1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



849 



no attention to their former location the fall 

 previous. 



Now as to what I have learned during the 

 last few years in regard to the matter of 

 wintering : 



Upward ventilation through five or six inches 

 of chaff has proved much better than a sealed 

 cover for outdoor wintering. 



A very shallow frame (half-story frame) in a 

 single story has given me best results in the 

 cellar, which I explain as follows: In so shallow 

 a brood-nest the cluster of bees touches top and 

 bottom. Any bees, when about to die, can not 

 accumulate, but leave the hive and die on the 

 cellar-bottom, which should be covered from 

 time to time anew with dry sawdust. Purer 

 air is thus secured to the colonies, and combs 

 remain sweet. I have never as yet found a 

 moldy comb in these shallow hives. 



For ten years I have been a good deal like 

 the man trying to teach his cow or his horse to 

 live without eating, but failing, just as he 

 thought the feat about accomplished. That 

 is. I have been trying to winter my bees with- 

 out sufticient protection, but I nearly always 

 failed. lean look back upon the second decade 

 of my bee-keeping career with greater satisfac- 

 tion; for my loss has seldom amounted to over 

 five per cent in one year during this time. 



After writing my article so far I find I have 

 omitted to say any thing about the character 

 of the winter food. Of course, I should want 

 to winter my bees upon wholesome food. But 

 how can we tell beforehand any thing about 

 it? There is the rub! Honey-dew might be 

 extracted, and syrup fed instead; but who can 

 know beforehand that honey-dew would prove 

 fatal in its effect as a winter food? The only 

 time we ever had much honey-dew in our hives, 

 our bees, left out on summer stands and those 

 taken out in February, or as soon as they became 

 uneasy, wintered par excellence. To anticipate 

 the true character of the stored food. I im- 

 agine, is a difficult matter. As Dr. Miller often 

 says, I don't know any thing about it; there- 

 fore I leave this factor entirely out of my cal- 

 culation. If I were situated in a different loca- 

 tion I might do differently. 



Naples, N. Y., Oct. 15. 



WINTER CASES. 



DOUBLE BROOD-CHAMBER PREFERRED; IMPOR- 

 TANCE OF SPACE SECURED BY A RIM UN- 

 DER THE BROOD-FRAMES FOR OUT- 

 DOOR wintering; the tene- 

 ment PLAN OF PACKING. 



By J. A. Qrecn. 



I am asked to let the readers of Gleanings 

 know how I winter my bees, and what I have 

 learned during the past three or four years 

 that is of practical benefit along that line. 



My method of wintering has been given in 

 these pages before, but it will do no harm 

 to repeat it. As early as possible after the 

 honey-harvest is over (which in this locality 

 often continues good up to the 30th of Septem- 

 ber), I see that each colony has a sufficient 

 number of bees, and honey enough to last until 

 honey may be gathered again. As to the first 

 point, T do not consider an extra-large colony 

 more likely to winter safely than one that is a 

 little below the average in numbers, but other- 

 wise in good condition. I consider it very im- 

 portant that they should have honey enough 

 so that I may feel perfectly sure that no more 

 will be needed until it can be gathered from the 

 flowers. 



After my bees are prepared for winter I do 

 not expect to do any thing more to them, as 

 long as they are apparently in a normal condi- 

 tion, until the approach of the next honey sea- 

 son makes it necessary to prepare them for it. 

 As this means that they are to be left undis- 

 turbed for nearly or quite six months, an 

 abundance of food is necessary. A colony will 

 get through the winter on 20 lbs. of honey, 

 often less; but it is liable to need help to get 

 it into good condition for the harvest. So if a 

 colony has less than 30 lbs. I mark it as likely 

 to need attention in the spring. 



I use the double-brood-chamber hive, made 

 almost the same as the Heddon hive, and con- 

 sider that the bees winter in it rather better, 

 on an average, than in the single-story hive. 



Each hive is raised from the bottom-board 

 by putting under it a frame or rini that leaves 

 a space of about two inches between the bot- 

 tom of the frames and the floor of the hive. 

 This I consider very important. That the bees 

 appreciate it is shown by the fact that they al- 

 most invariably cluster in this space below the 

 frames. A colony in a solid cluster this way, 

 with plenty of honey within reach, is in an 

 ideal condition for wintering. 



The rim which raises the hive is so made 

 that the usual entrance next to the bottom- 

 board is closed, and an entrance left at the top of 

 the rim. This entrance is ^g'xlS inches, giving 

 an abundance of ventilation. The sides ex- 

 tend four or five inches beyond the front of 

 the hive, and are covered there, making a 

 "bridge " which supports the outside packing 

 and forms a vestibule to the entrance, pro- 

 tecting it to a considerable extent from the 

 wind. 



Dead bees which fall from the cluster drop 

 entirely free from the frames, and there is no 

 chance of the entrance becoming clogged with 

 dead bees or ice. I make these rims of lath or 

 other thin lumber. The only drawback to 

 their use, aside from the slight expense and 

 trouble, is that they must be removed before 

 the bees get too strong in the spring, or they 

 will fill up the space with comb. This some- 



