WINTERING OUTDOORS 
900 
Fig. 8.-—The Holtermann four-hive packing-case. Notice the three %-inch entrance holes. Notice 
also that there is no projecting ledge or doorstep to catch snow and ice, thus closing the holes, causing 
the death of the bees. 
well as the ends, sides, and tops. In a cli¬ 
mate not generally subject to continued 
zero weather these double-walled hives with 
two inches of packing on the sides, ends, 
and bottom, and four inches on top, with a 
restricted entrance, give very good results; 
but in such hives a ten-frame colony should 
be squeezed down to eight frames, and an 
eight down to seven. The space should be 
filled on either side with division-boards 
or packing. A very good way is to wrap 
a comb, preferably one containing honey, 
in a newspaper in such a way that when it 
is inserted in the hive it will close up the 
space between the end-bars and the ends of 
the hive, the bottom-bar, and the bottom, 
and the top-bar and the cover. One of 
these frames should be put on each side. 
The purpose of these wrapped frames is 
to reduce the size of the brood-nest. To¬ 
ward spring the bees will gnaw away the 
paper, and that releases the stores. More¬ 
over, the wrapped frames will increase the 
thickness of the side protection. The top of 
the hive should have a tray containing four 
or five inches of planer shavings or leaves 
as shown on page 896, Fig. 3. During the 
coldest part of the winter the entrance 
should be contracted (provided there is bot¬ 
tom packing) to a space one inch wide by 
three-eighths inch high. If bottom packing 
is used, the experts of the Bureau of Ento¬ 
mology recommend a single % or % inch 
hole. 
WINTERING BEES UNDER A SHED. 
Some beekeepers practice putting their 
colonies under a shed or a series of sheds, 
packing straw between the hives, on top of 
them and behind them. It is customary to 
have the front of the shed face south or 
east, leaving the back toward the north or 
west, or toward any direction from which 
the prevailing winds come. 
The objection to the plan is the expense 
and the trouble of moving the bees out of 
the shed for summer handling. There is a 
further objection, that it is not practicable 
to pack the front of the hives that are left 
exposed. Taking it all in all, the arrange¬ 
ment is not recommended. 
WINTERING BEES IN TENEMENT OR 
QUADRUPLE CASES. 
In climates where the winters are very 
severe, where the temperature goes down to 
zero and stays around that point for weeks 
at a time, much more protection is required 
than for those methods already described. 
There should be at least six inches of pack¬ 
ing around the sides and ends of the hives 
— at least four inches under the hives and 
