GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Conversations with Doolittle 



At Borodino, New York. 



WINTER ENTRANCES. 



"I suppose it is time that the bees be 

 fixed foi" wintering. What about the size 

 and location of the entrance?" 



"That depends on where you expect to 

 winter your bees." 



"Well, I winter about half of my bees in 

 the cellar and half on summer stands." 



"For cellar wintering our best beekeepei'S 

 hardly use what might be termed an en- 

 trance, as liives are often piled break-joint 

 fashion, so that nearly the whole of the 

 bottom of the hive is left open over a space 

 the depth of the full hives below, as the 

 ends of any hive on top rest on the ends 

 of two other hives below. All bottom-boards 

 are left off when wintering on this break- 

 joint principle. And, strange as it may 

 appear, the bees will often hang below the 

 combs in a cluster as large as the crown of 

 a hat. This is one of the very prettiest 

 sights, to my way of thinking, that ever 

 greets the eye of an apiarist. To see these 

 great clusters hanging below the combs, all 

 motionless in midwinter, gives an indica- 

 tion of a good crop of honey the coming 

 summer. 



"Where hives are not piled on the break- 

 joint plan, bottom-boards are generally 

 used that have a winter side as well as a 

 summer side, the winter side being two 

 inches or more deep, so that, if we say we 

 have an entrance at all, such is two inches 

 deep by the whole Avidth of the hive. An 

 entrance such as is used in the sum m er 

 would be so small that the bees dying 

 from old age would clog it. Then a general 

 commotion is the result, and the bees worry 

 themselves so that their usefulness when 

 spring opens is badly impaired, if the un- 

 timely death of the whole colony is not the 

 result." 



"How about entrances for wintering on 

 the summer stands?" 



"Where unmolested by the hand of man, 

 the bees, as a rule, cluster between the 

 combs where the last brood emerged, for 

 here are the most vacant cells. And this 

 brood is generally right back from the en- 

 trance, and nearer or further off, according 

 to the amount of stores wliich the hive eon- 

 tains. If the hive is well supplied with 

 stores, then the last brood reared will be 

 close up to the entrance in from three to 

 five combs ; but if the stores for winter are 

 light, then I he last brood will be in these 

 same combs, but often back as far as the 

 middle of the hive. At these points the 

 bees can cluster the most compactly by 



means of the empty cells; and, being sur- 

 rounded on most sides with honey, and 

 plenty of pure fi'esh air from the entrance,, 

 they are able to i3ass the winter in safety 

 unless the winter is long, with a period of 

 five to six months without a flight. Such a 

 winter (not of extreme cold, but not warm 

 enough to give the bees a flight), through 

 this long confinement, chronicles the loss 

 of many colonies, no matter what the stores 

 or where the entrance is located. However, 

 even in such a winter a proper and well- 

 located entrance, and good stores, will en- 

 able many colonies to pull tlu-ough in fairly 

 good shape, while, lacking in either, the 

 mortality would be much gi-eater." 



"Please tell me what is a proper and 

 well-located entrance." 



"I always face my hives south, and keep 

 them thus at all times of the year, for in 

 this way the sun has an equal chance at 

 both of the sides, while the entrance end 

 is always warmed and dried out by the 

 midday sun. I consider this a great ad- 

 vantage where outdoor wintering is prac- 

 ticed. Then, as hinted at before, the en- 

 trance should be right in front of the 

 ranges of combs which the bees occupy, so- 

 that the air can be allowed to circulate be- 

 tween those combs which the bees are occu- 

 pying by their winter cluster. Suppose 

 your hives face south; then if the ends of 

 your combs are toward the entrance, which 

 they always should be, to my way of think- 

 ing, your entrance should be midway on 

 the south, so that the air will come in di- 

 rectly in front of the cluster. In this way 

 the bees will not Avant for pure air. 



"But suppose you had allowed the en- 

 trance to be near the east side of the hive 

 all summer, so that the last brood Avhich 

 emerged was near that side of the hive, and, 

 thinking that better results would accrue 

 during winter, you made the winter en- 

 trance at this time of the year on the west 

 side, the air would not come direct between 

 the combs the bees are clustered on, but 

 would have to pass under and around the 

 combs till it arrived in scanty amount where 

 the bees are, in which case the bees Avould 

 be likely to suffer from want of pure air, 

 resulting in poor wintering. 



"My way has been to allow an entrance 

 the whole width of the hive on the south 

 and seven-sixteenths inch deep. The air 

 then can come in between any and all 

 ranges of comb. This, with a windbreak,, 

 so that the wind can not blow directly in 

 the hive, has given the best results." 



