414 



December, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



packed for winter. I might add that 

 they are also packed for spring, as it is 

 just as necessary to have them pro- 

 tected in the spring as in the winter. 



Mv bees were gathering pollen today 

 (Nov. 11, 1914), which I don't think 

 they would have done if they had not 

 been packed, as the nights are so cold 

 that where they were left without win- 

 ter-cases it took the bees about all day 

 to warm up so they would come out. 

 Not so with the ones packed ; they 

 were out just as soon as it warmed 

 up enough so the bees could fly. I use 

 planer shavings for packing. I gen- 



FlG. 2. — SWENSEN'S 20-CENT PACKING CASE 



Complete 



erally put some forest leaves in first, 

 so in case there would be some open- 

 ings around the bottom the shavings 

 wouldn't leak out. I buy bo.xes at the 

 grocery store for 10 cents apiece (cover 

 and all). They are just the right size 

 the way they are. I cover this with 

 one-ply roofing. These covers I shall 

 use as a shade-board in the summer, 

 as they are plenty large for that pur- 

 pose. These boxes cost me finished 

 about 20 cents, not figuring labor. 

 Spring Valley, Minn. 



Outdoor Wintering in North- 

 ern States 



O. H. L. WERNICKE. 



The art of wintering bees success- 

 fully presents problems involving all 

 the other problems relating to the in- 

 dustry, for unless the bees are success- 

 fully wintered, all other work of the 

 apiarist is useless. 



Among northern beekeepers cellar 

 wintering is generally regarded as the 

 safer and better method. Double- 

 walled hives and other forms of out- 

 door protection have their numerous 

 advocates and are employed with vary- 

 ing results according to local condi- 

 tions and the degree of care and intelli- 

 gence exercised by the beekeeper. 



That bees do freeze cannot be dis- 

 puted, but it is equally true that winter 

 losses are often due to other causes 

 than cold. Aside from insufficient 

 stores, bad air and the consequences 

 of long confinement are responsible 

 for more failures than cold. It is as- 

 tonishing how bees will resist long 

 periods of intense cohl when the sup- 

 plies of food and good air are not 

 wanting. Of equal importance to the 

 food supply is its accessibility, for, un- 

 less the bees can avail themselves of 



FIG. i.-WINTER CASE "USED BY ED SWENSEN. OF SPRING VALLEY. MINN. 



the food, it might as well be absent. 



When bees go into winter condition 

 they cluster; it is their method of keep- 

 ing warm. The cluster usually forms 

 below their stores near the forward 

 center of the hive and moves upwards 

 as they consume their food supply. If 

 the cluster were started at the top, the 

 lower stores would be in a colder zone 

 and not available; the bees would then 

 die of cold induced by starvation — 

 close to a plentiful food supply. 



It may be safely assumed that a 

 strong colony is quite capable of gen- 

 erating sufficient warmth for its own 

 pr;servation under almost any condition 

 of outer temperature, if it is not allowed 

 to escape too freely. An unprotected 

 boiler — exposed to winter winds and 

 cold — requires a much greater fuel 

 consumption to maintain a given steam 

 pressure than if properly covered with 

 a good insulating material. Losses by 

 radiation are a waste at the expense of 

 fuel and energy, and in a colony of 

 bees such needless losses not only re- 

 quire the greater consumption of stores, 

 but also a far greater physical activity 

 on the part of the bees, which takes 

 their vitality and shortens their lives. 

 It is clear then that the main problem 

 when wintering bees out-of-doors is 

 to conserve the warmth which they 

 generate. Whether this result be ob- 

 tained in a cellar or by any other form 

 of protection matters little, the ques- 

 tion resolves itself into one of ad-e- 

 quate insulation to prevent the too 

 rapid loss of the natural warmth which 

 the bees themselves supply. 



It is a well known principle that the 

 closer the insulating agent is brought 

 into contact with the source of heat 

 the more effective it becomes. It re- 

 quires fewer heat units to maintain a 

 given temperature in one cubic foot of 

 space than in two. 



When preparing bees for the winter, 

 a matter of prime importance is the 

 provision of ample space for dead 

 bees and circulation of air below the 

 frames. Two inches is none too much ; 

 less than one inch is positively inade- 

 quate. The hive openings should be 

 not less than five square inches in 

 area, and more is preferable. 



Most beekeepers understand that hives 

 for outdoor wintering should be pro- 



vided with ample top covering of some 

 absorbent material, chaff, straw, excel- 

 sior, shavings, leaves, old quilts, car- 

 pets or the like; use too much rather 

 than too little. 



The successful wintering of bees de- 

 pends upon adequate insulation to con- 

 serve the heat which they produce, an 

 accessible supply of food, good air, 

 and absence of moisture. When these 

 conditions are insured, bees may be 

 wintered out-of-doors as well and 

 often better than in a cellar. Such col- 

 onies build up earlier in the spring and 

 produce more surplus honey than after 

 cellar wintering ; the cleansing flights 

 are a big factor in preserving the 

 health and vigor of the bees. 



The writer's own preference favors 

 the 8 frame 2-story hive because the 

 food stores and brood areas are greater 

 and less spread out. The form of this 

 hive with its greater bulk of stores 

 above the cluster more closely approxi- 

 mates the bee-tree ; it also brings the 

 stores more closely into the zone 

 through which the cluster moves up- 

 wards and therefore more accessible. 

 During the cold weather the bees will 

 not go far from the cluster for food, 

 as they would become chilled. The 

 food stored at the sides is often too 

 cold to be secured. 



The high insulating value of paper is 

 well known, but not generally appre- 

 ciated. We all know how paper-lined 

 clothing protects against wind and 

 cold. It does this by keeping the heat 

 in ; for if we do not let the heat out the 

 cold can't come in. It's the same with 

 a colony of bees. 



To prepare a colony for outside win- 

 tering, the bottom-board or stand 

 should be banked sufficiently to pre- 

 vent drafts under the hive ; then see 

 that the opening and the space below 

 the frames is adequate. 



An empty hive-body with a piece of 

 carpet or burlap stretched over one 

 opening and tacked to the outside 

 and well filled with chaff, straw or the 

 like makes a splendid cover. 



Another method is to fix a queen- 

 excluding board to this hive-body in 

 place of carpet or burlap. This may be 

 done by using ordinary hive staples. 

 When the excluder-board is used it 

 should be covered with a cloth to pre- 



