l,S8!t 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



25 



WINTERING NICEliY. 



Bees are wintering nicely so far here. It was a 

 very poor season; they did not gather enough to 

 winter on. Charles Sitts. 



Hrasie Corners, N. Y., Dec. 13, I8S.S. 



@0R Q[IKS¥I6N'B^X. 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free I loin any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " For Our Question-Box." 



QUESTION 97.— a. In cellar wintering, do you think 

 top ventilation necessary? b. If not, how much and in 

 what way do you provide for bottom ventilation? 



1 do. 



Mrs. L. Harrison. 



a. I do. b. I also leave open the whole width of 

 the entrance. Geo. Grimm. 



Some ventilation is necessary, and the difference 

 in temperature is hound to cause a current. 



Dadant & Son. 



a. No. b. I leave the entrance of the hive open its 

 entire width, l / 2 inch in height. 1 should like bet- 

 ter to have three times the space, however. 



C. C. Miller. 



It does not make much difference about ventila- 

 tion, and there is a wide difference in opinions re- 

 garding temperature; aud all this comes about be- 

 cause the whole matter of safe wintering hinges on 

 the food. James Hbddon. 



A little top ventilation I think to be all right. A 

 good deal might do no harm if a steady high tem- 

 perature is kept in the cellar. As to its being ex- 

 actly necessary in any case, I hardly think it is. b. 

 Set the hive on blocks. E. E. Hasty. 



I think not, unless it be required to keep the tem- 

 perature uniform, and at the proper point. If top 

 ventilation of colony in hive is meant, I say no em- 

 phatically. I close at top entirely, but have en- 

 trance wide open. I would raise each colony 2 inch- 

 es from bottom-board if I could easily. 



A. J. Cook. 



a. No. b. Ventilate at the bottom, only by plac- 

 ing the hives in rows with a space between each 

 hive, then tier up. placing each hive over the space 

 below. Set the first row of hives on covers arrang- 

 ed in the same way, or on stringers. This plan is 

 fully described and illustrated in Gleanings, Feb. 



1. 1888, p. !h I. H. R. BOARDMAN. 



Upward ventilation is undesirable. I prefer a 

 bottom-board with an opening in the center. I use 

 an opening 5 x 10 inches. My methods all the year 

 round require this. In winter quarters the bees clus- 

 ter well down, and may usually be found in a cluster 

 below the bottom of the frames. They are thus as- 

 sured of their freedom; dead bees also drop out of 

 the hive. L. C. Root. 



I don't know that 1 understand the question. If 

 the ventilation of the cellar is meant, then I should 

 say that it needs no special ventilation; if the ques- 

 tioner is speaking of the hives, then my plan would 

 be to raise them off the bottom board from two to 

 I welve Inches, leaving the top the same as in spring 

 or fall when the sections are not on. 



G. M. DoOLITTLE. 



No. not usually; but with a warm cellar, with air 

 near the point of saturation, a slow top ventilation 

 ma3 - be necessary. We ventilate our hives by draw- 

 ing a slide in ihe bottom-board. The slide is ten 

 inches long, and is drawn open two or three inches, 

 or even more, with the stronger swarms and warm 

 cellars. P. H. Elwood. 



Not if the temperature is right. If the cellar is 

 moist, the temperature should be higher than if the 

 cellar is dry. I provide for bottom ventilation by 

 removing the bottom-board and raising the hive 

 one or two inches above what it sits on. To econo- 

 mize room 1 place a square stick an inch or more 

 thick on top of each side of the hive, when in place, 

 and set the next hive on these sticks, and so on as 

 high as I can reach. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



b. Dr. Jessie Oren, of Laporte City, Iowa, is as 

 successful as any one I know of in cellar wintering, 

 and his method of bottom ventilation of hives with 

 tight bottom-boards is the best I know of. He sets 

 his hives on ends, or, rather, on lower front cor- 

 ners, at an angle of about 45°, leaving entrances 

 wide open. Succeeding hives are leaned against 

 the first and others, and when the first tier is in 

 place, wide boards are laid on top. then another tier 

 of hives, etc. I inclose a rough diagram of the ar- 

 rangement. This not only secures bottom ventila- 

 tion, but allows dead bees and rubbish to drop from 

 the hives during the winter. O. O. Poppleton. 



oren's arrangement of iiivks * 



The general opinion seems to be that top 

 ventilation for the hive is not necessary, and 

 that a full-width entrance, or else an open 

 bottom, or nearly so, is siifticient. Dr. 

 Oren's plan would doubtless work very nice- 

 ly, and the bottom-board at all times would 

 be clean of dead bees. Friends El wood and 

 Root accomplish the same result by leaving 

 an opening through the bottom of the hive. 



question US. —7s your cellar provided with a sub- 

 earili ventilator? b. If so, has your experience taught 

 you, that they are an advantage, either for quieting 

 bees or otherwsie.' 



a. No; h. No. Dadant &Son. 



a. It is; b. Yes. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



No. b. 1 have had no experience in line with this 

 question. B. E. Hasty. 



a. Yes. h. I think so, but it is hard to be very pos- 

 itive. ('. c. Miller. 



No. I am quite certain that it is worse than use- 

 less. H. R. Boa RDM AN. 



'The diagram above is not strictly correct. The 

 adjacent corners should come in contact. 



