WINTERING BEES IN THE CELLAR. 



A. W. RANKIN, 916 S. E. 5TH ST., MINNEAPOLIS, PRESIDENT MINNESOTA 

 BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



An expert may winter bees in the open in Minnesota. This method is 

 attended with greater risk, greater expense for packing, and greater con- 

 sumption of stores by the bees. If successful it probably brings the bees 

 through the spring season with greater vigor on the part of the bees in 

 building up for the summer honey flow. Outdoor wintering is not recom- 

 mended for general practice in Minnesota. The essentials of cellar winter- 

 ing are: (1) a good condition of swarm when it is carried into winter 

 quarters. This involves plenty of bees, and stores. If bees are to be left in 

 an eight or a ten-frame hive there should be at least five frames of bees for 

 the eight-frame hive and six for the ten-frame hive. Three or four frames 

 of bees may be wintered, but the space in the hive should be contracted to 

 about a four frame size. Stores may be either honey or sugar syrup, but 

 there is a growing opinion that good ripened honey is the best food for 

 wintering. If sugar, then twenty per cent, more is needed. Perhaps three 

 and one-half pounds of honey for each frame of bees is a fair average, but 

 a small number of bees takes more honey proportionately. (2) Good results 

 are obtained by leaving the hive just as it is on the summer stands. If the 

 cellar is damp, probably there should be a thin stick under the cover. One 

 must modify conditions of the hive somewhat according to the temperature 

 and moisture of the cellar, but the first statement under (2) holds good in 

 the majority of cases. (3) Temperature may vary four degrees up or down 

 from forty-two, but should remain fairly stable at about forty-two. If bees 

 are quiet they may be supposed to be comfortable. Thermometers vary as 

 much as seven or eight degrees. Try out the bees and see at what tempera- 

 ture they are most quiet. (4) Ventilation is to be considered in connection 

 with heat, but some plan should be provided for ventilation. The intake 

 opening of the flue or pipe should be near the floor. It is especially needed 

 toward spring. (5) Keep the hives at least four inches from the floor. 

 Have four or five inches of chaff, shavings, or some such material under the 

 hives and on the vacant spaces. This material should be dry when put in. 

 Better to pile up the hives one on top of another and thus to leave vacant 

 space in the middle of the cellar than to set them all over the floor. Keep 

 dead bees swept up as much as possible. Absolute darkness is desirable. 

 Take out when maples blossom. Don't delay putting in too long. 



MINNESOTA BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



1917 ANNUAL MEETING, WEST HOTEL, MINNEAPOLIS, DECEMBER 4 AND 5. 



Presence at this meeting is necessary from the very beginning, 9:00 

 a. m., Tuesday, December 4, as it is necessary to rearrange our entire pro- 

 gram to suit the schedules of our visiting bee-keepers from without the 

 state, such as representatives from the bee journals and men from Wash- 

 ington, D. C, as well as some of our long trip northern Minnesota friends. 

 We must hear from these men while here. 



You are requested to bring with you some labor saving device or piece 

 of equipment that has proven of value to you. Exhibit space will be pro- 

 vided. Also please send in to the University Division of Bee Culture, Uni- 

 versity Farm, St. Paul, before December 1st, a copy of a scale record of a 

 colony of bees if you kept one this year. Typewritten copies of all sent in 

 will be on exhibit. — L. V. France, Secretary, University Farm, St. Paul. 



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