1901 



GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



15 



WINTERING BEES BY BURYING THEM IN 

 CLAMPS. 



Ventilation vs. no Ventilation ; some Interesting 

 Experiments. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



For many years I have wintered bees bj' 

 burying them in the ground, much as farmers 

 bury potatoes and other vegetables. I don't 

 remember where I first got the idea, but I do 

 remember having some correspondence on the 

 subject with Mr. C. J. Robinson, of Richford, 

 N. Y. He very persistently urged me to give 

 no ventilation. He asserted that the bees 

 would winter better with no ventilation — that 

 the hibernation would be more perfect than 

 in a "sea of oxygen." I was very loath to 

 take this advice ; and it was with many mis- 

 givings that I finally ventured to risk six col- 

 onies with no ventilation except that which 

 would come through the earth. At the same 

 time I buried a dozen other colonies, giving 

 them ventilation by means of a four-inch tube 

 laid along the bottom of the trench, and ex- 

 tending out into the outer air. There was 

 also a similar tube at the top, extending from 

 the bottom of the pit up through the earth 

 some three or four feet. I remember that I 

 had a thermometer hung, by means of a string, 

 in this upper tube, and that I often climbed 

 up and drew up the thermometer to learn the 

 temperature. The outside temperature had 

 very little effect upon that inside the pit. 

 When the mercury stood at zero in the open 

 air, the thermometer drawn up from the clamp 

 showed 43°. It did not vary three degrees 

 from this in all winter. The bees wintered 

 perfectly in both clamps. It seemed as though 

 they were just about the same as when set in 

 the previous fall. The straw around them, 

 and the hives and combs, were dry and clean, 

 and free from mold. My belief in the ability 

 of bees to pass the winter with no ventilation 

 was greatly strengthened. The next winter I 

 put 32 colonies into one clamp, and wintered 

 them perfectly with no ventilation. This 

 brought my confidence up to such a height 

 that, the next winter, I put 96 colonies into 

 one clamp, and lost nearly all of them. There 

 were 16 hives that had live bees in them when 

 ■dug out in the spring. These were weak in 

 numbers, and several of them balled and kill- 

 ed their queens when they were set out. This 

 was the most serious loss with which I ever 

 met while in the bee-business. There was no 

 dysentery. The combs were clean and dry 

 and full of honey, but the bees had deserted 

 the hives, and crawled all through the straw. 

 Perhaps the heat generated by so great a num- 

 ber piled in such close quarters drove out the 

 bees. Perhaps they went in search of air. 

 They certainly went. 



Since then I have several times wintered a 

 dozen colonies in one clamp, and always with 

 good success except in clay soil. Two or three 

 times I have tried it there, and the bees win- 

 tered poorly, the hives and combs coming out 

 in the spring reeking with mold and damp- 

 ness. My successes have all been on a dry 

 sandy hillside. With such a location I should 



have no hesitancy, whatever, in putting any 

 number up to 2.5 or 30 into a clamp. It is pos- 

 sible that a large number might winter all 

 right if given sufficient ventilation, but I am 

 without experience on that point. 



The work of burying the bees is about as 

 follows : First dig a trench wide and deep 

 enough to allow the hives to be set down in till 

 the tops of the hives are level with the surface 

 of the earth. Put in a little straw and lay in 

 two rails a foot apart. Set the hives in a row 

 on these rails. Put some straw around the 

 hives, and then lay some rails over the hives, 

 putting some short pieces of rails across under 

 the rails to support them. Next cover the 

 hives liberally with straw, say to a depth of 

 two feet, and then shovel on the earth to a 

 depth of 18 inches. Sometimes I vary this 

 by putting on only a few inches of earth, and 

 then another layer of straw, and then a few 

 more inches of earth, covering the whole with 

 a light covering of manure. 



I do not know that wintering bees in clamps 

 has any advantages over that of wintering 

 them in the cellar, and it is certainly consid- 

 erably more work ; but when one has a few 

 colonies to winter at a place where there is no 

 cellar, and experience has told him that in- 

 door wintering is better than outdoor, he can 

 successfully winter the bees by putting them 

 in a clamp, if the soil and location are suitable. 

 Don't winter in clay. Don't bury them where 

 water will stand. Don't try wintering large 

 numbers without ventilation; in fact, my ex- 

 perience is against large numbers, and I do 

 not know that there is any objection to giving 

 ventilation, even with small numbers, but I 

 have never found it necessary. — The Bee-keep- 

 ers^ Review. 



WHAT NEXT? 



" Good afternoon, Mr. Doolittle. I have my 

 bees all fixed for winter, and thought I would 

 come over and ask what next I can best do (to 

 be preparing in the best way) so I may be per- 

 fectly ready for next season when it comes." 



" I am very glad indeed, friend Jones, to 

 hear that you have your bees all ready for win- 

 ter thus early (October 30), for many leave 

 the matter of preparation for winter till cold 

 weather comes, the last of November or fore 

 part of December. And I am also glad that 

 you wish to commence preparations for next 

 season now ; for it gives me assurance of your 

 success. The ancient wise man said, ' Seest 

 thou a man diligent in business ? he shall stand 

 before kings ; ' and the proverb is as applica- 

 ble to these times as it was to his." 



" But there are no kings in this country to 

 stand before ; and if there were, I should rath- 

 er know all about what I can do during the 

 winter to best advantage than to stand before 

 a hundred kings." 



