Nov. 20, 1902. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



743 



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i Contributed Articles 



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Where Shall the Bees Be Wintered? 



HY C. M. DOOI.ITTLK. 



QUESTION. — Where elmll I winter my bees ; • Shall I put theiu in 

 the cellar, wrap them up with tarreil paper, or let them be as they are 

 for winter ? I have several colonies of bees for the tirsl time in my 

 life, and wish to know where and how it will be best to winter them. 

 I take the American Bee .lournal, and the readintr of eacji iminber is a 

 feast to us. 



Answer. — As our questioner lives near latitude 41 de- 

 grees north, I will say that there is probably no better place 

 for him to winter his bees than in a good, dry cellar ; and if 

 he has such a cellar I would advise him to put his bees in it 

 for wintering. While this is not absolutely necessary for 

 safe wintering, and not as necessary in our southern as in 

 our northern localities, yet there will be a greater saving in 

 honey to the apiarist, as well as better chances of success- 

 ful wintering, even as far south as latitude 37-8 degrees, be- 

 low, where bees seem to do fully as well when on their sum- 

 mer stands. 



If the cellar of the (juestioner has a variable temperature 

 it will not be as good for the bees as would be one in which 

 the temperature could be kept as nearly at 45 degree as pos- 

 sible ; yet if the temperature does not go above SO degrees, 

 nor go lower than 35, it will winter bees much better than 

 to leave them on the summer stand unprotected. If the cel- 

 lar is of more variable temperature than this, the bees 

 would doubtless be better off out-of-doors. 



To prepare the hives properly for wintering in the cel- 

 lar they should be carefully carried in on some morning 

 when it is a little cooler outside than the temperature which 

 is required for the bees to fly, and never when the hives are 

 frozen down to the bottom-boards or to the ground, if such 

 can possibly be avoided. When the hives are thus frozen 

 down, the jar and confusion which comes from prying them 

 loose results in great irritation to the bees and causes them 

 to consume so much honey that it often leads to unsuccess- 

 ful wintering afterwards. 



After getting them to the cellar the hives should be set 

 on a bench a foot or more off the cellar bottom, and the 

 hives raised by some means at least two inches off the 

 bottom-board or bench. Failing to do this the hives will 

 not be properly ventilated, and the result will be that the 

 bees may become uneasy from lack of proper ventilation, 

 which will cause them to consume more stores than is neces- 

 sary to their existence, thereby needlessly using up the 

 honey, and often leading to disease and death. If it is not 

 convenient thus to place them, the hives may be turned 

 bottom side up, if the frames are fastened in the hive, 

 or box-hives are used, and a light, thin fabric of some cotton 

 goods thrown over the mouth of the hive ; still, the first is 

 much preferred. 



I also think it better that the cellar should be dark, or 

 that part of it in which the bees are wintered. Some claim 

 that bees will winter as well in a light cellar as a dark one, 

 which may possibly be so if all the conditions for successful 

 wintering are present ; but as such conditions are usually 

 not all present in many, if any, cellars, it is always best to 

 be on the safe side ; hence the advice to have the cellar 

 dark. 



If the cellar is lacking in many of the qualities which 

 go to make a good cellar for wintering bees, then it may be 

 best not to try it at all, in which case we must try the next 

 best plan, and one which is quite suited to all, latitudes 

 south, of 42 to 44 degrees, that is, wintering on the summer 

 stands packed with chaff, leaves, fine hay or straw. While a 

 chaff hive is the preferable thing, yet it is not supposable 

 that all may have such hives, so we must fix the bees the 

 best we can according to our environments. 



If you do not have chaff-hives, go to your store and pro- 

 cure dry-goods boxes of suitable size, or otherwise make 

 them, in which the hives can be set , and leave room all 

 around for packing. A space of three or four inches is 

 about the right amount to leave, for experience has proven 

 that this is better than a larger or smaller amount. The 

 bottom-board should be raised that distance above the bot- 

 tom of the box, and after having packed under it, it should 

 be secured there, and so as to touch the front side of the box 



also, as the bees must pass over this to get outside of the 

 box. Half an inch above the bottom-board a thinner board 

 should be secured in the same way to both the hive and the 

 box, immediately above the entrance to the hive, so as to 

 keep the packing material from obstructing the passage of 

 the bees, for this is now to become the entrance to the hive. 



Having this fixed, and the hive thoroughly secured to 

 its place, we now put in the packing, pressing it in quite 

 tightly, so that as even a temperature as possible can be 

 maintained inside of the hive, packing the material in as 

 nearly alike on all sides as possible. When the top of the 

 hive is reached, the honey-board, if one is used, should be 

 removed, and two or three thicknesses of cotton cloth spread 

 over the top to keep the packing from rattling down into 

 the hive, and also that, in thus providing for ventilation, a 

 direct draft shall not be allowed through the hive. 



Having all fixed as above, fill in the packing to the 

 depth of four inches all over the top of the other packing, 

 as well as over the hive, keeping it as evenly distributed as 

 possible, but allowing it to be more loose and open than at 

 the sides. The box should be tall enough so as to come a 

 a few inches above the packing, so that the cover, which is 

 now to be put on, shall not touch it. This last is very im- 

 portant, for, should the packing touch the cover to the box, 

 it will absorb the moisture which condenses on the cover, to 

 such an extent that all will become wet and moldy long be- 

 fore spring. 



No matter whether it is chaff-hives, or boxes packed as 

 above, there should always be a few inches of space above the 

 chaff or packing so that the moisture arising from the bees 

 may have a chance to pass off to the outside air with as lit- 

 tle condensation as possible. Having your bees thus fixed, 

 or in a good cellar, they will winter much better than if 

 left to take their chances in unprotected hives. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Maeterlinck's "The Life of the Bee"— A 

 Defense. 



BY C. P. PADANT. 



I CAN NOT pass, without a protest, the mention made by 

 Mr. Albert Gale, in the Australasian Bee-Keeper, quoted 

 in the American Bee Journal on page 547, of Maeterlinck's 

 "The Life of the Bee" as a "comic book on bees." It is 

 true that there are a few very unimportant incorrect state- 

 ments made in the wonderful work of Maeterlinck. But this 

 writer does not claim infallibility. He does not even claim 

 to write a treatise for practical apiculture. I quote from 

 his first page : 



"It is not my intention to write a treatise on apicultiire, 

 or on practical bee-keeping. Excellent works of the kind 

 abound in all civilized countries, and it were useless to at- 

 tempt another Nor is this book to be a scientific mono- 

 gram I wish to speak of the bees very simply, as one 



speaks of a subject one knows and loves, to those who know 

 it not " . 



Maeterlinck has written a book that will remain, be- 

 cause it is a scientific subject put into prose. Any one who 

 has read this book has become interested in the bee, 

 whether he knew anything about bees before or not. 



On the way home from the Denver convention, I met a 

 gentleman from Chicago, traveling in the same sleeping- 

 car I did, who was interested in entomology. He knew 

 nothing about bees otherwise than as an entcmiologist ; had 

 dissected some bees, queens and drones, and had made some 

 personal studies of their anatony. When he found that I 

 was a bee-lover, his first words were, " Have you read the 

 ' Life of the Bee ' by Maeterlinck ? What a masterpiece it is. 

 What a romance at the same time as a work of informa- 

 tion ! " , , 



A few days ago, I met a lady teacher who had read the 

 same work. She knew nothing about bees, had never owned 

 a colony, but had become a lover of the tee through the in- 

 spiration given by this poetical prose. 



We are all human, and therefore all liable to err. Mr. 

 Albert Gale undoubtedly is not an exception to the common 

 rule, but when one of our race writes something which can 

 cause others to pass many pleasant hours, while reading 

 the unfolding, in an attractive manner. of facts that are not 

 in themselves enticing reading, a few slight errors may 

 easily be pardoned, especially if the writer frankly dismisses 

 all claim to technical knowledge. 



Maeterlinck's work is beautiful, not " comic " or ludi- 

 crous, as the Australasian critic would make us believe. Let 



