274 DR. miller's 



(c) Would it be safe to wrap the hives with extra heavy . 

 tarred felt, with no other protection? (Wisconsin.) 



A. (a) Yes. (b) The equivalent of two or three square inches 

 will probably do well where you are, the latter for a very strong 

 colony. 



(c) Probably, but something depends upon the exposure of the 

 situation. If exposed to the full force of the winds, it will be hard 

 tc wrap the hive warm enough, but in a situation well sheltered 

 from the winds there will be little trouble. 



Q. Do those who winter bees on the summer stands need to 

 scrape out the dead bees? 



A. It is better, of course, to have the dead bees cleaned out. 

 With the usual shallow entrance, and shallow space under bot- 

 tom-bars, it may be absolutely necessary; for the entrance, other- 

 wise, may become entirely clogged with dead bees. With a deeper 

 space under the bottom-bars, and entrance at the upper part of 

 the space, cleaning out the dead bees is not so important. 



Wintering on Super-Combs. — Q. (a) I ran short of beehives 

 and have about five swarms which I hived in shallow supers used 

 for extracted honey. They have ten shallow frames. I wish to 

 know what you would do with them, unite them with other 

 swarms, or let them winter in these supers, and in the spring put 

 them in the regular hive? 



(b) How would you go about it to put them in the regular 10- 

 frame hive? 



A. (a) Unless they are weak and you want to unite them with 

 other weaklings, better let them winter as they are. 



(b) In the spring set the shallow story over the regular hive, 

 which should have frames filled with foundation. When brood 

 appears in the lower story, put a queen-excluder between the two 

 stories, making sure that the queen is in the lower story. Eight 

 or ten days later kill any queen-cells that may be in the upper 

 story. 



Wintering in Two-Story Hives. — Q. A Tennessee beekeeper 

 writes that he wintered most of his 180 colonies in two-story hives 

 and he never had such strong colonies; some had IS brood-frames. 

 Why wouldn't that be the best way to do every winter? 



A. With very strong colonies the plan is excellent. 



Wiring Frames. — Q. Is it necessary to wire shallow extract- 

 ing-frames when medium brood foundation is used? 



A. Hardly, especially if care be taken at the first extracting. 



