104 PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING 



burning sulphur. Preventibri, however, is better 

 than cure, and if the combs are kept in a re- 

 ceptacle which is moth-tight there is small fear 

 of any harm coming to them. 



A wintering system, which has much to com- 

 mend it, is one known as the claustral detention 

 system. In this method the hives are fitted with a 

 special porch, which can be closed at will, and the 

 bees confined to the hive during inclement weather 

 in spring, or at any other time should the need 

 arise. Ventilation is provided for by means of 

 special tubes, and many other advantages are 

 claimed for this hive entrance, which was intro- 

 duced, by the Abbe Gouttefangeas. It^ is asserted 

 that bees have been confined for so long as five 

 months in this way, and it is certainly very 

 valuable in case of moving bees to new locations, 

 and in the making of artificial swarms, the pre- 

 vention of robbing, and the eradication of bee 

 diseases. In this latter case all that is necessary 

 is to close the hive up entirely. Then no robbers 

 can gain entrance, nor can the rightful inhabitants 

 escape. There is no fetching and carrying of 

 disease, and at the same time the medicinal treat- 

 ment of the affected colony can go on. 



