November, 1909. 



American Hee Journal 



IBS 





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Preparing Bees for Winter 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent wishes me to tell 

 him how to prepare his 27 colonies in 

 single-walled hives so that they will be 

 liable to go through the winter in good 

 shape. 



The first requisite is to know that 

 all are well supplied witii bees, stores, 

 and a good queen. The last is not en- 

 tirely essential, for he can see that the 

 queens are good ones in the spring. 

 However, my experience says that col- 

 onies having good queens winter bet- 

 ter, on an average, than those with 

 poor queens, or none at all. Then he 

 does not tell where he wishes to win- 

 ter his bees, whether on the summer 

 stands or in the cellar, and in order to 

 be sure to cover the case in either 

 event, I will say a few words regarding 

 each way of wintering, and the prep- 

 eration for the same. 



Now, for outdoor wintering there is 

 nothing better than chaff hives, but as 

 our correspondent tells us that his bees 

 are in single-walled hives, we must 

 plan for fi.xing them the best, we can 

 for wintering with the hives they are 

 in, which is to go to the store and pro- 

 cure some dry goods boxes or others, 

 or inake such boxes of suitable size in 

 which the hive can be put and leave 

 room all around it for the packing. 

 The packing may be of chaff, dry saw- 

 dust, fine hay or straw, or dry leaves. 

 A space of about 3 inclies is the right 

 amount to leave, for experience has 

 proven that this is better than a larger 

 or smaller amount. Then the bottom- 

 board should be raised that distance 

 above the bottom of the box, and after 

 having packed under it, it should be 

 secured there and so as to touch the 

 front side of the box also, as the bees 

 must pass over this to get outside of 

 the hive and box whenever days occur 

 in which they can fly. One-half inch 

 above the bottom-board a thinner board 

 of the right width should be secured 

 by resting on cleats or otherwise to 

 both the hive and the box, immediately 

 above the entrance to the hive, so as 

 to keep the packing material from ob- 

 structing the passage of the bees, for 

 this is now to become the entrance to 

 the hive from the outside of the box. 



Having this fixed and the hive thor- 

 oughly secured to its place, we now put 

 in the packing, pressing it in lightly so 

 that as even a temperature as possible 

 can be maintained inside of the hive, 

 packing the material in as nearly alike 

 on all sides as possible. When the top 

 of the hive has been reached all around 

 the passage-ways which led to the sec- 

 tions should be opened, and two or 

 three thicknesses of cotton cloth 



spread over these so as to keep the 

 packing from rattling down into the 

 hive, and also so that in thus provid- 

 ing for ventilation a direct draft shall 

 not be allowed through the hive. If no 

 honey-board is used, so that the tops of 

 the frames are exposed, then spread 

 the cotton cloth over the whole top of 

 the hive, after laying three or four ys- 

 inch square sticks across the frames 

 so that the bees can pass over the tops 

 of the frames to get honey at the sides 

 of the hive, if need be, by going along 

 the sides of these sticks under the 

 cloth. 



Having the top fixed and the cloth 

 on, fill in the packing to the depth of 

 3 inches all over the top of the other 

 packing as well as over the hive, keep- 

 ing it as evenly distributed as possible, 

 leaving this loose and open without 

 pressing down at all. The box should 

 be tall enough so as to come an inch 

 above the packing, so that the cover, 

 which is now to be put on, shall not 

 touch it. This is important, for where 

 the packing touches the cover of the 

 box it will absorb the moisture which 

 condenses on the cover to such an ex- 

 tent that all will become wet and moldy, 

 much to the detriment of the colony, 

 and often to the entire toss of tiie same. 



But if our correspondent can put his 

 bees in a suitable cellar during the 

 winter, I should advise him to do this 

 rather than using the above, for with a 

 good cellar there will be a great saving 

 in honey, as well as better chances for 

 successful wintering. A cellar with a 

 variable temperature will not be as 

 good for the bees as would one in 

 which the temperature could be kept as 

 nearly at 4.5 degrees as possible, yet if 

 the temperature does not go above .52, 

 nor go lower than 3.5, it will winter 

 bees much better than to leave them on 

 the summer stands, especially if the 

 hives are left unprotected, and the 

 place is not farther south than 40 de- 

 grees north latitude. 



If the cellar is more variable as to 

 temperature than above, and we are 

 south of latitude 40, then the bees 

 would doubtless be better off outdoors 

 packed as given for outdoor wintering. 



To fix the hives properly for winter- 

 ing in the cellar, they should be care- 

 fully carried in some morning when it 

 is a little cooler outside than the tem- 

 perature which is required for the bees 

 to fly, and never when the hives are 

 frozen down to the bottom-boards or 

 the ground, if this can possibly be 

 avoided. When the hives are thus 

 frozen down, the jar and confusion 

 which comes from prying them loose, 

 results in great irritation to the bees, 

 and causes them to consume so much 

 honey that it often leads to unsuccess- 

 ful wintering afterward. 



Upon taking them to the cellar the 

 hives should be set on some kind of a 

 platform a foot or more off the cellar 

 bottom, and the hives raised by some 

 means at least 2 inches off the bottom- 

 board or bench. Failing to do this, 

 the hives will not be properly ventilated, 

 and the result will be that the bees may 

 become uneasy from lack of ventila- 

 tion, which will cause them to con- 

 sume more stores than is necessary to 

 their existence, thereby needlessly 

 using up the honey and often leading 

 to disease and death. If it is not con- 

 venient thus to place them, the hive- 

 entrances should be thrown open to 

 their fullest capacity, and the bees 

 looked after at least once a month to 

 see that none become clogged. Still, 

 the first is much to he preferred, inas- 

 much as in this case all the dead bees, 

 uncappings to the combs and dirt of 

 all kinds, fall entirely below and away 

 from the combs, and thus all are clean 

 and dry in the spring when put out, 



I also believe that the cellar should 

 be dark for the average person who 

 winters bees in the cellar, or at least 

 that part in which the bees are win- 

 tered. Some claim that bees will win- 

 ter just as well in a light cellar as a 

 dark one, which may possible be so, if 

 all the conditions for successful win- 

 tering are present, but as such condi- 

 tions are usually not all of them pres- 

 ent in many if any cellars, it is always 

 best to be on the safe side, hence the 

 advice to have the cellar dark. If it is 

 very inconvenient to darken the cellar, 

 or the part where the bees are, then 

 matters can be materially helped by 

 turning the entrances of the hives to- 

 ward the wall, and within an inch or 

 two of it, putting them in the darkest 

 part of the cellar. At the out-apiary 

 that is the way I have wintered my bees 

 in the farmer's cellar for years, as he 

 allowed them in there on the condition 

 that he was to use his cellar the same 

 as he had always done; or I could 

 leave the bees out. With the entrances 

 thus turned, I have fairly good success. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Best Age of Queens— Comb 

 Foundation in Sections 



BY ALLEN L.\TH.\M. 



In the May and June numbers ap- 

 peared an article from the pen of Mr. 

 Ralph Benton. At tliat time I was 

 moved to remonstrate against some of 

 the teaching in that article, but time 

 did not allow, and thus at this late hour 

 I finally yield to that impulse. 



But I would not for a moment have 

 one think that I take exceptions to all 

 of the article, nor of even a' large per- 

 cent of it. I can most heartily com- 

 mend much of it. Early in his article 

 Mr. Benton shows that he is a close ob- 

 server by stating as one incentive to 

 swarming "presence in the colony of a 

 queen of a previous year's rearing." I 

 presume that Mr. Benton means by 

 previous year the year immediately pre- 

 ceding. I once made the old experts 

 in a meeting of bee-keepers look as- 

 kance when I expressed a like belief. 



Again, Mr. Benton, on page 206 — 

 Division by Hive-Bodies — describes one 

 of the neatest ways known of getting 



