1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Ill 



In front of each hive is a square entrance or in- 

 set, or we might call it a vestibule, on the outside 

 of which is placed an adjustable storm-door, as 

 illustrated on page 1327, Nov. 1, last year. 



Now, to carry out my plan and to determine 

 whether or not my theory is correct, I close this 

 outside entrance by sliding the door down, thus 

 making it tight and perfectly dark, with no play- 

 ground for the bees except this enclosed vestibule. 



When I close this outside entrance, about the 

 middle of December, not a bee can fly until it is 

 opened in the spring, from the first to the middle 

 of March. 



I am aware that this will not agree with the 

 theory that bees require a large amount of venti- 

 lation, and some one will exclaim, " You will 

 smother your bees, sure." Not a bit of it; you 

 can never fence the air out from that enclosed air- 

 chamber. It will penetrate from every direction, 

 and through every crack and crevice exposed to 

 the weather; and the bees, when thus confined in 

 total darkness with a somewhat even temperature, 

 will lapse into a half-unconscious state, and s'eep 

 their time away through the long winter months. 



It is a well-known fact that hives of bees plac- 

 ed in a narrow trench, buried beneath the surface, 

 and covered with straw, leaves, and earth, with 

 perhaps two feet of snow, and with no visible 

 ventilation, will winter in good shape, and not a 

 large amount of honey will be consumed. When 

 I have closed up my bees for winter they have 

 been in as good a condition as when wintered in a 

 trench, with no direct ventilation in either case. 



It must be understood when we pack our bees 

 that no frost can enter, and that moisture will not 

 condense but pass away by the process of absorp- 

 tion and evaporation It should also be under- 

 stood that the temperature surrounding the hives 

 is very much lower than when they are placed in 

 the cellar at a temperature of 45 degrees; and in- 

 stead of that " contented hum " so often spoken 

 of in good cellar wintering, every thing is silent. 



The bees, secluded as they are, have passed in- 

 to a quiescent state and reman somewhat dor- 

 mant, bordering upon a state of hibernation. I 

 have opened some of my hives from the top at 

 different times during the winter, and find them 

 closely clustered and quiet, and I say to them, 

 "Sleep on," so cosy do they seem to be in their 

 little bed; and I am sure they are not consuming 

 any more honey (it may be not so much) than 

 when more active in a warm cellar. To test this 

 method I am willing to sacrifice a few colonies, 

 if need be. The result is what we are after. 



Hillsdale, Mich , Jan. 15. 



[While this looks good, we advise our readers 

 to go very slow about shutting their outdoor bees 

 in the hives. We tried it one winter on some 

 two hundred colonies and lost nearly all of them, 

 while all the other colonies, not so shut in, in the 

 same yards came through in good order. Others 

 have liad the same experience. 



The plan works very well during the fore part 

 of winter; but it is toward spring when trouble 

 comes. Our corresponHent, if we mistake not, 

 will be a sadder but wiser man next spring. Yes, 

 he will save his stores but may not have any bees 

 to use them. 



Wintering bees under ground in trenches 

 should not be taken as a parallel case. In the 



first place, mother Earth helps to keep up a uni- 

 form temperature; and if the soil be sandy, fair 

 results may be expected. But here again the be- 

 ginner should go slow, for trench wintering will 

 work only in certain localities. The climate 

 must be cold and the soil sandy. — Ed.] 



PROTECTING COLONIES FROM THE 

 COLD WINDS IN EARLY SPRING. 



How to Provide Natural Shelter for the 



Apiary in Order to Avoid Spring 



Dwindling. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



There seems to be quite a diversity of opinion 

 as to the proper time for setting the bees out of 

 the cellar in the spring. Here in Northern Mich- 

 igan, April seems to be the month; and there are 

 no cases that I know of where bees are taken out 

 later than this. During very unfavorable spring 

 weather it is probable that bees are better off in 

 the cellar during the most of April; but the cel- 

 lar must be a good one, and one that is properly 

 ventilated, or the bees will become uneasy. 

 Even in unfavorable weather it would be better 

 to have the bees out of doors in the spring rather 

 than to have them get uneasy in a poorly venti- 

 lated cellar. In this northern location bees go 

 into winter quarters early in November; and in 

 order to have them in such condition that they 

 can stand the confinement up to the latter part of 

 April they need the very best winter food and the 

 best conditions that can be obtained in the way 

 of a cellar. 



We will suppose that for some reason the bees 

 are not wintering as they should, so that they 

 appear uneasy. This uneasiness keeps the tem- 

 perature high, and brood-rearing commences. 

 Under these circumstances the admission of fresh 

 air does not seem to quiet the bees entirely, and 

 nothing but a good flight satisfies them. It is 

 best, therefore, to take them out of the cellar and 

 place them on the summer stands as soon as there 

 is a possibility of their having a chance to fly. 

 Experienced bee-keepers often have their bees in 

 such condition during the winter that it is neces- 

 sary to remove them for a flight as early in the 

 spring as the weather permits; and if this is so, 

 what can be expected from the inexperienced 

 bee-keepers.? Probably the only way is to set 

 the bees out of the cellar on the first favorable 

 day in the spring, and then manage, if possible, 

 to get them through the cold bad weather of 

 April and May to be ready for the honey-flow 

 in June. It is my purpose here to tell how this 

 may be done. 



SELECTING A SHELTERED LOCATION. 



The ideal location for an apiary is a clearing 

 of about two acres in the midst of woods. I like 

 to have the timber surrounding this apiary of 

 second growth, for the second growth is denser 

 than the first, and affords a better protection 

 against the prevailing winds in the spring. Then 

 if I could have this timber to my liking it would 

 be about fifty feet high. 



Two acres of clearing is twice as much land as 

 one is likely to need for the hives. Some might 

 ask why it is necessary to clear off so much when 



