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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 26, 



Cot;)tnbutcd /Vrticles> 



On Inijtnrtnnf A-i>iarInn Subjects. 



Packing Bees in a Shed for Winter. 



BY C. E. MEAD. 



I started to give the way I winter bees in a two-story 

 brood-chamber, with four division-boards (see page 488), but 

 I did not tell why I put the ^-inch board over the 7Ji space 

 before packing the spaces between the sides of the hive and 

 division-boards. Well, I do not want to get any cha£F in the 

 TK-inch center space wliere I am going to put the frames of 

 bees and honey. I use this board in packing the lower story 

 as well as the second. 



Second, I have never found anything that would keep 

 division-boards exactly where wanted, with as little trouble 

 as one screw and two nails to each board, as I described. If 

 the hive-covers project at least two inches over the sides and 

 ends of the hives, and have a drip cleat nailed on the under 

 side at the ends and sides, no snow or rain will get in ; and if 

 raised H inch, the packing will be as dry, as the cover is 

 water-proof, and if a little snow does blow in, it will all dry 

 out before it will melt to dampen the packing. 



Correction : Read, I am as sure of wintering these small 

 nuclei as I am the strong colonies under them. Why ? They 

 have only a 2x?^.inch entrance through a wood tube, and are 

 a.s warm as the big colony below, and make as big colonies by 

 June 1. 



To pack eight hives of bees in a shed : Lay three 16x1 

 foot boards on six solid level 2x4:'s edgewise, and nail. Have 

 this run north and south, if possible On the west side toe-nail 

 three 2x4's 3 feet high, and nail three Kixl footboards. Toe- 

 natl three 2x-l:'s, and 4 feet long, 2.K feet from the west side, 

 one at each end, and one in the center. Nail a 1x4 inch to 

 the tops of the east ar)d west 2x4 inch. For a roof use four 

 16 feet by 1 foot by 1 inch; water-light boards will do. The 

 first will project over the west side 3 inches. Put on the 

 others with 23.2-inch lap over the lower board; nail up the 

 ends of the shed. 



You now have a shed, inside measure, 15 feet and 10 

 inches long, by 2 feet and 6 inches wide. Gradually move the 

 hives around to the east side of this shed, the entrance facing 

 the east, and in front of the exact position they are to be in 

 the shed. Do this in September. Now is a good time to get 

 them where you want them. Do not move them over 3 feet 

 per day, less if they are near together now. 



Make a bridge wide enough to go over the bottom-board, 

 and 33.2 inches high by 5 inches wide. Cover the bottom of 

 the shed with old paper, the thicker the better. Now [lace 

 each hive just 2 feet and 2 inches from the front of the hive 

 to the back of the shed — space them equidistant, and raise the 

 back of the hive, if Uic frames are endwise U'itJi the eiitnincc, ; 

 if not, set level. Put the bridges against the hives, and toe- 

 nail the front ends. (A bridge for a 10-frame Langstroth is 

 one board 1 foot and H>^ by 3 inches ; and two boards 5x3 

 inches. Nail the 5x3 under and even with the ends of the 

 1 foot and 63^ by 5 inches, the 5 inches with the 5 inches.) 



Now nail the first 16-foot board on in front, and resting 

 on top of the eight bridged entrances of the hives. Fit in 

 pieces between the bridges. Pack between, hehind, and in 

 /7'o?it of each hive, even with the top of the board. Nail on 

 another 16-foot board, packing as before. Now nail the 

 third, and pack at least one foot above the tops of the hives. 



N. B.— Bees winter better in a 2-story hive — heavy combs 

 in the top hive, light ones below. Nail on a board to cover 

 the open space at the top. Have plenty of honey, and do not 

 unpack until you want to put on the surplus fixtures, or until 

 they begin to swarm. Chicago, III, Aug. 23. 



Why Do Bees Swarm ? — Kingbirds. 



BY ELIA8 FOX. 



As explained by Mr. Morrow, page 503, 1 am compelled 

 to say with Dr. Miller. "I don't know," and I think Mr. Mor- 

 row would be just as near the solution had he, too, said "I 

 don't know." The only portion of the solution that to me 

 seems to be a fact, is this : Those tliat love the old queen 

 must take her and leave. I saw something once several years 

 ago that would look as if there might be something in this. 



I always have my queens' wings clipped, and conse- 



quently I am, as a rule, present when a swarm issues, and this 

 particular time a first swarin issued between 5 and 6 o'clock 

 p m., but no queen came, and of course the swarm returned. 

 But before they were all in the hive, they swarmed again with 

 the same result, and they returned the second time ; but in a 

 very few moments they again swarmed out, and they were all 

 out of the hive with the exception of an occasional bee or two, 

 when two bees appeared on the alighting-board -pulling the 

 queen with thiim, and off on the ground. One had hold of a 

 wing and the other a leg. She was caged, and the swarm 

 hived, and everything se?med perfectly satisfactory. This is 

 the only case of the kind I ever saw. 



Sometimes I find the queen out about as soon as the bees 

 get fairly started ; at other times, when about half out, and 

 at other times she fails to appear at all, and on removing the 

 cover from the upper story, I find her, apparently greatly ex- 

 cited, and ready to come out at once. This looks as if she was 

 as anxious to leave the old hive as the bees. If she was not, 

 after the bees are nearly all out, under the excitement that is 

 always apparent at this time, what is to hinder her from de- 

 stroying at least a portion of the uiihatched queens, if she felt 

 so disposed ? It seems to me it would be very poor reasoning 

 to think the bees should put forth so much effort to rear so 

 many bees, and especially to stop to rear young queens before 

 they could increase the supply of bees when the basswood 

 honey would be harvested before the young queens would be- 

 gin to lay. 



Experience teaches me that bees swarm more for the want 

 of room than from all other causes put together, and they 

 don't always make this eight-day preparation, either, for I 

 have had them swarm many a time without a sign of a queen- 

 cell started ; yet I find an occasional swarm that shows no 

 disposition to swarm — they will fill every available corner in 

 the hive, and unless given more room, they will spread them- 

 selves over the front of the hive and ground, as much as to 

 say, "We have our house full, and are contented." Just why 

 we have all of these different conditions, I think the best of 

 us can say, " I don't know." 



I can corroborate the statement of Mr. Nash, on page 

 504, in regard to kingbiids catching bees, for I have seen 

 them catch hundreds of them, and it is always the incoming 

 bees loaded with honey. I never saw the disgorging, but 

 from his statement, and the fact of their not catching the out- 

 going bees, it would look as if they caught them for the honey 

 alone. Hillsboro, Wis. 



What Dr. Miller Thinks. 



Dry Barrelsi for Honey. — It's worth while to repeat 

 the injunction of Chas. Dadant, on page 581, to keep barrels 

 for honey in a dry place. It seems so natural to think they 

 must be kept in the cellar, and to think that a dry barrel will 

 leak. Once I put some hot syrup into a tub. Next morning 

 I found it all over the floor. The tub had been soaked with 

 water, and hot syrup had such an affinity forthe water that it 

 drew it out, shrinking the wood so it would not hold the syrup. 

 The honey does the same thing if the staves of a barrel are 

 wet. 



Prrserving Combs. — If salting down combs, as given by 

 Mr. Golden, on page 582, will properly preserve them, it's a 

 good thing to know. There may be times when it is conven- 

 ient to protect them thus. Generally, however, it is best to 

 let the bees take care of them. Each colony can care for 

 three or four times as many combs as it needs for its own use. 

 The only time when there need be any trouble is during the 

 harvest when working for comb honey, for a colony will not 

 work in sections if it has plenty of empty combs : but at that 

 time the empty combs are likely to be used for swarms, or a 

 few colonies can be run for extracted, each one taking care of 

 40 combs or more. 



Home-Made Comb Foundation. — The replies on page 

 595 seem to indicate that, like everything else, the making of 

 comb foundation is being given over to specialists. Of those 

 who reply, three buy for every one who makes, and some who 

 formerly made now buy. I suppose the same thing holds with 

 regard to other things used by bee-keepers. Formerly each 

 man made his own hives and surplus boxes; now not one 

 in a hundred makes hives, and not one in a thousand makes 

 sections. It's better so. Marengo, 111. 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 



should be an agent for it, and set all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See offers on page 627. 



