1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



239 



best thing-, and resort to chatT hives or their 

 equivalent. 



For winter use, chaff hives are all right; 

 thej' give verj' good results in wintering, 

 but the}' have some unpleasant features 

 which make them verj' objectionable for 

 summer use. To suit my individual notions 

 they are too clumsj', too heavy to handle, 

 and, what is still more anno3'ing, the}' are 

 not as accessible, supers as well as brood 

 nests, as our single-walled hives. To over- 

 come these objections I use now, after some 

 experimenting, an adjustable chaff-box, 

 which combines the advantages of a well- 

 built chaff hive with the easy, convenient 

 management of the single-walled hive. 



The accompanying illustration gives the 

 idea; a portion of the front and the chaff 

 jiacking is left awaj-. The box is made in 

 sections; sides, ends, top, and bottom, are 

 all separate. Each part is well cleated, 

 and fitted to its place. The cleats are all 

 on the inside. This may not be very es- 

 sential, but it makes a nicer, smoother job 

 in appearance, and prevents the water 

 from soaking in, which it would do if cleats 

 were on the outside. The whole structure 

 is held together bj' eig^ht square headed 

 three-inch wood screws, two at each corner, 

 and four two-inch screws of the s?me kind, 

 one in the middle of each side, and end at 

 the bottom. The top is simpl}' laid on; the 

 only fastenings are the end cleans, which 

 fit inside of the box to keep it from getting 

 out of place. A layer of roofing-paper is 

 tacked on to protect the whole from above. 

 The dimensions of the box are governed bv 

 size and number of hives, and our individ- 

 ual preferences. I allow about three inch- 



es of space all around for chaff" packing, 

 and put five colonies in one box. I have 

 tried larger boxes, holding- nine colonies; 

 but I found, while they are more economical 

 in regard to expense and labor, they are, 

 besides other disadvantages, too large to be 

 easily handled. 



We all know that bees find their homes 

 mainly by being- accustomed to their loca- 

 tion. Appearance, also, has a tendency to 

 keep them from going astray. We can 

 change either of these two factors (the for- 

 mer cautiously), and the other will be a 

 help to pilot them home. In packing for 

 winter we have to change both, and here is 

 where we have to use some precaution to 

 guard against loss of bees. As a rule, our 

 bees are more or less scattered over the 

 bee-3'ard during- our summer campaign. I 

 aim to have mine in rows of about eight or 

 nine feet apart, and from two to three feet 

 between the hives. In our chaft'-boxes, 

 with three inches of chaff" between them, 

 they have to stand nearly as closely as they 

 can without interfering with one another. 

 It would not do to move them from their 

 scattered position and place them in a new 

 habitation, so different in appearance, at 

 the same time, but it is strictly necessary 

 that thej' occupy the place they are to take 

 in their chaff-box, long before the attempt 

 to pack is made, to make sure that they are 

 well g.cquainted with their location. 



It may seem like a long job to move and 

 arrange all the colonies of an apiary from 

 their scattered positions into close-standing 

 sets of five and five, but it is not. If right- 

 Ij' managed, if we use a little forethought 

 during- the summer in placing our colonies, 





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G. c. gkkinkk's ti..n'i:.mknt win tf.king-casi': 



