The Care of Bees in Winter 355 



to remove the moisture, so that condensed moisture will 

 never be observed on the bottom boards. If moisture con- 

 denses on the covers only it does no harm. Since adequate 

 ventilation without too great a reduction in temperature is 

 difficult without artificial heat, this is an additional argu- 

 ment in favor of using the cellar under the residence for the 

 bees. 



Colonies should not be put into the cellar until all brood 

 has emerged and until all the young bees have had a chance 

 to fly to void their feces. There is a growing tendency at 

 present to put the colonies in early and this is to be com- 

 mended. After a good flight and after the bees are clustered, 

 the hives should be carried in with the least possible dis- 

 turbance. They may be piled one above the other as high 

 as convenient for lifting (Fig. 144) and the tiers should be 

 separated by alleys wide enough for convenient passage. 



During the winter, dead bees should be removed from the 

 floor as well as from the bottom boards (with the minimum 

 disturbance) and a careful watch should be kept that the 

 bees do not become excited by too low or too high a tempera- 

 ture. A reliable thermometer is practically necessary in 

 good cellar wintering and the use of a sling psychrometer 

 (wet and dry bulb thermometer) to determine the relative 

 humidity of the air in the cellar is recommended. If the 

 bees remain in proper condition they may profitably be left 

 in the cellar until rather favorable weather arrives in the 

 spring. If dysentery develops they may require earlier 

 removal. 



It is obviously impossible to give definite dates for putting 

 bees in the cellar or for taking them out. This the beekeeper 

 must determine according to the climatic conditions and, 

 of course, the dates may vary from year to year. Perhaps 

 the best advice is to put bees in the cellar immediately after 

 the last good flight in November. Naturally one cannot be 

 sure that bees will get a flight late in the month. It is also 

 not desirable to leave the bees outside waiting for a flight 

 which may not come, for feces accumulate rapidly in such 



