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comes on. Where the main honey flow comes on later in the sea- 

 son, this early brood rearing is of no advantage, but here in 

 Iowa bees need careful attention to get them in condition early 

 enough as a rule. In these packing cases bees sometimes are 

 strong enough to store some surplus from fruit bloom. 



E. E. Townsend, of Fort Dodge, Webster county, is using a 

 packing box, the sides of which are fastened together with metal 

 hooks, and which can be taken apart and piled up in neat piles 

 after use. Mr. Townsend also makes a packing case of the cor- 

 rugated paper shipping cases in which groceries and provisions 

 are shipped. 



Frank Coverdale of Delmar, Clinton county, reports that he 

 has almost perfect results from packing several colonies in an 

 outer case with five or six inches of chaff on all sides. Chaff 

 hives gave liini good results in ordinary winters, but he has lost 

 as high as fifty per cent in severe winters. He now winters in 

 the cellar. 



B. A. Aldrich of Smithland, Woodbury county, winters a few 

 of his colonies in tenement hives, with leaves for packing. He 

 reports that they build up a little earlier in the spring, and that 

 the brood will always be found on the side of the hive next to its 

 neighbor where the extra heat helps to keep up the temperature. 



Fig. 8— The packing boxes may be used for chicken coops in summer. 



