HOW TO WINTER BEES 155 



Be sure that the honey is of good quality, and not 

 made from decayed fruit or honey-dew. 



Give the hive ventilation from below. 



If wintered out of doors, give the bees a chance 

 to fly. 



If wintered in cellars, do not put too many bees 

 in a cellar. If you have space for fifty colonies, do not 

 try to winter more than thirty in it. 



In cellars take off the bottom boards and arrange 

 the hives so that the bees will get plenty of ventilation 

 from below. 



Have a thermometer in the cellar and keep watch 

 of it. This should not show more than ten degrees 

 of variation. If the temperature rises to 55, open 

 the windows at night. 



Keep the cellar dark and the air sweet. 



Sweep the dead bees off the cellar floor several 

 times during the winter. 



Contract the brood-chamber in the fall, and again, 

 if necessary, when the hives are set out in the 

 spring, until there is only comb enough so that the 

 bees can cover it well. 



See that the bees have plenty of food and good 

 water near by when set out in the spring. 



