THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



247 



" pollen theory" until " force of 

 arms" compelled its acceptance and 

 occupancy. 



Bradford, Iowa. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



HOW I HAVE BEEN THE 



MOST SUCCESSEUL IN 



WINTERING BEES. 



G. H. MARTIN. 



My bees are wintered, about half 

 of them, out doors upon the summer 

 stands, and the other half in a> cellar 

 built especially for the purpose. 



I commence preparations for win- 

 tering in June. When extracting, I 

 usually leave two or three frames of 

 sealed clover or basswood honey in 

 the upper story until needed in the 

 fall. If I was sure of a yield of 

 honey in August, this precaution 

 would perhaps be unnecessary, but 

 my locality yields but little dark 

 honey, and even when I get a yield 

 I prefer to use the early gathered 

 honey for wintering, for I never get 

 a poor quality of honey in June and 

 July, but it does come in August and 

 September. 



Our bees wintered upon the summer 

 stands are packed with chaff perma- 

 nently around the brood-nest. In 

 October^ I take off all surplus ar- 

 rangements and substitute a case 

 that will hold a bushel of chaff over 

 the cluster. The brood chamber 

 contains nine frames. In September 

 I reduce these to eight, weeding out 

 empty combs and combs filled with 

 pollen ; and the three frames of early 

 honey, previously mentioned, are 

 placed below ; an arrangement sim- 

 ilar to the Hill device is placed over 

 the frames, then burlap and chaff or 

 forest leaves, and over all a good 

 layer of sawdust. The entrance is 

 contracted ; and, as many times an 



ordinary entrance gets clogged with 

 dead bees or ice, I provide a safety 

 entrance about two-thirds of the way 

 up the front of the hive, by boring a 

 five-eighth inch hole. I think this 

 hole a great institution. I have win- 

 tered with and without it, and found 

 where this entrance was used, the 

 bees invariably came out better than 

 those not provided. Of one hun- 

 dred and twelve colonies wintered 

 in that way last winter, one hundred 

 and eight came to flowers in good 

 order. 



The only difference I shall make 

 during the coming winter is to u,se 

 for packing upon a portion of the 

 hives, waste from a woolen factory. 

 The cellar in which I winter is 

 built partly underground and is a 

 part of our bee and honey house ; 

 the room is 12 X 18, and I winter 

 over one hundred swarms in it. It 

 is thoroughly ventilated, and has a 

 sub-earth ventilator of seventy feet 

 in length and four feet deep. Ow- 

 ing, perhaps, to insufficient draft out 

 of the cellar, the sub-earth ventila- 

 tion has not amounted to much. To 

 have effect, I think, it must be deep 

 and long, and then a good draft up- 

 wards to make it work. I have come 

 to the conclusion that it is cheaper 

 to keep a coal fire in an ante-room 

 during the most severe weather. The 

 temperature must not get below 45°, 

 it is better to run it up than to let it 

 get low. I would say that 40° is a 

 danger point in cellar wintering. I 

 prepare my bees for the cellar in the 

 same way I do for wintering out 

 doors, with the exception of leaving 

 off the Hill device. The hives are 

 placed upon shelves. I am not par- 

 ticular about removing pollen, but 

 prefer not to have a great amount. 

 I disturb the bees as little as possible 

 after the honey flow and get theiT\ 

 ready for winter as early as possible, 

 After setting in the cellar, I throw 

 over them old carpets, etc. The 

 cellar is dry, and I have good success 

 when food and temperature are made 



