THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



69 



[For the American Bee Journal. ] 



Wintering Bees. 



Mb. Editor: — You will please find enclosed 

 two dollars to renew my subscription for your 

 valuable Journal, together with a statement 

 ol my experience in wintering bees with suc- 

 cess. 



I commenced bee-keeping some eighteen 

 years ago, and had as many as fifteen swarms. 

 But by mismanagement and leaving the hives 

 on their summer stands all winter, I lost every 

 one by cold weather. I then bought two 

 swarms more, and they froze to death by the 

 same management. But, being a spunky Ger- 

 man, I bought a third time, procuring three 

 swarms on this occasion. By this time I be- 

 came acquainted with Sir. Langstroth's Book 

 on the Honey Bee, which I read with great in- 

 terest, especially the portion on wintering bees, 

 and the description of a bee wintering reposi- 

 tory on page 348, third edition •, and I conclu- 

 ded to provide one for my bees. I dug mine in 

 the ground three feet deep, eight feet wide, and 

 sixteen feet long — boarded up on all sides six 

 feet high. I then put on a board roof, and 

 banked up the sides with dirt. The gable ends 

 I banked up with straw, and put in each a tube 

 four inches square for ventilation. I placed the 

 door in the north end, to prevent the entrance 

 of too much light when opened. Shelves were 

 arranged within on the two long sides. 



This repository will hold sixty stands of bees. 

 I put them in this place the first part of Decem- 

 ber and take them out about the fust of April. 

 "When I put my hives in this repository, I give 

 each of them ventilation, as well above as below. 

 For the Lanastroth hive, I leave the honey- 

 board on, with an inch opening, the width of 

 the board, for upward ventilation, and one 

 square inch below. For the square box hives, 

 I give four inches square for upward ventila- 

 tion, and one inch square below. 



In the year 1865, I placed in this repository 

 nineteen s'ocks of bees, and left two out on 

 their summer stands. I took the nineteen out 

 of the repository on the first of April following, 

 all in fine condition. The two stocks that I 

 left on the summer stands through the winter 

 lost about one-half of their bees, and recovered 

 with difficulty. In the year 1866, I wintered 

 twenty-eight hives in this repository, and in the 

 following winter thirty-six. All came out well 

 in the spring, without the loss of any. When 

 bees are in the repository, it is important to let 

 tbem remain undisturbed as much as possible. 

 I visit mine not to exceed three times all winter, 

 and those visits are made as clandestinely as 

 possible, as I do not wish the bees to become 

 conscious of my presence. 



Now I will say that nothing further Is neces- 

 sary to convince me, and I think every other 

 person, this winter-housing of bees is des- 

 lined to prove itself to be the most successful 

 method of management that has ever been in- 

 troduced in our northern climates. 



In this section bees have done very poorly. 

 A wet spring and a dry summer made the bee 

 pasture scant, and it is more than probable that 



every stock left out in the open air this fall will 

 perish before the opening of spring. 



Two full-bred Italian queens which I bought 

 of Mr. Laugstroth are doing very well. They 

 are fine specimens. I have raised sixteen 

 young queens from them this summer, which 

 mostly were fertilized by Italian drones. 



I will here mention a rare case of delayed 

 fertilization. I have a queen which was six 

 weeks and two days old before she became fer- 

 tilized. She was in one of Mr. Langstroth's 

 movable comb hives, which I think is the best 

 hive in the world. I could thus keep track of 

 her and see her so often that there was no 

 chance for mistake. I will send you more 

 some future time. 



H. ROSENSTIEL. 



Lena, Ills., Sept. 2, 1868. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Bees in Shallow Hives. 



I intend to try a new method of wintering 

 bees in the shallow hives the coming winter. I 

 shall remove the honey -board which I use in the 

 summer season, and use in place of it a whole 

 one, which I shall fasten on with screws ; and 

 make an entrance on the front end, large enough 

 for the bees to pass out during the warm days 

 in winter. Now, after putting a strip of wood 

 across the front end, inside, to keep the frames 

 in place, and another across the top of the 

 frames, I shall turn the hive up on the front 

 end, and secure it so that the wind cannot blow 

 it over ; then put the cap on to keep out the 

 water and snow. The wiDter passages should 

 be made as usual ; and if there is a glass in the 

 rear end it must be removed, or covered with 

 woolen cloth. 



If others should test this method, they will 

 find it a good plan to prepare a hive and then 

 transfer the combs into it. If this is done as 

 early as October 1st, I think the bees will re- 

 move the honey below them to the empty combs 

 near the top or centre of the hive. 



By turning the hive up we have a deep hive, 

 and not a shallow one. Of course they will 

 winter well, as all agree that a deep hive will 

 winter better than a shallow one. 



I have never wintered a stock in this way 

 and shape, and hope others will test this plan 

 as well as myself, and report through the Bee 

 Journal. 



If the hives are well stocked with honey and 

 bees, I see no reason why they should not win- 

 ter well in a hive thus prepared. 



H. Alley. 



Wenham, Mass. 



In the "Magazine of Natural History,'''' we 

 find the folowing instance recorded of sinking 

 psalms to bees, to make them thrive : " When 

 in Bedfordshire, England, lately, we were in- 

 formed of an old man who sang a psalm, last 

 year, in front of some of his hives which were 

 not doing well ; but which, he said, would 

 thrive in consequence of that ceremony. Our 

 informant could not say whether this was a 

 local or an individual superstition." 



