668 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Pig. 6. — The under side of the cover. The cleats telescope over the 

 sides of the case. 



mounted on concrete blocks. These blocks 

 are 9 inches high, 9 square at the base, and 

 taper to 6 inches at the top. These blocks 



are a new thing for me; 

 but I have found where 

 the winter case is close 

 to the ground the ice, 

 during the winter, and 

 particularly in early 

 spring, is close to the 

 entrance of the case, re- 

 sulting in many bees 

 chilling on the ice. 



I have no block nailed 



co the outside of the case 



and under the entance, 



because it becomes a 



platform for snow, and 



tends to conduct snow 



into the entrance. The case is painted a dark 



red, with a paint commonly used for barns. 



Brantford, Canada. 



A SATISFACTORY EXPERIENCE WINTERING IN A PIT 



BY B. BREWSTER 



My experience last winter in wintering 

 bees in a pit may be of use to some of your 

 readers in the newly settled parts of this 

 great West. For ten years I had uniform- 

 ly good results from wintering in the cellar 

 under the house; but in 1912 I put 83 colo- 

 nies down ; and though, no doubt, there were 

 several factors which contributed to the 

 disaster besides that of overcrowding, I lost 

 30 colonies, and many others contained only 

 a small cluster four or five inches in diam- 

 eter. This latter condition may have been 

 partly caused by a high wind from the south 

 which sprang up before 9 A. m. on the morn- 

 ing the colonies were put out, which caused 

 the bees to drift toward 

 the hives on the south 

 row, with the result that 

 I had 12 very strong 

 colonies and a splendid 

 opportunity of testing 

 the Alexander method 

 for weak colonies. (T 

 succeeded in every case ; 

 the two put up on tho 

 seventh day were rather 

 inclined to quarrel, as 

 many dead bees were 

 put out the first day ; 

 but ultimately they unit- 

 ed and were built up to 

 good strong colonies.) 



Having about the 

 same number to winter 

 in 1913 T remembered 

 the cover ])i('(ure of the 

 Jan. 15th issue for 1912, 



which showed a clamp or pit in course of 

 construction. Noting that a sandy soil is 

 indispensable, and as we have that to per- 

 fection, I decided to put 25 colonies into a 

 pit. I was unable to find the copy of 

 Gleanings with the picture and instruc- 

 tions, so I had to depend on my memory 

 and put them in with bottom-boards on, 

 and closed the pit Nov. 2. I put a stove- 

 pipe in the center, but covered it over with 

 four burlajj bags held down and packed 

 around with dry soil. I left a space be- 

 tween the poles, also between the liives, so 

 that I could lower a thermometer and take 

 the temperature during the winter. We 



(.ase couiplele, slaiiiiiug on four blocks to keep tlie 

 ice av^ay from the entrance. 



