1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



311 



" That is correct." 



' ' How many dead bees did you sweep up 

 then?" 



' ' Not any. I went in then only to see 

 that no mice had come in with the hives to 

 worry the bees; and the bees would be just 

 as well off had no one come in till the time 

 to take them out in the spring. Do you 

 think these bees need a winter flight?" 



"Need a winter flight? Why, if there 

 were not a little stirring there, on account 

 of my breath, and the candle within six 

 inches of them, I should say they were dead. 

 I can only see that they are in as perfect 

 condition as they were last fall, from all I 

 know of bees. And is this all there is of 

 cellar wintering of bees with such an under- 

 ground cellar as this?" 



"Yes, only that there are few winters 

 when there are as few dead bees as there 

 are now. Generally when I have been in 

 here as long as we have been in here now 

 there will, once in a while, a bee fly out to 

 the light; and when that is so, there will be 

 a quart or so of dead bees to sweep up, if I 

 think best to come in and do so, once a 

 month. But I have about concluded that 

 the bees are just as well off if left entirely 

 to themselves (from the time I am satisfied 

 that I have brought in no mice) till they are 

 taken out for good in the spring, on the ap- 

 pearing of pollen for them to gather. ' ' 



' ' Not a single bee has ' took wing ' since 

 we have been in here— not one come to the 

 light; scarcely any dead, either under the 

 hives or on the bottom of the cellar, and no 

 ventilation provided for. Well, this beats 

 me. But what is the temperature? Just 43 

 above zero! Doesn't it vary from that on 

 extremely cold or very warm spells?" 



" From 43 to 45 is all the difference I have 

 ever seen— 45 right after they are put in, 

 then gradually lowering to 43, and then a 

 gradual rising to 45 again, a week or so be- 

 fore setting out. ' ' 



' ' And any one having a little rolling land 

 or hills can have such a cellar as that. I'll 

 have one for another winter. ' ' 



" I do not find it necessary to have just 

 such a cellar as this, for my experience with 

 my out-apiary tells me that bees will winter 

 nearly if not quite as well in an ordinary 

 farmhouse cellar as in here ; at least, my 30 

 colonies at the out-apiary winter nearly as 

 well in the farmer's cellar as do these." 



' ' Are they wintering as well there this 

 winter as are these ? " 



"I can not say for certain. I have not 

 been there since they were put in in the 

 fall. But I believe they are." 



" Don't you go to see them ? " 



"No. In all the fifteen years I have had 

 them there, I have been there only twice 

 during winter, and they have invariably 

 come out well." 



"But the farmer attends to them, does 

 he not?" 



"No; he pays no attention to them. He 

 just uses his cellar the same as he always 

 did before my bees- were there— goes in after 

 his vegetables, opens up his ' bulkhead ' 



doors to load up his stuff to carry to mar- 

 ket, etc. I place no restrictions on him." 



" How are they fixed there? " 



"The same as here, except that there is a 

 |-inch-mesh wire-cloth screen put up before 

 all entrances, to keep the vermin out, and 

 the fronts of the hives are turned toward 

 the wall so as to exclude the light partially 

 when he has doors and windows open for 

 any reason. It is to his interest to protect 

 his vegetables from freezing, etc., and in 

 following his interests he takes care of mine 

 and the bees— or, at least, as I have said, 

 the bees come out in the spring all right 

 each year." 



" And you don't worry about them in the 

 least?" 



" No. I used to, to some extent; but now 

 I am confident they will come out all right, 

 and so I turn my attention to other matters 

 during the winter, scarcely knowing that I 

 have any bees except in a nominal way. 

 And, let me say, it is a relief to me beside 

 what it was when I was thinking of setting 

 them out for winter flights, opening and 

 closing ventilators, doors, windows, etc.; 

 and the beauty of the whole thing is, the 

 bees come out far better, on an average, 

 than they did when I was 'up to date' in 

 all of these matters." 



"Well, if that farmer's cellar winters 

 your bees as well as these are wintering I 

 am going to try mine, for I have a good cel- 

 lar under my house. But just one more 

 question before I go. What do you think 

 about the advocating of the closing of en- 

 trances to keep out the cold where bees are 

 wintered outdoors, as given in February 

 15th Gleanings?" 



' ' I wrote up and advocated the very same 

 thing in the '70's, and was called a ' fusser' 

 and a ' tinkerer, ' and told that it might do 

 with a few hives; but with 50, 100, or 300, 

 such things were not practical. And, after 

 following it with a part of my colonies for 

 years, and leaving others to take care of 

 themselves, I was driven to the conclusion 

 that those not so treated came out equally 

 well for the honey harvest." 



[See editorials.] 



USEFUL TOOLS. 



The Ferry hive-opener and Ferry bee-brush 

 are the result of experience in the apiary, 

 using screwdriver, old file, or corn-broom 

 brush, wings, or almost any thing to open 

 the hive with, or brush the bees off the 

 combs, as well as, when wanted, finding they 

 are at the last hive worked upon. 



Both Ferry hive-opener and Ferry bee- 

 brush have a small chain attached, about 



