574 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



On this frame nail a top of good, 

 matched lumber — the thinner the lumber 

 the lighter the hive will be when com- 

 plete. Let the front edges of the top be 

 even with the front ends of the side 

 pieces, and cut an entrance in this top, 

 ^xlO inches, equidistant from the sides, 

 and 5 inches back from the front edge, 

 giving it about the same slant as the 

 alighting-board, nail a bottom to the 

 frame (the tighter and lighter the better), 

 and paint the sides and ends. On this 

 foundation build the hive, and neither 

 heat, cold, snow, rain nor ice shall pre- 

 vail against it. 



SOME OF ITS ADVANTAGES. 



Standing or hanging frames stand 

 squarely on this bottom, their front ends 

 in front of the entrance. No extra time 

 or strength is required for the bees to 

 clean their hive, as the dead bees, etc., 

 roll down and out from the inside of the 

 bottom of the hive. 



The upper part of the alighting-board 

 is cool on the hottest days, being in the 

 shade, so the guards are always outside 

 the entrance, ready for robbers as they 

 alight. These same guards are out of 

 sight, and do not bother so much when 

 manipulating the hive, or passing back 

 of or by its sides. 



The alighting-board being protected 

 from the wind, the loaded bees, when 

 tired, get in quicker. The entrance 

 being in the bottom of the hive, they 

 have a shorter distance to crawl with 

 their loads. 



Eobbers are driven away easier and 

 quicker down hill than on a level. 



No rain or snow will be driven into 

 the hive, and ice cannot form in the 

 entrance. 



In packing or unpacking the entrance 

 is no bother. 



The sun does not shine on the en- 

 trance in Winter, causing the bees to 

 come out and perish on the ice or snow. 



The bottom of the hive, protected by 

 its 4 inches of dead air, will be free from 

 moisture. The list could be extended, 

 but this will answer. 



A box the size of the bottom, and 6 

 inches higher than the hive to be used, 

 is made, as light as possible, well 

 painted, and water-tight. A couple of 

 headless wire nails driven part way into 

 the bottom, fitting into corresponding 

 small holes in the lower edges of the 

 box, holds it securely against all comers. 

 A well-painted, water-tight top, very 

 light, of the gable pattern, is used. The 

 eaves project, and the ends telescope 

 down over the box enough to make it 

 rest solid. In each gable end a large 



auger hole is made, into which is fitted a 

 wire bee-escape, which any one can make 

 for less than 5 cents per dozen. 



The best paint is " Prince's Metallic ;" 

 it costs, dry, from 13^ to 3 cents per 

 pound, and is dark brown. One pound 

 will cover as much surface as 2 pounds 

 of common paint, and will last three 

 times as long. It is 79 per cent, pure 

 iron. Do not confound it with the other 

 brown paints made of burnt earth, com- 

 monly sold as "railroad" or "barn" 

 paints. The genuine will turn very 

 much darker after being used, owing to 

 the action of the air on the iron. 



PKOTECTION OF SINGLE-WALLED HIVES. 



In the Fall, as soon as there is danger 

 of frost, I see that each hive has enough 

 stores for Winter, and enough sawdust 

 is dumped in with a scoop shovel to fill 

 each outside box to the top, care being 

 taken that it packs down even, but not 

 too tight, the top is put on, and— there 

 you are ! 



Mr. Heddon wants the top down tight 

 on the sawdust, but I do not. If the 

 roof is as tight as it should be, some 

 moisture will accumulate in the sawdust 

 underneath. The sawdust must be dry 

 to keep in the heat and absorb the mois- 

 ture from th-e bees, for on this their 

 health depends, therefore, the pitch of 

 the roof is full of air, which circulates 

 freely through the large auger holes in 

 the gables, the brown paint absorbs all 

 the heat available, the heat and free 

 circulating air keeps the sawdust dry, 

 the dry sawdust keeps the bees warm 

 and dry — the two requisites for their 

 safe wintering on a minimum of stores. 

 Some moisture comes in under the lower 

 edge of the outside box, but rapidly drys 

 out, because of the construction of the 

 bottom-board. 



The climate here is dry, but where it 

 is not dry, the outside box should be 

 large enough to slip down over the bot- 

 tom-board a half inch, and rest on 

 cleats. When the indications are for zero 

 weather, I cork up all but a half inch of 

 the entrance with paper — a little of such 

 air goes a long ways — and leave it until 

 Spring, as it keeps out robbers, and 

 economizes heat. If the bees need more 

 passageway, they will eat it out. As 

 the sun never shines on hive or entrance, 

 they do not come out when they would 

 be lost by the cold. They come out 

 whenever the air is warm enough, as it 

 penetrates the hives. A flight or two 

 during the Winter, often means life or 

 death to them. During the mild days of 

 Spring, their house holds heat well, and 



