THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



227 



of the frames and the covering blan- 

 ket ; then I cover in the bees closely 

 with a piece of burlap or other po- 

 rous material, placing on top thereof a 

 blanket composed of three or four 

 thicknesses of old ingrain carpet, 

 giving six inches of space at least in 

 the upper story above the blanket. 

 In each end of the cover I bore a 

 one and one-half inch auger hole for 

 ventilation. To a full colony, viz., 

 one on seven frames, I give the full 

 entrance, contracting it for smaller 

 colonies ; having made the above 

 preparation, I give no fmther thought 

 or care to my bees till the advent of 

 warm weather in the following spring. 

 My theory is this: cold of itself 

 does not kill our bees ; excess of 

 moisture will do so. If the bees 

 can get at their stores at all times 

 during the winter they cannot starve. 

 Prof. Cook to the contrary, I believe 

 they require pure air. Taking these 

 statements as axioms, I conclude 

 that from five to seven L frames two- 

 thirds filled with honey are stores 

 enough for any colony ; by allowing 

 one inch of space above the frames 

 they have the chance to get at all 

 their stores without breaking up their 

 cluster ; by giving a full entrance 

 they have plenty of air, the porous 

 packing on top the frames retaining 

 all the heat, while allowing the moist- 

 ure to pass off imperceptibly and 

 thus without detriment. Whether 

 my ideas are accepted or not, or my 

 method of winter preparation adopt- 

 ed, I have the satisfaction of know- 

 ing that my bees have wintered safely 

 in the past, and of believing they 

 will do so in the future ; and, until 

 I meet with losses, I shall "stick to 

 the bridge that so far has carried me 

 safely over." 



Foxboro, Mass. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



HOW I PREPARE MY BEES FOR WINTER. 



I SEE by the September number of 

 the " Apiculturist" that I am expect- 

 ed to give an article on wintering 

 bees in the October number. I 

 hardly know why I should be chosen 

 to write on this subject ; for, candidly, 

 I do not know how to winter bees. 

 All doubtless are aware that I have 

 lost bees to a greater or less extent 

 for the past fourteen years, losing as 

 high as 75 per cent of them during 

 one winter and never less than 3 

 per cent. However, as my losses 

 are growing less each year, and as I 

 have made many careful experiments 

 to see what plans were best for me 

 to adopt, I will give the reader the 

 benefit of these experiments, by tell- 

 ing them how I am preparing and 

 shall prepare my bees for the winter 

 of 1886-7. To reap the best re- 

 sults, I find August and September 

 are the months in which bees must 

 be prepared for winter. This gives 

 the bees a choice to get their stores 

 for winter placed just where they wish 

 them, so that by the middle of Oc- 

 tober they are ready to go into that 

 quiescent state which is conducive 

 to the best results. Therefore I am 

 now working as follows : I go to each 

 hive, open it and carefully remove 

 each comb, noting the amount of 

 bees, age of queen, square inches of 

 brood and pounds of honey. The 

 amount of bees is told by observing 

 their appearance on the combs ; the 

 age of the queen is told by looking 

 at the last year's record, if her wings 

 are clipped ; if not clipped, I know 

 she is of the present year's rearing 

 as the wings to all my queens are 

 clipped in fruit bloom. The square 

 inches of brood is gotten by meas- 

 uring a few different-sized patches 

 when it is easy to estimate it after- 

 w^ards ; and the pounds of honey are 

 found by weighing a few combs of 



