THE AMERICA]^ BEE JOURNAL. 



501 



timothy is tlie best. It is thought 

 that the cracks where the cover fits 

 to the hive will let out sufficient air, 

 unless very tight, but no large open- 

 ings should be allowed in the cover. 

 If put in loosely, the wet chaff on the 

 surface, over the cluster, can be re- 

 placed with dry, three or four times 

 during the winter; otherwise it will 

 be liable to get moldy and create a 

 bad odor. I do not, on this account, 

 recommend a chaff cushion over the 

 bees, because it would become quite 

 foul before spring, unless more air 

 was allowed to pass in and out of tlie 

 cover than would be advisable. The 

 point is, to allow no more upward 

 ventilation than is necessary to per- 

 mit the dampness coming from the 

 bees to arise to the surface of the 

 chaff. I should say, that if the chaff 

 over the cluster was, after a time, 

 found dry, that the ventilation through 

 the cover was too free. For, in my 

 opinion, the only benefit to be de- 

 rived from upward ventilation is in 

 allowing the dampness to pass up- 

 ward at the same time that the heat 

 of the bees is effectually retained, 

 which it can be if there are no large 

 openings in the cover. 



The spaces between the frames 

 should be covered with a cloth, a 

 clean \yoolen cloth preferred. Sticks 

 about % of an inch square should be 

 placed crosswise of the frames to hold 

 the cloth up so that the bees can pass 

 over the tops of the frames. But I 

 think that the bee-keepers will find 

 to their cost that any device to hold 

 the cloth up from the frames, so as to 

 leave a large space, is a bad thing. 

 However, a large space above the 

 chaff is quite necessary. 



Again, with so large an entrance it 

 is necessary to leave a board against 

 the front of the hive to keep out sun- 

 shine and wind. Or an alighting 

 board 8 inches wide may have pro- 

 jecting arms 2 inches wide nailed to 

 each end and fastened to the sides of 

 the hive by two nails or wooden pins 

 on each side, which can be taken out 

 and the board lifted up and fastened 

 to the body of the hive, so as to keep 

 out sunshine and wind. This is a de- 

 vice that all bee-keepers will appre- 

 ciate, and it is free for all to use. It 

 will be attached to my new hive which 

 I shall shortly introduce to bee- 

 keepers. 



In out-door wintering, all sides of 

 the hive should be protected by 3 or 

 4 inches of sawdust or chaff, or the 

 combs should all be taken out but five, 

 and these should have passage ways 

 cut through them and wooden tubes 

 inserted. If this is not done the bees 

 will often close up the openings made 

 before winter sets in. Put a division 

 board each side of the five combs, and 

 fill the spaces between them and the 

 sides of the hive with loose cliaff. It 

 will be found cheaper to do this than 

 to make chaff cnsliions for the pur- 

 pose. This latter method of protec 

 tion is not easily carried out excpt 

 in shallow hives, but it is believed to 

 be cheaper than to use an outside 

 case for a hive to be filled in with 

 packing. The five combs should be 

 spaced one-half inch apart, and con- 

 tain not less than 5 lbs. of honey each 



Bees can be wintered in ordinary 

 winters by various metho<ls, but the 

 great question with bee-keepers is, 

 not what plans of ventilation and 

 protection sometimes succeed, but 

 what plan will secure the jnost 

 "favorable conditions" so that the 

 bees may be able to resist the vicissi- 

 tudes of a very hard winter as well as 

 a mild one, if it should happen to 

 come. It is thought that the methods 

 here given will secure these "condi- 

 tions " as far as it is possible to afford 

 them in out-door wintering. But I 

 would place more stress upon the 

 mode of ventilation and the manage- 

 ment given than upon the amount of 

 protection. Yet it would not do to 

 abandon all protection, even if it 

 could be done without loss, for the 

 protection afforded will ampily repay 

 the time and labor taken to give it, in 

 the saving of stores to the colony. It 

 may be added, that the preparation of 

 a hive of bees on the summer stand 

 for winter requires as much, or more 

 labor to do it as it should be done 

 than to carry hives into cellars. Yet 

 there is no doubt, in my mind, that 

 out-door wintering will give the best 

 results, unless at points far North, 

 where the cellar or bee-house is 

 preferable. 



New Philadelphia, Ohio. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How I Winter My Bees. 



n. R. BOARDMAN. 



Judging from the numerous arti- 

 cles in the bee papers upon the sub- 

 ject of wintering our bees, one would 

 justly conclude that we ought to be 

 able to surmount all of the difficulties 

 that have heretofore existed, but from 

 the numerous inquiries I have re- 

 ceived of late upon that subject, it is 

 evident that with the average bee- 

 keeper, wintering is attended with 

 much uncertainty, and disastrous 

 losses are not uncommon even with 

 those who have had many years of 

 experience. 



In view of these facts, I shall not 

 attempt to tell you how to winter 

 your bees, but will describe as well as 

 I can how I winter mine, and in doing 

 so, I am aware that I shall run 

 against the pet theories of many very 

 substantial bee masters. 



The bee house in which I winter my 

 bees will first claim a brief notice. 

 The building is double-walled, packed 

 with seasoned sawdust 12 inches 

 thick, with sawdust also on the floor 

 over-head, making it frost proof. It 

 is divided into two or more rooms, 

 one of which is used for an ante- 

 room between the bee room and the 

 outside, and also through which the 

 air must pass before reaching the 

 bees, and thus modifying it a la sub- 

 earth ventilation. 



' The house I have used longest has 

 three rooms, two in which to store 

 the bees with the anteroom between. 

 This room also contains a stove used 

 for raising the temperature, expelling 

 the moisture, and facilitating venti- 

 lation whenever occasion requires. 

 A scuttle opens into the chamber 



from the ante-room. The chamber is 

 ventilated by a window in each gable, 

 all of which may be opened or closed 

 at i)leasure. 



The ground floor is cemented upon 

 a layer of pounded stone, and is as 

 firm as a rock, thus preventing any 

 disturbance by jaring. 



The windows are small, and 

 provided with shutters inside by which 

 the rooms can be made perfectly dark. 

 The doors are also double. 



The hive I use is a deep 8-frame 

 hive, flat, movable cover on top, open 

 bottoms, % inoh bee space on top of 

 the frames under the cover. 



I prefer that bees breed as late as 

 possible,aiid go into winter with plenty 

 of young bees,a good queen,and plenty 

 of sealed stores gathered in the fore- 

 part of the season. I disturb them as 

 little as possible late in the season, 

 after they are disposed to become 

 dormant. 



I set them into the bee house as 

 near Nov. 15 as the weather will per- 

 mit,and let them remain until April 15, 

 if favorable conditions can be main- 

 tained. I choose a cool, not a cold 

 still day, having previously prepared 

 the rooms by covering the floor with 

 seasoned sawdust, then having let- 

 tered and numbered the hives with a 

 piece of white chalk, so as to render 

 mistakes impossible in setting them 

 out on the same stands again. I take 

 each hive up from the bottom-board 

 or stand, and carry them into the bee 

 house, and set tliem upon stringers 

 previously placed there to receive 

 them, so that when so placed the air 

 has free access beneath the hives 

 which are bottomless. 



Having placed one row around the 

 outside, I lay stringers on the top of 

 these upon which I set another row 

 of hives, and so on as high as I can 

 convenientlv set them. I use 2x4 

 inch stringers on the bottom, and one 

 inch on top of the hives. A ther- 

 mometer is hung in each room, and a 

 careful record kept of the temperature 

 in the rooms and also outside, visiting 

 the rooms at least once each day for 

 that purpose, noting also anything I 

 may think important. 



The hives are only ventilated at the 

 bottom. The rooms are kept well 

 ventilated, and at a temperature aver- 

 aging near 45'^ somewhat below in the 

 forepart of the winter, and above in 

 the latter part. After being set in, 

 the bees remain very quiet until 

 sometime in February, unless dis- 

 turbed by an unusual warm spell. 



Sometime in February there will be 

 a noticeable increased activity, and 

 the thermometer will indicate a 

 higher temperature. This is an in- 

 dication that brood rearing has com- 

 menced. If the weather continues 

 warm for a long time, and the bees 

 become very uneasy, I sometimes set 

 them out at this season for a flight, 

 but consider it of no benefit if the 

 temperature can be kept under con- 

 trol, which I endeavor to accomplish 

 by opening the outside doors at night 

 and close them in tlie day time. 



I have observed that when the tem- 

 perature is quite low for a consider- 

 able time, after brood-rearing has 

 commenced, that a bad condition is 



