaces about 

 the top of the hive. Any large holes or 

 openings allow a draft through the hive, 

 and will predispose to bee-diarrhea. In 

 other words, the ventilation must be the 

 slow, gradual escape of the air which 

 steadily pours in at the entrance, and 

 must come out at the top of the hive so 

 as not to create what is called a draft. 

 The air just outside of the cluster of 

 bees, on a cold day, is from 50^ to 60°, 

 according to how near to the cluster the 

 temperature be taken. If the tempera- 

 ture without is only zero, or a few de- 

 grees above, the cold air goes in at the 

 entrance with some force to fill the 

 vacuum created by the heat about the 

 bees. If this air goes out of the top of 

 the hive in a draft, the heat of the bees 

 will be carrird with it ; hence the neces- 

 sity that the top of the hive above the 

 brood-frames should be as tight as ordi- 

 nary mechanical skill can make it — 

 there seems to be no danger of getting it 

 too tight for the air to get out. With 

 this kind of ventilation the combs of the 

 hive will always remain dry and free 

 from mold, and in the spring the bees 

 will come out with that shining luster 

 of their bodies — that sleek appearance 

 which shows at once their vigor and 

 health. 2. I do not approve of moving a 

 lot of hives together. It takes too much 

 labor for the doubtful advantage 

 gained. — G. L. Tinker. 



Onc-4^«'nt Postage Stamps we 



prefer whenever it is necessary to send 

 stamps for fractions of a dollar. By re- 

 membering this, you will gi'eatly oblige us. 



