THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



101 



4|0iti;oi)anilcn^. 



Our Plan of Wintering. 



As many of our Bee Keeping friends in 

 ditlerent parts of our country are in 

 many cases, yearly being made sorrow- 

 ful through the sad inroads made upon 

 tlieirpets — the beautiful Italians — and we, 

 having been bles^sed by a course of ma i- 

 agemcnt, whieli lias not only given us 

 our number of colonies in full, in the be- 

 ginning of spring, in good shape, but has 

 carried tliem safely through the severe 

 trial put upon them, by our cold and 

 bacliward springs, of which so many 

 have cause to remember, and hoping to 

 benefit some one or more of our suffering 

 friends, we submit our plan of proceed- 

 ure, to-wit : 



In the first place, our bees are wintered 

 in the cellar, under the main part of tlie 

 house, over which there is a fire but very 

 few times during winter. Cellar 18x22, 

 in chiy ; bee room, 9x12, partitioned off 

 in one corner, between joists over-head we 

 have stutVed with straw, held in place by a 

 few lath tacked on, the partitioned side is 

 also studded and packed with straw in 

 same manner, while one side and end are 

 stone wall, over all the portion stufied 

 witli straw, we have tacked a covering of 

 building paper, shelves arranged around 

 tlie sides and one end, none coming ?iear- 

 (7" than two feet of cellar-bottom, we thus, 

 you will see, have provided an absorb- 

 ant, by which all dampness is"" absorbed. 

 As a consequence, our rooms are as dry 

 as a flint. Here let us say, were we going 

 to arrange an otiier room in the cellar, for 

 bees, would manage to have as little of 

 the stone-xcall in it as possible, for we no- 

 tice, is there an uneasy colony, or one the 

 least inclined to be diseased, or one weak- 

 er than the average in Spring 'tis sure to 

 be, or have come from the stone-wall 

 side, and whenever we were compelled to 

 have a portion of it, would arrange to not 

 let our hives come nearer than 12 to 18 

 inches. So mucli for cellars. 



About lUth to loth of Sept, or imme- 

 diately after buckwheat season closes, 

 which winds up the honey season with us. 

 (During the flow of fall honey, should you 

 not be sure your bees would store enough 

 for their winter's use, do not put oft' sup- 

 plying them with a safe amount, either 

 honey or syrup, later than above date as 

 the earlier theh gei their stores, the soon- 

 er will they cap themselves and as a con- 

 sequence tlie better will they winter.) We 

 carefully examine each stock and esit- 



mate their stores and if any are sliort, im- 

 mediately feed them on Coffee A. sugar 

 syrup made 20 pounds to the gallon of 

 water, until they have from 20 to ;^(J lbs. 

 stores each, according to strength of colo- 

 ny. Tliey are then left to themselves, to 

 be as quiet as may be. As the cool nights 

 of last Sept. and Oct. come on, we con- 

 tract the entrance to keep them warm. 

 Early in Oct., choosing a day in which 

 the bees are flying lively, we open a liive 

 and set frames in an empty one previous- 

 ly provided for the purpose, then proceed 

 to tack a quilt ( made of sheeting lined 

 with a thin l.ayer of batting, quilts made 

 for summer use,) on each of the two sides 

 of tlie hive, doubling over and to the in- 

 side, at top of hive, sutttcient of the quilt 

 to let it just reach bottom on back side, 

 and elevated enough on front to allow 

 the bees free use of entrance, use three 8 oz. 

 tacks at top and one at bottom, driving 

 only half way in, so they may be easily 

 removed in taking ofl' quilts. Your hive 

 is now ready for the bees, which return, 

 and when returning examine and see if 

 they have as many as two empty combs 

 in center of hive, if not supply them, plac- 

 ing a frame of honey or syrup between 

 them. If they have unsealed stores, see 

 that they are placed nearest the bees and 

 the sealed removed toward end of hive, 

 by this means the unsealed stores are first 

 used up and you will have no soured 

 stores to give your bees that fatal disease 

 in spring, known as dysentery. Spread 

 combs a little in center of hive, about 

 where clustering is, and if necessary so to 

 do, remove 1 to o frames, by a lialf inch 

 strip across the top of frame and place on 

 quilt, and your bees are ready to let alone, 

 until time of setting away. You will see 

 upon replacing bees in hive, after lining, 

 that the frames do not go to place as easi- 

 ly as before, but by placing one end in 

 position you can easily bring other to place, 

 when you will find your frames are as 

 firmly held to place as though made close 

 fitting. By this i)rocess of lining, we not 

 only do away with that great objection to 

 frame hives for winter use, the dead air 

 space around frames, chilling bees and 

 combs, but we enclose our bees in a nice 

 warm nest, surrounded with material 

 which absorbs all dampness and keeps 

 them as dry as can be. The fir.st cold 

 snap in Nov;, we prepare to set them in 

 winter quarters by setting them off bottom 

 board, and cleaning that of all litter, and 

 placing a frame, made of inch stuft", in 

 square, on bottom board, then place, have 

 b.ick resting on the frame, take up bottom 

 brood and gently carry them to their place 

 in cellar, setting brood and hive on shelf, 

 cloie door, and above all let them alone, 



