NOVEMBEE, 1918 



GLEANINGS INBEE CULTURE 



679 



HEADS OF GRAlNl DFROrtiyDTFFFPgNT RipLPS 



Three Reasons for 

 Cellar Wintering. 



In the long experience 

 I have had, 68 years, 

 and having bees every 

 year, I hardly know where to start with the 

 story you ask. However, I will say at the 

 present time it seems that the most of bee- 

 keepers are wondering how they can winter 

 their bees most successfully. I have for 

 several years wintered in my cellar, the past 

 winter putting my bees in on Nov. 2, 150 



D. W. Trescott calls this the model apiary. 



colonies, taking them out Apr. 20 and 22. 

 My loss was two colonies that were queen - 

 less. 



My cellar has a cement bottom and is dry. 

 However, there is a cistern in the cellar. It 

 is perfectly dark, windows covered outside 

 and inside, the temperature- from 40 to 55, 

 with upward ventilation. The hives are 

 placed on their bottom-boards, entrances all 

 open, covers all off with burlap over the 

 hives, and I set them six inches from the 

 cellar bottom, putting three and four colo- 

 nies high. I see that my bees have plenty 

 of stores, and find that nearly one-third less 

 honey will winter them. In August I make 

 sure that all colonies have laying queens and 

 have young bees to winter. I watch care- 

 fully the condition of the season. At times 

 I have put them in earlier than last year and 

 have taken them out as soon as settled wea- 

 ther. I have wintered all ways imagina- 

 ble and find the safest and most profitable in 

 cellar wintering. This is because: (1) they 

 use less stores; (2) the hives are kept dry, 

 and not being subjected to wet and dry 

 conditions last many years longer; (3) there 

 is no loss of bees on warm days by flights. 



Conesus, N. Y. D. W. Trescott. 



A Queen's 

 Big Record- 



On page 556 of your 

 September issue Mr. 

 A. S. Schreckengost of 

 Kittanning, Pa., says he has a golden queen 

 that he values at $50 for giving him 144 

 sections. Now, if his queen is worth $50, 

 what is this one worth? We lost most of 

 our bees last winter, but this queen came 

 thru in fine condition and built up very 



quickly and was ready to go out. So I took 

 eight frames of brood from her and nuide 

 four nuclei and gave a super, and in a 

 short time I saw they were ready to go 

 again. Then I took four more frames of 

 brood and gave two supers. They were soon 

 full of clover honey and were building 

 queen-cells again. I took four more frames 

 and gave two more supers. I have now 

 taken off five supers and have 140 sections, 

 137 being salable. Is this good or not? She 

 is only a dollar queen. 



Chatham, N. Y. P. L. Callender. 



Winters Success- In the September 



fully in an number of Gleanings I 



Easy Way. told of wintering 84 



colonies outdoors last 

 winter without the loss of a single colony, 

 and also of wintering 117 colonies in the 

 winter of 1916-17 without loss. The Editor 

 of Gleanings has asked me to tell more at 

 length as to how I prepare my colonies for 

 winter. 



In reply to this letter of inquiry as to my 

 method of wintering outdoors, I will say 

 that I winter in eight- and ten-frame hives, 

 L. frame, set facing south and set a little up 

 from the ground. I have boxes to give six- 

 inch space all around the sides as well as 

 front; some without bottoms, some with bot- 

 toms. I place the hive in the box, or slip 

 the box down over hive that has no bottom, 

 and give an entrance of i^ by 3 inches. I 

 pack well with clover chaff or forest leaves 

 flush up to the top of the hive. I then put 

 on a honey-board, with cleat side down; lay 



C. O. Yost, of the State Entomologist Office of In- 

 diana, says this field of white sweet clover. .Jefferson 

 County, Ind., upon a high bluff above the Ohio river, 

 is the best he has ever seen. Mr. Yost, 6 ft. 1 in. 

 tall, is shown holdini? his hat above the clover 

 growth — which shows its remarkable height. An 

 apiary is near by. 



