476 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



able to do this, our bees need not perish for want of 

 numbers; we cau control the kind and amount of 

 food that they shall have during the winter; and if 

 sugar is better than honey for winter stores, we can 

 give it to them; but it bees are wintered out of 

 doors we can not control the tempcratuir : while if 

 they are in cellars or special repositories, we can 

 control the temperature. The uniform success that 

 George Grimm and L. C. Koot and others have had 

 in wintering large numbers of colonies in cellars, 

 helps to confirm me in the belief that indoor winter- 

 ing, proprrly mnnagcd, is the best for our northern 

 climate. 



But I fear that I am wandering, speculating and 

 theorizing a little too much; the experiments that I 

 am making are to leave some of my colonies out of 

 doors, protecting most oi them with chaff cushions, 

 to put some of them in the cellar, and to put some 

 of them in clamps on a dry sandy knoll. Somf of 

 them are furnished entirely with white sugar, others 

 in part, and some arc given early-gathered honey, 

 and others not. Part of those in the cellars will be 

 given a fly, if the weather permits, and the re- 

 mainder will not be fi-.ken from the cellars until 

 they can gather honey. I have not the space to en- 

 ter into all of the particulars now, but next spring I 

 will tell you how they all wintered. 



W. z. Hutchinson. 



Hogcrsvillc, Genesee Co., Mich., Sept., 1881. 



FRIEND UKIilIM'S METHOD OF FEED- 

 ING FOK ^VINTEK. 



ANJ) ALSO mS METHOD OV VENTILATING IN CEL- 

 LAR S. 



^f^ UIEND KOOT:- 



B'«1 4 



sr' Gleanings did 



-Your gentle reminder in Aug. 

 . did not escape my notice, but I did 

 ^^ not have time to write anything for Septem- 

 ber number. Though somewhat late in the season, 

 a few words on the subject of feeding may not be 

 amiss. I shall not get around to feeding any before 

 October myself, and if I tell you how I do it I sup- 

 pose it will be sufficient. For my part, I desire rath- 

 er to hear practice than theory; and, to some ex- 

 tent, others can be judged by one's self. 



As soon as I can get time I will go to each of my 

 outside apiaries (Ave) and examine every colony, 

 and weigh them. Those that have sufficient honey, 

 a good queen, are strong in bees, etc., I do not dis- 

 turb till the time comes to haul them home or to the 

 cellars in which I winter them. All those that ai-e 

 not in proper shape, I haul to my home apiary so as 

 to have them handy for treatment. After uniting 

 all that is necessary, I supply them partly with 

 combs of honey, and feed sulHcient sugar syrup to 

 give them a good supply for the winter. If I had 

 extracted honey on hand I would feed that ; but as I 

 did npt raise any this year, I will feed syrup made 

 of the best white coffee sugar. I feed this by means 

 of a tin can, about the size of a jvetach can, through 

 ahole in the houey-board. The can has a piece of 

 perforated tin about V'z inches square on the bot- 

 tom, arid a rim of tin around the edge, -J^ of an inch 

 wide. It is filled on the same side through a small 

 can-screw cap, and turned over by a quick move- 

 ment. I suppose it is on the principle of your pep- 

 per-box feeder. The honey that bees gathered this 

 fall is good, and I shall therefore feed only those 

 that have not enough for the winter. 



I am getting so many inquiries about how I venti- 

 late in the cellar, that it is getting troublesome to 

 answer them for a 3-cent stamp. Allow me, there- 

 fore, to state in Gleanings exactly what I do. I use 

 the 8-frame Langstroth portico hive, with honey- 

 board, exclusively. When I put them in the cellar I 

 set them in rows, six high, the rear one an inch 

 higher than the front; and this is the ventilation: 

 The entrance, 34 inch high, and as wide as the hive, 

 is left open and kept clear of dead bees during the 

 winter, and the honey-board is slid forward so as to 

 give an opening of 14 inch in the rear. That is all, 

 and it is enough. It permits the circulation of air 

 through the hive. Vapors arising from the bees arc 

 either carried off, or condensed and run out of the 

 frontof the hive— the latter very rarely, however. 

 Nearly all my hives are painted on the inside, so 

 the moisture will not soak into the wood. Once in a 

 while a hive is found where a few outside combs are 

 molded some, but the cases are few. Almost all 

 have as bright, dry combs in the spring as in the 

 fall; and bear in mind, too, that I leave cM the combs 

 in the hives through the winter, and do not take the 

 trouble to crowd the bees together by means of a 

 division-board : the cold has always done that most 

 effectually. If I removed the spare combs, I do not 

 think that I would have a single moldy comb in the 

 apiary. 



In reference to winter passages through the 

 combs, I would say that I never made them and 

 never needed them. The bees pass under the honey- 

 board and over the frames from comb to comb. 

 The above method of ventilation serves the purpose 

 of absorbents in the shape of chaff and the like, ad- 

 mirably; and mutilation of the combs is unneces- 

 sary. Of this I am certain, that there must cither be 

 ventilation similar to this, or absorbents of moisture 

 must be used in its stead, as nearly always, when 

 through carelessness the cover had liecn slipped 

 back in lifting another hive on top, the colony was 

 either dead in the spring, or had moldy combs. 

 Next winter I shall have a large tank of water, hold- 

 ing about 5 barrels, in one of my cellars; and I think 

 it will materially help to purify the air, and secure 

 an even temperature. During warm weather lean 

 cool the water with ice. Geo. Gkimm. 



Jefferson, Wis., Sept., 1881. 



I expect HOW, friend Grimm, some of the 

 boys will want to know how you make the 

 syrup; Avhether it is boiled, or only stirred 

 up cold, my favorite way. We are very glad 

 you have told us so plainly about the venti- 

 lation in the cellar. You see, friends, he 

 has it every bit as open as we have talked 

 about, when sections were left over the 

 frames for outdoor wintering, and, very 

 likely, a little more so. Just think of it ! A 

 i-inch slot the width of the hive, at both 

 entrance and highest point. I should think 

 the Simplicity hives would be real handy to 

 put into the cellar, for we could let the bees 

 wax down the enameled sheets as tightly as 

 they pleased ; and as they were put in the cel- 

 lars, just roll back the tin on the back end 

 of the enameled sheet, to make this space. 

 These sheets are usually kept above the 

 frames enough for a good bee passage, by 

 nttle pillars of wax. \V^hen the bees are put 

 out in the spring, the end of the sheet can 

 quickly be turned back in place again, and 

 they are snug and tig-ht for brood-rearing. 



