248 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How the Bees Have Wintered. 



G. JI. DOOLITTLE. 



By turning to page 741 of the Bee 

 Journal for 18S2, the reader will see 

 how a part of my bees were left on 

 their summer stands to winter, and a 

 part were put in the "bee cellar" 

 there described. 



We have had it very cold here for 

 Llie past two weeks, till within a day 

 or two. On the morning of April 30, 

 Skaneateles Lake [hi miles long and 

 •2 miles wide) was frozen over nearly 

 the whole length of it ; the mercury 

 standing at IS^ above zero. As is my 

 custom, I examined the bees that 

 morning, looking in every hive, and 

 counting the spaces that the bees oc- 

 cupied between the combs, as well as 

 to see that all had sealed honey. The 

 examination showed that out of the 

 43 wintered on the summer stands, 11 

 were dead ; .5 of which had died since 

 the past cold spell commenced. Of 

 the 32 left, 10 were good, strong colo- 

 nies, 10 fair, and the remainder weak. 

 Of the different methods tried, tliose 

 having the full entrance left open, 

 and a little upward ventilation 

 through tvi'o quits, with the cap to the 

 hive packed with chaff came out the 

 best. Tliese, also, had a board stood 

 up in front of hive to keep out the 

 snow, and to prevent the wind from 

 blowing in at the entrance and the 

 sun from shining on the same. The 

 next best were those having full en- 

 trance and enameled cloth over the 

 top; and those having a little lower 

 ventilation, and a plenty of upward, 

 the poorest of all. The colony having 

 the Texan queen was the tirst to die, 

 but as I have two other queens from 

 the South (one from Louisiana, and 

 one from Georgia), which, with their 

 bees, came through the winter in 

 splendid condition, 1 think that the 

 climate in which queens are reared 

 has little, if anything, to do with their 

 wintering qualities. The best colony, 

 of those wnitered out of doors, is the 

 one having the old Palestine queen, 

 which numbered 8 good, full spaces 

 of bees, while 7 is the highest of any 

 besides. 



Having described those wintered 

 out of doors, 1 will next speak of those 

 wintered in the cellar. There were 

 37 full colonies put in, and a few 

 queen-rearing nuclei, as an experi- 

 ment, which was not counted last 



tall- . ,. 



Of the few nuclei, about one-half 



died ; the temperature was not high 

 enough for mere a handful of bees, as 

 this was about what each one was. 

 The thermometer marked 42^ in the 

 cellar during all the winter, after it 

 became settled, and I think, if it 

 could have been kept at .52-, these 

 little clusters of bees might have win- 

 tered quite successfully. As elm and 

 soft maple were in bloom on April 14 



to 18, the bees were put out, and, of 

 the 37, all were alive and in good con- 

 dition except 3, which were rather 

 weak. They gathered pollen at once, 

 but the cold spell put a stop to opera- 

 tions, and also showed that we are not 

 always sure of warm weather when 

 pollen becomes plenty. By referring 

 to page 741, as above, it will be seen 

 that 1 left the entrance to a part of 

 those put in the cellar, as on the sum- 

 mer stands, a part with full entrance, 

 a part raised on % inch blocks, and the 

 remainder raised on inch blocks. Upon 

 examination, the other mornnig, I 

 found that those having small en- 

 trances occupied, on an average, 5 

 spaces, and the bottoms of the combs 

 were quite moldv. Those having the 

 full entrance open averaged 6 spaces, 

 with a little mold on the combs. 

 Those raised on }< inch blocks, aver- 

 aged 7 spaces, with the combs nice 

 and bright ; while those raised on inch 

 blocks, averaged but 5^2 spaces, yet 

 the combs are free from mildew. The 

 three weak ones are all among those 

 having the small entrances. It will 

 also be seen, by referring to page 741, 

 that the bees were to be put in at four 

 different times; as the weather be- 

 came suddenly cold about Nov. 22, 

 those that were to be put in Dec. 1, 

 were put in without further delay, so 

 that I did not carrv out that part of 

 the experiment as I intended. After 

 those were put in on Nov. 3, the rest 

 bad a line flight on Nov. 10 ; while 

 those put in last, had a snow storm 

 on them, with some cold freezing 

 weather, but after careful watching 

 all winter, and the above examination, 

 the difference is not enough to favor 

 either, early or late setting in. Toward 

 the latter part of the winter the cel- 

 lar seemed to become quite damp, 

 which appeared to effect the nuclei ; 

 but as far as I could discover, the full 

 colonies were not injured thereby. 



As the past winter has been a very 

 severe one, I think that I am better 

 prepared to winter successfully than I 

 was last November. Especially do I 

 recommend raising each hive on % 

 inch blocks, when wintering in the 

 cellar. This seems to allow all the 

 moisture to pass off, so that the bees 

 are kept quiet, and the combs clean 

 and bright. 



Regarding out-door wintering, my 

 loss has been so great that I am 

 hardly entitled to an opinion in the 

 matter; yet, from past observation, I 

 shall try largely, the coming winter, 

 a full width entrance, with a little up- 

 ward ventilation through two or three 

 quilts, covered 4 inches deep with 

 chaff ; no holes left open in cover, as I 

 believe all that is needed is what air 

 can pass through the cracks at the top 

 of the cap. 



I should have said, in my last arti- 

 cle, regarding stimulating in the 

 spring. 'that about the first of May, 

 according to the season, all colonies 

 not having 2^.i frames of brood were 

 shut up by means of the division- 

 board, etc. In this unfavorable spring, 

 to begin so early would do no good, 

 for the best colonies in my apiary do 

 not have enough to amount to one 

 full frame of brood. 

 Borodino, N. Y., May 2, 1883. 



For the American Bee JuunuiL 



Wintering Bees in Cellars. 



H. V. TRAIN. 



Mr. J. B. Miller, of Mechanic Falls, 

 Me., asks, on page 1.38, of the present 

 volume of the Bee Journal, that 

 some one, who has wintered bees suc- 

 cessfully in cellars, should '• give plain 

 simple directions how to do it." 



In December, 1883, 1 purchased two 

 colonies of bees, in boxes, and moved 

 them 20 miles on a sled ; since that I 

 have wintered bees every winter, save 

 one. For the tirst live or six years I 

 experimented in a variety of methods, 

 and lost moreor less every winter, and 

 it was usually more. Then I com- 

 menced cellar wintering, and have 

 never lost 5 per cent, in any one win- 

 ter since ; and for the last five years I 

 have not lost 1 per cent, in any one 

 winter ; and I have wintered from 12.5 

 to 15.5 in the one cellar each year. I 

 have become so confident of success 

 that I would not give 1 cent per hive 

 to have them wintered safely through 

 any winter, cold or mild, provided 

 they are in normal condition in the 

 fall. . , ^ 



If any man wants to winter bees on 

 their summer stands, in clamps, in 

 caves, in dark bed-rooms, in old 

 houses, or in straw piles, I have no 

 advice to give. 1 have experimented 

 in these to my sorrow ; and if any of 

 my friends ask me for advice about 

 wintering bees any where, save in a 

 good cellar, I can only say : " Don t. 

 This, of course, applies only to our 

 climate. 



My cellar is under the main or up- 

 right part of my house ; and is 18 by 

 28 feet, and 7 feet high. There is also 

 a cellar under one wing (the kitchen) 

 16 by 26 feet, separated from the bee 

 cellar by a wall, and connected with 

 it by a door. The last named cellar is 

 used for family purposes, and we pass 

 through it, in going to the bee cellar, 

 when it is not proper to open the out- 

 side door. The bottom of the cellar was 

 very dry sand, and is made firm by 

 the use of pounded stone, and smooth 

 by quick-lime plaster, so that water 

 will disappear very rapidly when 

 poured upon it. I set my hives foiu: 

 deep, directly on the top of each other, 

 and a little apart, so that I can, if 

 need be, take down any one tier and 

 not disturb any other tier. The hives 

 are set facing aisles 4 or -5 feet wide, 

 so that I can pass down the aisles 

 with my small bed-room lamp and see 

 all the entrances at any time, day or 

 night ; which I always do from two to 

 five times every 24 hours. 



To prepare them for the cellar, I 

 take off the enameled cloth and all 

 the cushions, and put in their places, 

 a piece of porous cloth, or, what I like 

 better, a piece of uuitting from tea- 

 chests (they cost nothing, when I can 

 get them), and put the cover directly 

 on this ; which makes upward venti- 

 lation enough for a cellar. My ther- 

 mometer hangs on a post, midway of 

 the cellar, and about half-way from 

 the floor to the ceiling. I never al- 

 low it to fall below 40-, and never rise 

 above 50 , if I can control it; but I 



