1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



77 



The knowledge that so many of my bee-keep- 

 ing friends are so desirous of learning more in 

 relation to wintering bees, leads me to the choice 

 of my theme. I can give nothing new and won- 

 derful as the result of my experiments, but only 

 call attention to what has long been known, but 

 neglected, and which from various circumstances 

 has been forced upon my attention. The great 

 object with me in the conduct of my apiary has 

 been to so winter my bees, that in passing 

 through the cold seasons of the year, they will 

 not lose the advantages they gained during the 

 summer. 



The apiary which was under my superinten- 

 dence was situated on the side of a steep hill, 

 over which, at about eight meters distance, a 

 much travelled thoroughfare passes. The pas- 

 sage of the heavy wagons over this frozen road 

 in winter, greatly alarmed, not only my bees, but 

 injured the hearing of persons, and shakes from 

 the foundation the hou-es of those living near 

 the road. To this there is another disadvantage 

 added, that there are neither trees nor shrubs to 

 prevent the cold north and east winds from 

 striking with full force my hives. No wonder 

 that amid these difficulties I was much troubled 

 how to procure rest during the winter for my 

 bees, and to descry some place of protection 

 from the cold. Having no cellar suitable for 

 wintering the bees, I was forced to prepare a 

 place in the open air. As I had little experience 

 in such matters, I went to my bee books for 

 counsel and advice, and after long search I came 

 luckily to the B enzeitunjv, 1857, Nos. 1(5 aid 17, 

 containing an article of Pastor Scholz, of Hart- 

 wigswaldan. This article gave me much pleas- 

 ure, as I found in it much more than I had expect- 

 ed to find. Quickly next fall, I built a bee-house, 

 which did not work to the injury of the bees, 

 but to their greatest benefit and well being, be- 

 cause every advantage claimed for his bee-house 

 by Pastor Scholz, were found by me to be cor- 

 rect. The bees consumed towards spring about 

 half the quantity of honey, and came out in a 

 good condition, and populous, in spring, show- 

 ing hardly any loss of bees whatever ; the combs 

 were neither damp or mouldy ; they suffered 

 nothing from thirst or want of air, and the 

 hives, which formerly suffered much from ex- 

 posure during the wet winter months, remained 

 uninjured, and were safely protected from 

 thieves. It was a most successful wintering. 

 Since I860, I winter my bees in such houses, 

 and always with a like result. During the win- 

 ters covered by this long period, I have not lost 

 one swarm, excepting those not put into the bee- 

 house. All calamities, as dysentery, want of 

 air, thirst, &c, are unknown to my bees — they 

 are and remain always quiet. 



The desire for water is first observed in stocks 

 after they have been removed from the bee-house 

 some days, and have flown. Until then, water 

 placed in troughs near the hive remains un- 

 touched. That my bees do not sooner feel the 

 need of water, is to be sought for in these for- 

 tunate conditions, that, so long as they are in 

 the darkness and even temperature of the bee- 

 house, they have little or no brood, (the stocks 

 upon being brought out are without brood), and 



the increase only begins when the hives are 

 placed in daylight and the open air. 



Just as bees require in spring and summer 

 pleasant and warm weather in which to prosper, 

 so, I hold, that warmth next to food, so placed 

 that it can readily be obtained by the bees, is 

 the chief requirement for safely wintering bees. 



Notwithstanding I place my bees in the bee- 

 house, I take especial pains to provide for them 

 warm hives, and provide in every possible way for 

 their safe wintering. In the fall the honey sup- 

 ply of each hive is carefully examined, the combs 

 assorted ; over the clustering place of weak 

 swarms, who generally h ive their honey on one 

 side of the hive, full combs of honey are placed ; 

 the interior of the hive is lessened ; the tops of 

 the hives are made air-tight by a coating of clay ; 

 the space between the tops of the combs and 

 the hives, and the side between the combs and 

 the door, are filled tightly with hay or straw, be- 

 sides doors of platted straw are pushed in and 

 thickly covered with clay. 



Thus prepared my bees are placed in the bee- 

 house about the middle of November, or as soon 

 as continuous frost appears, and remain until 

 the middle of March, when usually there occurs 

 weather sufficiently mild to allow the bees, with- 

 out danger, to have their first purifying flight. 



It is a matter of indifference to me, in winter, 

 whether the thermometer sinks down 20°, or 

 whether the cold north and east winds play their 

 michievous pranks, and howl and blow, for I 

 have the knowledge that my beloved bees are 

 safely protected from harm, aid that when 

 brought out next March they will greet me with 

 a "Happy Spring." 



Too closely or warmly protecting hives has 

 been repeatedly condemned as injurious. This 

 may be true when they are suffered to remain on 

 in their summer stands, especially may it be so 

 when unusually populous stocks are in pavillions, 

 yet in the bee-house, I have never met with any 

 injurious consequences. I place in them strong 

 aiid w r eak stocks, and have repeatedly wintered 

 queens with very few bees, and have always had 

 them pass the winter safely. 



Encouraged by my great success in wintering 

 my bees, I desired to impart my knowledge to my 

 brother bee-k< epers, and to urge them also to try 

 this plan, and to give their bees a suitable pro- 

 tection for the winter, and to reap the advan- 

 tage of this successful system. 



Alas ! to the great majority my words passed 

 as the idle wind ; the groundless fear of suffoca- 

 ting their bees ; the little pains and small outlay re- 

 quired for building are the reasons of the failure 

 of the attempt. Only two bee-keepers, dwelling 

 in my immediate neighborhood, who had seen 

 how safely my bees wintered, and how strong 

 in numbers they came out of their winter quar- 

 ters in spring, were induced to adopt my sys i m, 

 which they have now used for some years with 

 equal success. How easily and cheaply such a 

 bee-house can be constructed, we will now pro- 

 ceed to show. 



Towards the end of September, I select the 

 position and remove the weeds, and gathering 

 the needed wood, commence the building. 



I place firmly in the ground, 9 meters apart, 



