THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



varies greatly. They may winter well with 

 a small amount, say ten pounds, and they 

 may require very much more. My rule is to 

 always give them an abundance, not less 

 than twenty-five pounds, as the food is not 

 wasted if a large amount is in store. 



Another point to be considered in connec- 

 tion with stores is their quality. The effect 

 of poor stores is not realized. Honey dew 

 is often very injurious in its effects for the 

 reason that we cannot avoid its presence, 

 and it is frequently gathered in large quan- 

 tities in the autumn with the other honey 

 for winter stores. Some kinds will do no 

 harm, while I have, on the other hand, 

 known it to become granulated within two 

 weeks after being gathered and before being 

 sealed. This kind would be almost sure 

 death to the colony wholly dependent upon 

 it for its winter supply. The presence of 

 such stuff may often be avoided by feeding 

 heavily with honey or sugar syrup as soon 

 as the bees begin to store it, so that no room 

 will remain in the hive for it. Do not think 

 that all kinds of honey dew are equally in- 

 jurious. I should welcome that kind gath- 

 ered during May, as it can do little harm for 

 winter, being all consumed in brood-rearing. 



Too late feeding will produce the same 

 effect as poor stores, as the bees have not 

 time to properly ripen and seal the feed, and 

 it sours or runs out of the combs. I like to 

 feed as soon as possible after the 15th of 

 September. 



The lack of bees of proper age is much 

 debated, though . I think very few if any 

 practice any artificial method of securing 

 these desired young bees. Nature or instinct 

 is nearly always correct upon this point. 



Now we have two general methods of 

 wintering bees, out of doors in chaff or 

 double-walled hives, and in the cellar in 

 single-walled hives. 



There are some obstacles to be met with 

 when wintering out of doors that are not 

 encountered in cellar wintering, such as 

 long confinement, severe and long continued 

 cold weather, dampness, and sometimes 

 smothering by snow, etc. The first two of 

 these depend upon the weather and are be- 

 yond man's control. Dampness of the in- 

 terior of the hive, combs or absorbing cush- 

 ions, is very detrimental to the health of the 

 bees. It's effect is graphically described by 

 Mr. Pierce in the book mentioned. Much 

 care should be exercised to see that all 

 covers are perfectly snow and rain tight. 



Sometimes dampness thought to be caused 

 by the bees comes from imperfect roofs. 

 Green sawdust or partially dry forest leaves 

 are sometimes used as a packing. This is a 

 mistake, as the moisture does not dry from 

 the packing so late in the fall, and the mate- 

 rial becomes wetter than at first. 



Those wintering bees in the cellar find 

 they are met by still other conditions not 

 present to those whose bees are out of doors. 

 Some of these are long confinement, uneven- 

 ness of temperature or too low temperature, 

 dampness or impure air. The long confine- 

 ment will not be injurious if other conditions 

 are favorable. 40° to 48° is the generally 

 acknowledged correct temperature: a lower 

 for a dry air and a higher for a damp. 

 Dampness of the floor or the presence of 

 water in the cellar is not necessarily any 

 indication of the amount of moisture in the 

 air. A wet and dry bulb thermometer will 

 alone indicate this. A use of this simple 

 apparatus might often enable us to explain 

 the cause of loss where now it is largely 

 guesswork. 



Impure air is one of the obscure causes of 

 loss. The importance of pure air is little 

 realized since there is no method of deter- 

 mining the amount of impurity in the air 

 except by chemical analysis. The sense of 

 smell is only a very erratic guide at best, as 

 many of the most common and poisonous 

 gases are without smell. A good rule is to 

 give the cellar as much ventilation as possi- 

 ble and keep it at nearly the right tempera- 

 ture. Hives individually as well as the cellar 

 often get too little change of air. A large 

 entrance that it is not possible to clog with 

 dead bees, or the insertion of a rim giving 

 space below the frames, or the omission of 

 the bottom board entirely, are all good 

 methods of supplying each colony with air 

 as pure as that of the cellar. These two 

 causes, dampness and impure air, are re- 

 sponsible for very much of the loss of bees 

 in cellars, where other colonies of the same 

 apiary winter well, and all are treated alike. 



I will not compare the two methods of 

 wintering most in vogue, as it is not the 

 object of this paper to advance any pet 

 theory, but I will say that I believe that bees 

 can be and are wintered very nearly in per- 

 fect health by either method. As to which 

 is the least liable to failure you are surely 

 the best judges, for the method most suc- 

 cessful with you is surely the best. Different 

 cellars and the methods of packing upon 



