MINNESOTA BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 311 



room. When you place them in the cellar about one -half or 

 two-thirds come out in decent shape. That has been one of the 

 greatest failures of beekeepers in the United States. If you 

 will look back in the ' 'Farm, Stock and Home" of a year ago you 

 can see how I make my bee house; there are full directions 

 in that paper. 



C. Thielmann: Of course, this bee house that Mr. Urie speaks 

 of is made a good deal different from mine. Mine was simply 

 a house with double walls about two feet apart and that was 

 filled in with sawdust. I wintered my bees three years in 

 there, and when the temperature came down to 25 or 30 below 

 it would be too cold in there, and the temperature would come 

 down from 28 or 25 to 22 even, until I came to the conclusion 

 that that was too cold. I used to fill a pot with hot coals from 

 the stove and set it in there; I used to do it last winter, and 

 the children did it sometimes and they were more careless than 

 I was and the house got afire. Some sparks probably got in 

 the sawdust and set it on fire, and it was burned up and I lost 

 eighty-seven colonies in the house. 



Wm. Danforth: Before I start to put my bees in the cellar 

 in the fall I have a small frame made just the size of the hive. 

 I never use tight bottom boards. I never have any mouldy 

 combs, and my bees come out in good shape, and have for the 

 past three winters. 



Pres. Wilcox: I want to say just this; I use the plan recom- 

 mended by Mr. Thielmann pretty nearly, but bear this in mind, 

 gentlemen, if you keep the front open you want to keep your 

 temperature four or five degrees warmer than you do without it. 



C. Thielmann: I want to say a word on this bottom board 

 question. I do believe I can winter my bees fully as good with 

 loose bottom boards as I can with the tight, but the trouble is in 

 raising the hives in summer, you always have the bottom board 

 loose and it is a bother. Also when you put the bees in in the 

 fall, and when you take them out in the spring. In the spring, 

 as a rule, bees are very noisy, and they come out and boil over, 

 and it is quite a difficult job to get your board under the hive 

 again. That is the greatest objection to loose bottom boards. 



B. Taylor: I think there has been some bad advice offered 

 here and I am going to criticise it. I have been in the habit 

 for many years of covering my hives in the winter with just 

 common building paper, what we call strawboard, a piece cut 

 the size of the hive tacked to a little frame, just like Mr. Dan- 



