THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



359 



hills. If you turn to the frontispiece 

 of this number of the Review you will 

 understand the object better, perhaps 

 than I can explain it. This is the 

 mode of wintering- we have adopted at 

 three of our yards, where over 300 

 colonies will be wintered this way. 

 Dampness seems to be the one great 

 thing- to avoid with this mode of 

 wintering. The first essential is a 

 loose, sandy soil. We like a g-ood 

 slope to the ground, then dig our trench 

 up and down the hill, with surface 

 drains on each side, to carry off any 

 surplus water that may accumulate. 

 It is also necessary to have as much 

 slope to the cover of dirt as we can 

 have. We keep throwing on sand as 

 long as it will stay in place; or, in 

 other words, the last shovelfulls will 

 not stay on, but roll down. With this 

 steep cover I do not think there will 

 any water get through the covering. 

 If you turn to the frontispiece again 

 you will see, after the trench is dug, 

 6 or 8 inches of straw is tramped down 

 in the bottom, then 2x4 scantling are 

 placed on the straw, the right distance 

 apart to set the hives on. The hives 

 are now put in without bottoms. We 

 also raise up one end of the cover, and 

 slide towards one end until the cleat 

 rests on the end of the hive, so as to 

 give upward as well as lower ventila- 

 tion. Then we put on the cross. 

 pieces and rails or poles, then a good 

 coat of straw. A four-inch ventilation 



is placed in the center of the pit. Then 

 we are ready for the dirt. You will 

 notice that the cut shows a pit running 

 parallel with the hill. This is wrong, 

 as the surface water working down the 

 hill keeps the bees damp, and causes 

 mould to accumulate in the pit, and in 

 some of the hives. As to the best num- 

 ber to bury in a pit I have known of 

 good results all the way from 1 to 96; 

 but, some of my neighbors have not 

 had quite as good results with so 

 large a number as this, and as they 

 nearly all report good results with 

 about 30, I shall put in about that 

 number. About that straw on the bot- 

 tom of the pit. I have asked a good 

 many what object there was for this 

 bottom straw, and all have said they 

 did not know, so we have been bury- 

 ing some without straw in the bottom, 

 and securing good results, and we 

 shall not use any there this fall. 

 When digging them out in the spring 

 I have always noticed that this straw 

 was wet and mouldy, and when there 

 was no straw, the ground would be 

 dry, and the lower part of the hive 

 would be in better shape. Neither 

 shall We use any ventilation hereafter, 

 as the bees seem to winter just as well, 

 or better, without it. We pit the bees 

 in the last half of November, and set 

 them out the first half April — about the 

 same as cellar-wintered bees are 

 handled. 



Remus, Mich., Oct. 7, 1904. 





BY G. F. SMITH. 



FOR the ordinary mortal to undertake 

 to make monthly visits to hund- 

 reds of customers, mixed up with from 

 3,000 to 5,000 people, without some 

 system, would mean unbearable con- 



fusion. The key to success in any 

 business is system. 



In large cities the territory should be 

 divided up so that each salesman 

 would have at least 3,000 people. 



