380 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



spring when removing the bees from the cellar. His first thought 

 when discovering the condition the swarm was in was, they are a 

 "goner," but upon examining it he found it to be the very best win- 

 tered colony in the cellar; then he wished they were all "goners." 

 He had the cue. From that time to this no bees have been put in 

 his cellar with covers on, and all have wintered well. Another in- 

 stance where it was not the cellar that was to blame for poor winter- 

 ing, but the knowing how to use it. 



The lesson we learn here is, if the cellar is very damp, winter 

 with covers removed, the frames being covered with burlap, giving 

 an abundance of upward ventilation to each individual hive. If the 

 cellar is only moderately dry and you are not having the best results 

 in wintering, try a portion of the swarms with covers removed. 



With our cellar in Charlevoix Co., which is very dry, and the 

 temperature varies from 40 to 56 degrees during winter, we see no 

 difference whether the covers are removed or left sealed down. I 

 said removed. We do not remove any of our covers, but pry some 

 of them loose and slide them endwise until the end cleat of the 

 cover rests upon the end of the hive, making an opening the whole 

 length of both sides of the hive Yi inch at one end and tapering to 

 nothing at the other end. This likely makes as much upward ven- 

 tilation as though the cover was removed entire and covered with 

 burlap. 



Somehow I do not like that sentence "spring dwindle." Did 

 any one ever have a perfectly wintered swarm dwindle during 

 spring? I think not. Isn't it poor wintering that causes dwindling 

 during spring? 1 think it is. If it is poor wintering that causes 

 bees to dwindle during spring, why not call it poor wintering, then 

 the novice will understand what is meant and how to guard against 

 the trouble in the future. 



Now about those winter cases for spring protection for cellar- 

 wintered bees. We used to go to the trouble of papering all of 

 our cellar-wintered bees soon after removing them from the cellar. 

 With 300 colonies this was quite an expense both in labor and 

 material. Finally, we began to leave the better swarms without 

 papering — protecting only those that were light in bees. We have 

 about come to the conclusion that a well-wintered colony, strong 

 with bees, needs no protection more than is provided with a good 

 tight-fitting cover on the regular single-walled hive. Sealed covers 

 that have not been loosened up during winter are in excellent shape 

 to resist the cold of spring. 



When covers are for any reason removed during spring, thus 

 breaking loose the sealed feature, they are scraped clean of propolis 

 and bur combs before returning to the hive. It sometimes happens 

 that there is an accumulation of propolis on the top edge of the 

 hive that may keep the flat cover from fitting down tight. If so, 



