39th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL, AUGUST 24, 1899. 



No, 34, 



Wintering' Bees in the Cellar. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



LAST vrinter I had a number of colonies starve to death 

 in the cellar, and many others were nearly or entirely 

 destitute of honey when the hives were put out. One 

 colony in particular was, it appears, in the last stage of 

 starvation. It was medium strong-, but the bees were so 

 weak that when the hive was put on its stand they made no 

 effort to fly. On examination, I found there was not a drop 

 of honey in the combs. When handling the frames on 

 which the bees were 

 clustered, they would 

 merely raise and flut- 

 ter their wings a little 

 — in fact they appeared 

 and acted just like bees 

 do when the}- are 

 chilled. I put three or 

 four frames of sealed 

 honey in the hive, then 

 sprinkled warm, thin 

 sugar syrup over the 

 bees, and in a short 

 time they were lively, 

 and appeared to be 

 none the worse because, 

 the wolf of starvation 

 had entered their door, 

 and from appearances 

 staid with them for 

 some time. 



Such a case had 

 never before come un- 

 der my observation. I 

 suppcsed that when a 

 colony starved to death they did so gradually, a few at 

 a time, but in this case, at least, it appears they took means 

 to distribute their stores and shared alike while they lasted, 

 and all would have succumbed at once or within a very short 

 time of each other. 



When the hives were put into the cellar I thought that 

 each colony had plenty of stores to last them until they 

 were put out in the spring, and for some time after as all 

 eig'^ht-f rame hives weighed 50 pounds or more. I had taken 

 special pains in the fall to feed, or furnish sealed combs, to 

 colonies in light hives, but there was an excessive amount 

 of very heavy pollen in nearly all the hives. We had a 

 great drouth here last fall, and brood-rearing stopt earlier 

 than I ever knew it to do before. It was probably on this 

 account that three was so much more pollen in tlie combs 



Ipiaiy of Jacob HHJTinaii. — Sec pagt 



than usual, for I did not notice, and do not think, that there 

 was more gathered last season than there commonly is. 

 Most, or a great deal, of it was in the bottom of the cells 

 with honey on top, or I undoubtedly should have noticed in 

 the case of many colonies that they were short of honey, 

 and in looking back it appears very strange to me that I 

 did not think about the matter, anyway ; but my experi- 

 ence and loss may be the means of saving a loss to others 

 under similar circumstances. 



For the benefit of those without much experience, who 

 winter their bees in the cellar, I am going to sa)- a few 

 words, and on account of the great severity of la.st winter, 

 probably many will put bees into cellars next -(vinter, who 

 have been wintering them on the summer stands. 



In ni)' immediate vicinity not a single colony that was 

 left out-doors last winter survived, but most of the bees 

 around here that were wintered out-doors were kept by 

 farmers, who, when they protected them at all, mostly did 

 so by throwing straw or cornstalks over and around the 

 hives ; but it hardly seems possible to me that bees could 



have lived thru last 

 winter out-doors, even 

 if protected b_v the 

 most approved method 

 of packing-, for aside 

 from the extreme and 

 long - continued cold- 

 spells, there was not. 

 from about the middle 

 of November until the 

 forepart of April, a 

 realh' suitable day for 

 them to fly. 



The time to put 

 bees into the cellar de- 

 pends, of course, upon 

 the locality. For the 

 last few years I have 

 left mine out until the 

 latter part or Novem- 

 ber, but last fall about 

 the 20th of that month 

 there was a severe 

 ,'_'. storm, with extreme 



cold ; I think I lost, at 

 a low estimate, SlOO, because my bees were out in it, and 

 after this the majority of mine at least will be put under 

 ground by the middle of November. 



Some recommend placing long scantling, or 2x4, in the 

 cellar to set the hives on. I used to pi'actice this plan, but 

 I have found that a much better way is to put an empty 

 hive or stout box under each tier of hives. When this is 

 done, only the colonies in that one tier are disturbed when 

 a hive is put on or taken off. When long- pieces are used, 

 unless great care is taken, the bees in all the hives on them 

 are more or less disturbed when a hive is set on, or removed 

 in the spring. 



For the past two winters I have left the bottom-boards 

 on, and for reasons I will not here take space to explain, I 

 consider it better to leave them on and raise the body of the 



