THE BEE-IfEEPERS' REVIEW 



333 



left most of them out, hoping- they 

 would have another flig-ht before going- 

 into the cellar. I shall not wait much 

 long-er, however, as those in the cellar 

 have been so quiet one would not be- 

 lieve there was a live bee in the hives; 

 and the cellar window is wide open to 

 the west, so that the sun shines in in 

 the afternoon. I am satisfied that, in 

 this locality, bees are better off when 

 put into the cellar the first part of 

 November, before their honey and 

 combs have been exposed to a freezing- 

 temperature and the other conditions 

 that go with it. At this time, the combs 

 are usually dry, while, if left in a 

 freezing- temperature for a while, 

 there is considerable moisture all 

 throug-h the hive as the result of con- 

 densation. I believe that bees placed 

 in a good cellar before hard freezing-, 

 with the hive perfectly dry, will stand 

 six months' confinement, from October 

 to May, far better than they would five 

 months, or even four, beg'-inning- De- 

 cember 1st. 



I am glad to learn that another has 

 tried leaving- the brood nest with only 

 a cloth covering-. It was by accident, 

 or I think I better say necessity, that I 

 learned of this great advantage. I 

 had been leaving the bottoms off the 

 hives for several winters, with the 

 ordinary outcome, but two years ago I 

 bought a lot of bees in hives that had 

 tight bottoms; not boards nailed on the 

 outside, but fitted inside and nailed in 

 from the sides and back, so it was 

 almost impossible to get them out. 

 Under the circumstances, I did what I 

 thought was the next best thing; left 

 the bottoms in, and put pieces of old 

 carpet over the frames, or brood nest, 

 then laid two sticks across and set an- 

 other hive on them, and so on, six 

 hives high. I believe you can guess 

 the result. It was such that I have 



since left all the bottoms on and the 

 tops open, as above, and I don't ask 

 for better results. We go through the 

 cellar with a light, probably every 

 day, as we have to go through the bee 

 cellar to get to the vegetable cellar. 



I tell you, Hutchinson, the inclina- 

 tion of bee-keepers to everlastingly fol- 

 low the plans laid down or prescribed 

 by others, giving the subject but little 

 thought or study themselves, is the 

 stumbling block to many who other- 

 wise might make the business boom. 



Just as soon as I found those bees 

 wintering so well, I began looking into 

 the matter. I took combs from the 

 side, and found them and the hive per- 

 fectly dry and sweet; while those with 

 bottoms off, but tops on, were damp, 

 and the side-walls of the brood cham- 

 ber had beads of w,ater on the surface; 

 in fact, the whole thing had that cold 

 chilly feeling so characteristic of such 

 a place. 



Up to this time, two years af^-o, 

 winter losses had been my worse 

 trouble as there is p.-actically nothing 

 for my bees to get after basswood 

 bloom (July 20). 



There is not a day after that when 

 my bees will not rob furiously if given 

 a chance; and, necessarily, they go 

 into winter in comparatively poor 

 shape, as brood-rearing stops earlj-. 



Oh, yes, one thing more: I have tried 

 the clipped sting plan for re-queening 

 more thoroughly this summer and it 

 works to perfection. I tried it with 

 four and it was slick. Just put in a 

 young virgin— or a laying queen that 

 has been caged in the cluster a little 

 while and that's all there is to it. 

 Any time after that when you get your 

 eye on her clip her sting then you will 

 not have to hunt her up when you want 

 to introduce another. 

 East Bloomfield, N. Y., Nov. 10, 'O4. 



