BEE; CULTURE. 



1083 



Fig. 1466.— Bee-hive Tent Folded. 



ready to winter, by simply 



putting a thick chaff cushion 



over them. This cushion is 



made by taking two pieces of 



burlap, 90 inches wide, and the 



other way clear across the roll (40 inches) ; sew these together so as 



to make a single endless seam, and leave the last corner open Until 



the chaff is put in. Do not pack it tight, but loosely. Six inches 



' of chaff over the bees will be sufficient. 



If the winter is very severe, a swarm which would densely cover 

 five or six combs would be mudh safer than a smaller one. 



Straw mats to put over the bees have been in use many years, 

 with excellent results ; but it has been found a difficult matter to 

 have them fit as closely over the cluster as do the chaff cushions, and 

 they are not as neat and tidy. 



Storing and Marketing Comb Honey. , 



For marketing comb honey the greatest care should be exer- 

 cised in the preparation of packing or shipping cases. A very good 



Fig. 1467. — Clark's Cold-blast Smoker. 



and convenient case is one composed of about two comb sections 

 In hight, four feet long (just as they stand in the hive) by six feet 

 wide. This would make just forty-eight sections, and they would 

 weigh just about a pound each. The glass is to slide in at the up- 

 per edge after the box is all made. The end-boards are of seven- 

 eighths stuff, nine and a half inches wide by twelve long. They are 

 rabbeted at both upper and lower edges to let in the tops and bot- 

 toms, which are of three-eighths stuff. The ends of the end-boards 

 are also rabbeted just enough to receive the glass ; this is done by a 

 single saw-cut. Strips of three-eighths stuff, one and a half inches 

 wide, are put across above and below the glass, and nailed into the 



