Dec. 22. 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



855 



The Problem of Wintering Bees. 



BY ALLEN LATHAM. 



THE first winter is a sure source of dread for the begin- 

 ner in bee-keeping', while the expert is always glad to 



see spring give him warrant for his confidence ; and I 

 miss ' my guess this December if many an old hand at bee- 

 keeping is not on " the anxious seat " now, though he had 

 thought a year ago that he had solved this tough problem 

 of getting bees safely over the winter. The awful loss in 

 bees last winter doubtless caused every apiarist in the North 

 to study the subject anew, and to use unusual care In pre- 

 paring his bees for this present winter. 



The purpose of this article is to throw out one or two 

 warnings which may save the colonies of some bee-keepers, 

 who, in their anxiety to guard against loss, have erred in 

 their preparation. I have been led to the conclusion that 

 the great loss of bees last winter was due to lack of air 

 more than to any other cause, and wish to ask the kind at- 

 tention of the American Bee Journal readers to a few facts 

 and observations. 



That my words may have greater weight, allow me to 

 say that I am now in my 21st year in bee-keeping, and 

 ought to be allowed to vote ; that I have had remarkable 

 success in the wintering of bees ; that last winter, while all 

 about me whole apiaries were wiped out, I lost but 2 out of 

 38 (and it should be said that these 2 colonies died from 

 starvation). 



There are a few well-formulated rules for wintering 

 which are observed by all who use ordinary care — namely, 

 keep hives dry, give plenty of food, and protect from cold. 

 Yet with all these rules well kept great loss will come from 

 a winter like that of 1903-4. We must add to these rules 

 this one : Allow plenty of fresh air. 



I am talking about out-of-doors wintering. I know that 

 cellar-winterers advocate fresh air, but have seldom known 

 those who winter bees outdoors to have much to say about 

 the supply of air, and I am confident that the vast majority 

 seek to shut out the air rather than to let it in. 



Bee-keepers in New England were among the heavy 

 losers last winter, and those with whom I have talked give 

 this description of the condition in spring of the dead colo- 

 nies : The spaces between the combs were clogged with 

 -dead bees, frames and combs were sticky and foul with ex- 

 crement, and the whole interior of the hive was dripping 

 with damp mold. The living colonies were, most of them, 

 in an equally deplorable condition except that above the 

 ramparts of dead bees were a handful of brave but weak 

 survivors. 



I had a few colonies which were not unlike those last 

 described, and in every case they were colonies which I had 

 molly-coddled, or which had lain under snow too long. 

 Every one of my colonies which was allowed its regular 

 summer entrance, came through with clean, sweet combs, 

 strong bees, and a spirit for conquest. 



Last winter my 38 colonies were disposed as follows : 

 Three in my seashore cottage in the full blast of all the 

 winds that blow, with entrances Ij^-inch holes three to the 

 colony ; 5 on farms about Provincetown, Mass.; 3 on a farm 

 in Lancaster, Mass., with entrances the width of the hive 

 and )s deep ; 10 on farms in Norwich, Conn., with entrances 

 the width of the hive and from '}'s to '/$ inch deep ; 2 glass 

 observatory hives in a north window ; 17 in my yard at 

 home with entrances of all sorts. 



The bees at the seashore were all alive and flourishing 

 when my family and I arrived there for our summer stay. 

 They had had no care since the preceding August, yet were 

 all alive, while we are told that 90 percent of the bees along 

 the coast died. 



My bees in Lancaster wintered poorly because they 

 were covered with snow too long. The bees on farms in 

 Norwich were set on high stone walls where they got the 

 good, fresh air, and they wintered well except two starved 

 from lack of stores due to my own carelessness. Of the 

 bees in my home yard, the colony which showed all along a 

 fine state of health had an entrance 12 inches long and J-s 



of an inch deep. This entrance was open all the time ex- 

 cept occasionally, when the cold went way below zero ; I 

 either threw dry snow lightly over the entrance or else 

 pushed a porous cloth into the entrance. This was done 

 more to conserve heat than otherwise, for I feared that the 

 bees might consume all their stores in trying to keep warm, 

 At no time from fall to spring could more than a bare 

 sprinkling of dead bees be seen on the bottom of the hive. 

 All winter long the bees occupied at least seven of the 

 spaces between the combs. 



My various observations of last winter have led me to 

 leave all my hives this winter with ample entrances, in sev- 

 eral cases an entrance the equivalent of 12 square inches. I 

 do not advocate so large an entrance, but shall sacrifice a 

 few colonies this winter, if necessary, to find out the effects 

 of such an entrance. I am watching closely, and thus far 

 all is well. One can look into the well-lighted hive and see 

 the bees clustered in perfect repose about the bottom-bars 

 of the frames. Such an entrance is all right for ordinary 

 winter weather, but may cause trouble when the tempera- 

 ture falls to 10 below zero or colder. 



Though I do not advocate so extreme an entrance as 

 last described, I do most assuredly advocate one which has 

 the equivalent of at least S (five) square inches. If there is 

 any reader of these lines who has hive-entrances smaller 

 than that let him worry about his bees. That size of en- 

 trance is needed to furnish the circulation of air sufficient 

 to carry off the moisture given out by the bees, and will go 

 far towards preventing moldy combs and sick bees. 



Right here let me say that bees which winter with dry, 

 clean combs do not spring dwindle to any serious extent. 



It is desirable that I state that my hives are well pro- 

 tected ; that the combs run crosswise of the hive ; that the 

 hives face the south ; that every colony allowed a big en- 

 trance is a big colony. 



There are conditions which will permit good wintering 

 with small hive-entrances, and they are these : A mild 

 winter in which bees can get frequent flights and can ven- 

 tilate their hive themselves, or an arrangement for a slow 

 upward circulation through a very porous cushion over the 

 frames, in which case the regular cover of the hive is left 

 off in the wintering-case. If the winter is cold, and there 

 is no opportunity for the escape of the dampness of the 

 hive, the bees become uneasy, their abdomens become dis- 

 tended with moisture, the weaker ones die and make smaller 

 the entrance already too small, the stronger bees become 

 weak, and unless spring comes to the rescue the colony 

 assuredly dies. 



Let your bees have air. New London Co., Conn. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

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Some Facts About Honey and Bees.— This is the 



subject of an article written by Mr. J. E. Johnson, and pub- 

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