January, 1913. 



21 



American l^ee Journal 



Contributed 



Articles^ 



Outdoor Wintering 



BY C. M. DOOLITTLE. 



" Ilive in about 45 degrees north latitude, 

 and iiave a cellar tliat I consider unht for 

 wintering bees. For the the last two win- 

 ters I have lost heavily by trying to winter 

 my bees therein, so I have concluded to 

 leave them outside this winter. Will you 

 please tell us somethiiik: about the winter- 

 ing of bees on the summer stands, as I see 

 you live in about the same degree of latitude 

 that I do. I also note that you often answer 

 Questions for different ones in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal." 



While I am an advocate of cellar 

 wintering of bees in this locality, and 

 believe that there is a great saving in 

 both stores and bees by so doing, yet 

 if I did not have a cellar suitable for 

 bees, and did not feel free to construct 

 such a cellar, I should certainly winter 

 them on the summer stands. In fact, 

 we have those within 1.5 and 20 miles 

 of where I reside, who claim that bet- 

 ter results can be had by outdoor win- 

 tering than through cellaring, as brood- 

 rearing is started from six weeks to 

 two months earlier when the bees are 

 wintered out than when in the cellar, 

 and this early brood causes the colony 

 to reach the flow of nectar from clover 

 in a much stronger condition than 

 when brood-rearing is started shortly 

 before the bees are taken out of the 

 cellar. 



There is some truth in this, if the 

 winters are not too severe, but when 

 we have a winter like the last (that of 

 1911-12), when the bees did not fly after 

 October, and had to exist through 

 January and the most of February in a 

 temperature of from zero to 25 degrees 

 below a large share of the time, the 

 most of this kind of "poetry" seems 

 like idle talk to all who fail to prop- 

 erly protect their colonies left out. A 

 slight protection may be all right for 

 Ohio and Pennsylvania, but in this 

 northern latitude the heat of the bees 

 must be depended upon for warmth; 

 hence the whole plan of wintering 

 must be based on conserving their heat 

 to the largest possible extent. 



In my early days of bee-keeping 

 there was a man wintering his colonies 

 outdoors who was very successful, and 

 I went to see him quite often. I re- 

 member that he placed special stress 

 upon abundant protection. He said 

 that many who thought their bees 

 properly protected did not realize what 

 true protection was. In those days 

 many acres of timothy grass were 

 saved for seed about here, as we could 

 then raise it cheaper than they could 

 in the West. In threshing this ripened 

 grass for the seed, there was a large 

 accumulation of chaff which was very 

 fine, yet would " stand up " under mois- 

 ture, keeping light and fluffy so that 

 evaporation was very rapid instead of 



becoming wet, damp, and soggy as 

 other chaff, especially that from oats. 



He used 5 inches of this dry, fluffy 

 chaff around the sides, back, and under 

 the hives, with 8 inches of the same 

 over the top, and between the chaff' 

 and the frames of the brood-nest were 

 2 to 4 thicknesses of old cloth cut the 

 proper shape, from anything which had 

 become valueless for further use in its 

 original form. Over this chaff was a 

 vacant space of 3 or 4 inches, then a 

 roof over the whole hive to keep out 

 the rain and snow. Cracks about one- 

 sixteenth of an inch were left near the 

 " gable ends" of this roof, so that the 

 moisture never condensed on any of 

 the inside parts in the shape of frost to 

 melt during the sunshiny days of win- 

 ter, and run into the packing, as is 

 usually the case where no special means 



r 



Manner of Protecting the Iintrance 

 FOR Outdoor Wintering. 



are provided for the escape of this 

 moisture, which is thrown off by the 

 bees to a greater or less extent in ac- 

 cordance with the amount of honey 

 consumed. Where the weather is very 

 cool, or drops to zero or below for any 

 length of time, the bees consume much 

 stores for " fuel," and with this in- 

 creased consumption more moisture is 

 thrown off, and in all ordinary ways of 

 wintering this moisture condenses on 

 the inside walls of the hive in the shape 

 of frost, or in the packing where an in- 

 efficient amount is used. 



On the first mild day when the sun 

 strikes the hive, this frost is turned 

 into moisture, often of sufficient 

 amount to run out at the entrance in 

 the shape of water, or soak into the 

 packing and make the bees uncomfort- 

 able during the rest of their confine- 

 ment. 



In addition to this packing and 

 cover, the entrance of each hive was 

 left quite large, and over it was a sort 

 of vestibule or storm-door, made of a 

 piece of board 8 inches wide, and as 

 long as the front of the hive, up to the 

 cleat on which the cover rested. This 

 board was sawed from corner to cor- 

 ner, so that each of the two pieces 

 made of it were at a point at the top 

 end, which went under the cleat, and 8 

 inches wide at the bottom, resting on 

 the alighting-board, which projected 

 out that far in front of the entrance. 

 On the slanting sides of these two 

 pieces was nailed a board wide enough 

 for the whole length of these slanting 

 sides except Js inch at the top, and 

 long enough for the two uprights to 

 be even with the sides of the hive. 



In this way all rain, snow, and wind 

 were excluded from the entrance, as 

 the ;s inch, short at the top, came un- 

 der the projecting cleat, excluding the 

 storms and winds, while it gave plenty 

 of pure air for the breathing of the 

 bees. The packed and properly pro- 

 tected hive was so warm inside, and in 

 the vestibule, that the bees could bring 

 nearly all the dead bees, which died of 

 old age, out on to the floor or on the 

 alighting-board, and the dampness 

 which usually collects where dead bees 

 accumulate on the bottom-board of the 

 hive was avoided. The objection to 

 this vestibule is that when there comes 

 a day warm enough for the bees to fly, 

 it must be removed, or the bees will 

 come out therein and worry themselves 

 to death trying to get out. 



But this man said that any of his 

 family could do this were he not at 

 home to attend to such removal him- 

 self, exceptionally. By nailing a strip 

 on the cleat on which the coyer rested, 

 to give a downward projection of half 

 an inch, this front board to the vesti- 

 bule might be j-s of an inch narrower 

 than the slanting uprights, and the 

 bees would not be shut in, even if there 

 were no one present when it was warm 

 enough for a flight. This man was 

 always successful in wintering his bees, 

 and were I to go back to outdoor win- 

 tering, I should certainly try this plan. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Freight Rates and Honey 



BY B. r. SMITH, JR. 



To a very large percent of the honey- 

 producers a freight tariff and classifi- 

 cation is something unknown. This 

 statement is based upon instances like 

 the following : A and B met at a con- 

 vention, and B wanted some basswood 

 honey for his own use, and asked his 

 friend A to send him 100 pounds. As B 

 wanted a cream can, A was to ship it 

 in a new one. The honey came through 

 in good shape, but the freight was $4.18 

 per 100 pounds because the can was 

 not boxed; while if it had been boxed 

 it would have been only $1.38. They 

 both blamed the railroad. 



In another case a farmer moved to a 

 new locality and produced about 1000 

 pounds of comb honey, but as he had 



PCT TOP NOTCH PRICES 

 lit I FOR YOUR HONEY 



BY 



Using Lewis Sections ^f^" 

 AND Shipping Cases <- « 



for Annual Calnlog T\-liicli -oill tell 



irlio iM your nearest Distrilniter. 



Lewis Company, AVatertonn, Wis. 



