1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



225 



cost. But to raise them for food purposes could 

 hardly be made a paying business unless the 

 ponds were very large, and could be rested 

 every other year. N. Jef. Jones. 



Design, Pitts. Co., Va. 



[We have given place to the above principally 

 Ijecause it speaks of the fact that the German 

 carp is now to be found generally in our brooks 

 and mill-ponds. If this is true, then tiie work 

 of the fish-commissioners, in scattering German 

 carp throughout our land, has been a good one. 

 Inasmuch as we have published a book on carp 

 culture, and there is a |)eriodical devoted to the 

 subject — namely, NatloiKil Jourmtl of Carp 

 Culture, Alliance, O., w(; think we shall liave 

 to devote our space to other subjects foi- the fu- 

 ture.] 



0a^ QaEpTi0]\[-B6;^, 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



Question 180. Please tell how much venti- 

 lation 5ees need when wintered outdoors, and 

 how you would secure it. 



We Ifeave the full fly entrance open. 

 Illinois. N. W. C. Mks. L. Harrison. 



The entrance is all the ventilation they need. 

 Louisiana. E. C. P. L. Viaij.on. 



Just how much they need is a question I am 

 not prepai'ed to answer. I have had them win- 

 ter well with much and also with little. 



Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



Only that from the usual opening, and this 

 should be restricted when very cold. To secure 

 this, keep dead bees out. 



Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



We remove the cloth and use a straw mat 

 over the frames, with absorbents in the cap or 

 upper story. We give but little lower ventila- 

 tion. 



Illinois. N. W. Dadant & Son. 



I never winter outdoors. If I did I believe I 

 ■would put a two-inch rim between the hive and 

 bottom-board, and close up tight, but open the* 

 ■enti'ance when warm enough for the bees to fiy. 



Ohio. N. W. A. B. Mason. 



We leave, at the bottom, six j^^-inch holes 

 open all winter, just the same as we have in 

 summer. In summer we have a IJ^'-inch hole 

 through the front side of the hive, half way up. 

 That hole we close in winter. 



Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



I don't know. I"m trying four outdoors, pret- 

 ty well covered up, all but the entrance, and 

 that's 12x2. Ought to kill them, oughtn't it? 

 Likely it will. But then, I can say it's the 

 climate. 



Illinois. N. C. C. Miller. 



I have wintered outdoors successfully several 

 winters, with no other ventilation than the 

 summer entrance, which was % inch high 

 across the front of the hive, and again lost 

 heavily with the same treatment. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. I. Freeborn. 



We abandoned outdoor wintering some years 

 ago, consequently we are not up to the times on 

 this subject. I am under the impression, how- 

 ever, that they do not need nearly so much as 

 is usually given them. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



I have had excellent results by placing a rim 

 under each hive, having an air cai)acity of 

 about 500 cubic inches, and giving them a gen- 

 erous entrance. A close-fitting cover is on the 

 hives, but no I'ags or quilts. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



About the same as in wai-m weather, on the 

 summer stands, and secured in the same way 

 by having the entrance wide open. 1 think 

 favorably of an empty chamber below the combs 

 for wintering out of doors as well as in. 



Ohio. N. W. H. R. Boakpman. 



I ventilate by an entrance '^d by at least 8 

 inches long— usually the full width of the hive. 

 If upward ventilation is allowed— I want none 

 of it — the entrance should not be so large. The 

 hive should be air-tigiit on top, entrance large, 

 and hive well packed on all sides. 



Illinois. N. C. J. A. Green. 



Make the entrance ?/ by jo inches. Lean a 

 board up over the entrance, so that no cold 

 winds nor the sun can beat in at the entrance, 

 also to keep snow and ice from forming thei'e, 

 and you will have things fixed about right, ac- 

 cording to the opinion of Doolittle. 



New Y^ork. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



When I have seen many colonies of bees M'in- 

 ter nicely under a snowdrift in old box hives, 

 with no opening except three or four little tri- 

 angular notches sawed in the bottom of one of 

 tlie side boards, I do not know why a gimlet- 

 hole will not give air enough, and that may be 

 in the top, bottom, or side of the hive. I have 

 seen much of ventilation, but I do not know 

 much. 



California. S. R. Wilkin. 



I nevei- could discover that bees needed any 

 ventilation, in doors or out. At present I have 

 over i'lO colonies, of my .350, in a cellar which is 

 half full of honey bairels and kegs, and I close 

 it up tight without any ventilation whatever, 

 only as I open the dooi' to go down and see how 

 they are coming on. Tliis winter they are ex- 

 tremely quiet, and appear to be wintering ])er- 

 fectly. Bees flew lively outdoors yesterday, 

 December 22. the shortest day in the year. 



Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



Very frequently I secure it by leaving the en- 

 trance just as it was through the summei'. I 

 like pretty well to put a special bottom-board 

 under for wintering, which gives two inches 

 more space below. This space is filled up with 

 dry sawdust, except a little in front. In front 

 there is an open chamber about 2x2x(5. closed 

 from the outer world by a movable block. Be- 

 tween the block and the corner of the bottom- 

 board there is a vertical entrance, two inches 

 high by three-eighths wide, and fenced against 

 mice by a row of wire nails. 

 DOhio. N. W. E. E. Hasty._ 



nConfine your bees to the brood - chamber, 

 which cover with a board or boards, a honey- 

 board, or something like it. Keep these hoards 

 warm by putting on a straw mat or its et^uiva- 

 lent, because the bees clustei' below, and m ould 

 chill without this precaution. Have plenty of 

 honey in your combs, with the heaviest to\\'ard 

 the centei-, and a winter passageway through 

 everyone; full width of the enti'ance open, with 

 a two-inch sti'ip under the back of the hive, so 

 that all moisture is hound to run out; othei'wise 

 it will be al>sorh(Hl by the combs, sour the honey 

 and pollen, and ci'eate dvsentery. 

 Ohio. S. W. " ■ C. F. MiiTH. 



[From the above, the general tendency seems 

 to be giving at least as much room in winter at 



