58 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



to prevent anv sudden change being 

 felt by them. 



Another and less troublesome method 

 of securing a comparatively even tem- 

 perature is to pack a well protected 

 compartment of the cellar as full of 

 bees as possible. Here they generate 

 the required heat. But this method 

 has its objections, as this arrangement 

 thus precludes the possibility of a gen- 

 eral examination should such be nec- 

 essary. And in our latitude witli its 

 prolonged periods of intense cold, no 

 naturafheat will be sufficient to main- 

 tain that even tempei'ature which the 

 use of a Are secures to us. 



If, when spring approaches, and 

 brood-rearing has well commenced, 

 you And the temperature of the cellar 

 above fifty degrees, and the bees roar- 

 ing and uneasy, lower the temperature 

 by the use of ice or snow placed on 

 racks or bins in the top of the cellar, 

 as near the floor as convenient. 



Keep thermometers hanging in the 

 cellar that will show you at any time 

 the temperature at the top and bottom 

 of the cellar, both among the bees, 

 and in the compartment in which the 

 fire is used. 



The highest temperature should be 

 maintained during the early part of 

 the winter, and can be reduced to that 

 degree which necessity may sug- 

 gest. 



Some apiarists have related disas- 

 trous experiences caused by raising 

 the temperature of their bee repos- 

 itory to conform with some well- 

 grounded theory they heard advanced 

 at our conventions, and being too anx- 

 ious to test the same have misapplied 

 it in mid-winter. 



If a high temperature causes your 

 bees to lie out on the sides of their 

 hives in the early winter no harm is 

 done ; but be sure that temperature is 

 the cause. 



Let no connection with the floors, 

 walls or partitions, surrounding your 

 bees, leave a possibility of their re- 

 ceiving the slightest jar, and mice and 

 rats shouhl be thoroughly extermi- 

 nated from the cellar before the bees 

 are put in. Vegetables should not be 

 stored near the bees, as the tempera- 

 ture required for each is incompatible, 

 and the noxious gases from decayed 

 fruits and vegetables are detrimental to 

 the bees. The bees should remain in 

 the cellar until the soft maples bloom, 

 but may be removed earlier if placed 

 in suital)le chatt" hives on a fine, sunny 

 day, with the mercury at or about fifty 

 degrees, Fahrenheit, in the shade, and 



the air is still. No matter if snow 

 covers the ground, few will be lost. 

 Caution is necessary that the colonies 

 may not mix and some of them aban- 

 don their hives. The better time to 

 remove bees from the cellar is in the 

 night, but this is only safe later in the 

 season. I have removed bees from the 

 cellar to chafl" hives, in February, with 

 satisfactory results. Bees in chatf 

 htves, -during the early spring, can 

 easily be supplied with water and arti- 

 cial pollen which is a great advan- 

 tage." 



But as this more properly comes 

 under the head of "Spring Man- 

 agement," the gentleman from the 

 "Nebula" declines any further remarks 

 on "Cellar Wintering," and closes 

 with a few remarks about wintering 

 on the "Summer Stands." He con- 

 tinues : 



"As suitable cellars for wintering 

 bees are a convenience possessed by 

 few, the next best method of winter- 

 ing bees is in hives protected by chafi", 

 and is even a better vattthoA than win- 

 tering in the cellar, and ' springing' 

 them in a single walled hive on the 

 summer stand, or allowing them to 

 remain unprotected, in the fall, until 

 they are removed to the cellar. But, 

 says one, ' these chatt" hives are expen- 

 sive.' True; but they are a necessity, 

 and if we are allowed but one, give us 

 the chatt" hive in preference to the 

 cellar. I advise all to keep within 

 their means, in the matter of con- 

 structing chafi"-hives, as well as every- 

 thing else. Temporary chatt" hives can 

 be constructed very cheaply from old 

 boards or dry-goods boxes, but require 

 more work to pack and unpack them 

 each season, and it is quite difficult to 

 make the tops water-tight. So I atlvise 

 the construction of permanent chatt' 

 hives, as soon as the expense is war- 

 ranted by previous incomes from the 

 bees, and then make a hive of which 

 you will not be ashamed; and not such a 

 hive as our friend H. of western fame 

 advises, made of rough boards, so 

 constructed that the winds can remove 

 the packing to the four corners of the 

 earth, and leave you the empty box to 

 pile away every spring. 



My hives are made of pine, five- 

 eighths of an inch in thickness after 

 being planed on both sides, and are well 

 painted. They have a gable-roof, made 

 of two wide boards with a ridge 

 board. This roof sheds the water to 

 the sides of the hive, and not in front, 

 for it to spatter and freeze in the en- 

 trance. It contains between it and the 



