SEPTEMBER 1, 1914 



slaiuliiiy the i'a<',t that we had many days 

 away beh)W zero, and that the bees had no 

 fligiit till March, each one of these nuclei 

 (hat were crowded up on Ore solid frames of 

 honey in November came out in excellent 

 condition, and are to-day among the best 

 colonies in the yard. The two colonies fed 

 solid, as well as these four nuclei, were in 

 packed hives, each hive having- two inches of 

 sawdust in front, with three inches at sides 

 and back. Each colony had burlap over the 

 frames, and over all a sawdust cushion 

 about four inches thick; also an air-space 



()!■ wcU-riiKMied syrup, and see if he does not 

 get different results. Judging by my ex- 

 perience, some strains of goldens would not 

 stand this test; but the beekeeper in ques- 

 tion does not keep goldens, and his bees are 

 very hardy, like mine; hence the advice I 

 am giving with such confidence. 



Feeding solid is not practical, as a general 

 rule, and I do not pretend to say it is even 

 advisable. But I do say that for wintering 

 outdoors in our latitude it is much safer to 

 go to the extreme in the matter of giving 

 lots of stores than it is to feed u^d colonies 



Lewis L. Winship's way of wintering in cases made of drygoodsboxes. 



above the packing made by a gable roof, 

 and in each end of the roof an inch hole to 

 allow ventilation. 



I do not claim any thing of value in these 

 results; but I do claim that the idea that 

 bees must have some empty comb to cluster 

 on in order to- winter well is fallacious. 



A well-known apiarist in New York wrote 

 me in the early spring, saying that a num- 

 ber of nuclei he was trying to winter in the 

 cellar had all perished before spring because 

 the cellar got too cold. Truly, as Heddon 

 once said, " cold is a giant in a cellar," in so 

 far as bees ai'e concerned. I would suggest 

 to my New York friend that this coming 

 Avint-er he snuggle up some of these nuclei 

 on three or four solid combs of good honey 



in L. Ijives for the purpose of being sure to 

 leave them empty comb space to cluster on. 

 In preparing for winter the one apiaiy of 

 eight-frame hives that we have, we feed till 

 they refuse to take any more, during the 

 middle of October. While they may get 

 some empty comb to cluster on by the time 

 severe weather comes it would suit me very 

 nicely if I knew that all were on solid combs 

 as late as November. 



With us one of the faults of the eight- 

 frame hive for outdoor wintering is the 

 diflticulty of getting in enough stores to last 

 till fruit bloom. We have had bees suffer 

 because of the lack of stores, but never yet 

 because of too many solid combs in late fall. 



Mount Joy, Out., Can. 



