WINTERING BEEO. 145 



out, and a tunnel at each liive jiermits flight. So many who pack lose their 

 bees that I can but think the latter method named above is preferable for the 

 average bee keeper if either is to be practiced. 



Many others use chaff hives and some with success. Such hives are expen- 

 sive, cumbrous, and, in view of the extensive losses by those using them, I ques- 

 tion their desirability. From the great saving of food consumed by the bees, 

 and the comparative freedom from danger, I feel that cellar wintering is far 

 preferable in this climate to all otiier methods. This conclusion is formed 

 only after many years' careful experiment. Other methods may succeed: this, 

 with proper pains, surely will. 



Ventilation. 



If the cellar is all right — surely so — the entrance to the hive may be left wide 

 open in the cellar. If it become too cold, less ventilation is imperative ; if too 

 hot, more may be required. But we must be sure to keep the temperature right. 

 I feel positive that, with the proper temperature, we need not fear the presence 

 of pollen, or bee bread, in the hive. If the cellar become too cold or too hot, 

 in either case the bees become disturbed, and. then I feel certain, after many 

 experiments, that the bees are safer with no pollen. Yet such a disturbed con- 

 dition is always dangerous. The fact is we must be able to control and must 

 control the temperature. 



The Coiner. 



As already stated, the cover should be a non-conductor of heat. Cloth with 

 a filling of fine chaff or fiue dry sawdust serves well. In winter I prefer to 

 have a factory cloth over the bees, and a burlap sack full of dry sawdust still 

 above the cloth. 



METHOD OF PROCEDUEE. 



As soon as we have a frost, to stop storing, I place six or eight frames where 

 they are desired for winter. These should be nearly full of honey. Place a 

 short stick above the frames at the center, so the cloth can not fit close to the 

 frames. This permits the bees to pass over. As soon as the brood is all 

 hatched, remove all other frames and pack well above and beside the bees. If 

 we are to pack out doors, do it now. From the 1st to the 30tli of November, 

 before severe weather, place the bees in the cellar, open the entrances, and 

 remove the covers, but do not remove the cloth or burlap sacks If the cellar 

 is as described, the bees will remain very quiet and free from diarrhwa. If 

 they are in a poor cellar, and so become diarrhetic, it is best to remove them 

 from the cellar for a few hours some warm day, when they can fly out for a 

 cleansing flight, and then return them to the cellar. It is always best, when 

 taking colonies from the cellar, to place them on the same stands from which 

 they were removed when carried to the cellar. We should not remove the bees 

 finally from the cellar till theyjcan go to work in the spring. In Central 

 Michigan this is not before the 10th or 15th of April. In the spring, when the 

 bees are placed on the stands, I would clean all of the hives out thoroughly — 

 this should be on a warm, quiet day — and would remove frames of comb and 

 move up the division board so that all the frames left will be covered with bees. 

 "We should also cover above and protect at the sides with ample ])acking. I 

 have found that bees in single walled hives, thus protected, do as well in spring 

 as those in chaff hives. As the bees increase, nuu-e frames should be added, 



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