THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



243 



ill that hivo for fiood ntul sure, and 

 scoiiKMl to do no luinu. Tlu' boos soon 

 (Iru'd thoiiisrlvos nnd rosuinod work. 



»TU«*»jr»«^»'» 



BEES IN THE NORTH MAY HE WINTERED 



OUT OF DOORS IF PROPER!. Y 



PROTECTED. 



It may bo a llttlo t>arl.v to bogin to 

 discuss the wintering problem, but wo 

 must remember that preparedness Is 

 the secret of most successes. If we 

 must winter our bees out of doors, 

 and we have not been uniformly suc- 

 cessful in wintering tluuii in that man- 

 ner, it is none too soon to be investi- 

 gating, considering and planning. 

 lU'Os can be wintered successfully out 

 of doors, even in the extreme north, 

 if given proper protection. A slight 

 protection may be all right, may be the 

 best, in Southern Michigan or in Ohio, 

 but in Northern Michigan the heat 

 of the bees alone must be depended 

 ui)on for warmth, and the whole plan 

 of wintering must be in conserving 

 that heat. I remember, during the first 

 or second year that the Review was 

 published, wo had a special number, 

 on out of door wintering, and one of 

 llio contributors was Mr. O. O. Pop- 

 ploton, who had had several years' 

 experience with bees in Iowa, whore 

 the winters are often severe. I re- 

 member that he placed special stress 

 upon abundant protection. He said 

 that many wno claimed to protect 

 their boos out of doors did not more 

 than half do it. He used five inches 

 of dry timothy chaff, and thought that 

 still more would have been better. 

 Tiio most perfect out door wintering 

 of bees with which I have been ac- 

 quainted was that of "Cyula Linswik" 

 and hor sister in Northern Michigan. 

 Their boos were thoroughly packed 

 in dry chaff, with a large opening over 

 the brood nest, this opening being 

 covered with wire cloth to keep out 

 mice, and then there was a roof over 



the oi)enlng. in f.Mct over the whole 

 liivo, to kooj) oul the lain jiiid snow. 

 Ill a roccnt tri|i in .Ndillicrn Michigan, 

 almost up to rctnskcy. I came across 

 a young bt'o-koojM'r. Mr. Ira 1>. I'>art- 

 lott, of East Jordan, who is making 

 a grand success of bee-keeping, and 

 ho winters his boos jiacked out of 

 doors, but the protection is most thor- 

 ough. In the first place, he has some 

 sjiecial packing boxes, each largo 

 enough for for.i- colonies, and painted 

 fi dark rod. The hives nro packed in 

 dry sawdust, that cut from kiln dried 

 lumber, and jiacked all around, not 

 only on the sides, and on top, but iin- 

 deriieath. ;is well. There are about 

 five inches of tliis sawdust all around 

 each hive. The cover is removed from 

 the hive, a cotton (luilt being left 

 in place, and then over this is placed 

 a piece of woolen blanket, and over 

 the blanket the sawdust packing. The 

 roof does not tit down snug, but pro- 

 jects out over the edge of the box, 

 and slants down, so that all storms are 

 kept out of the packing, but all mois- 

 ture can escape. One thing more: 

 Two hives face one way, and two in 

 the opposite direction. In front of the 

 entrances, upon opposite sides of the 

 box, is built a portico Avith a door 

 that can be dosed up tight, thus keep- 

 ing out snow and cold. If there should 

 come a warm day in the winter, or 

 towards spring, when the bees could 

 fiy. this door is removed and the beea 

 allowed to fly. or, rather, it could be 

 removed, as Mr. Bartlett says that the 

 bees show lut disposition to fly during 

 the winter. It is so M'arm in the hive 

 and in the portico, that the bees bring 

 all of their dead boos out into the 

 liortico oven in the coldest weather. 

 Mr. Aspinwall. of .lackson. Michigan, 

 ;i man who has wintered his liees out 

 of doors without loss, for the last ten 

 ye.'irs, also has a vostil)ule in front of 

 his hives, and I remember that he 

 made quite a point of it. It is possi- 



