THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



547 



a two-pound section box, and use a 

 section rack witli a strip of glass set 

 in the side, consequently I need not 

 disturb the bees to find out when the 

 sections are ready to come off. I have 

 tried both tin and wood for separa- 

 tors, and hereafter will use only tin. 

 AVith wood, the bees build too many 

 braces to the separator, and when it 

 is removed, the capping is too fre- 

 quently mutilated, and the sections 

 made unsalable. 

 Myersville, Md., Oct. 22, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering Bees— Preparations. 



ALLEN PRINGLE. 



One of the readers of the Bee Jour- 

 nal sends me the following questions 

 for answer : 



1 . The cellar in which I must winter 

 my bees is damp. How would you 

 prepare them for their winter quar- 

 ters ? 



2. Should the bees be confined on 

 what combs will contain stores 

 enough for winter, or should they 

 occupy the whole hive, as in summer V 



In preparing bees for winter quar- 

 ters, whether for the cellar or otlier 

 place, the preparations should begin 

 early in September, or very soon after 

 the honey fails. Those with insuffi- 

 cient stores for winter, should be fed 

 either honey or good syrup from No. 

 1 granulated sugar — about one pound 

 of pure soft water to two pounds of 

 sugar, brought to a boil. This should 

 be fed during warm weather, wlieu 

 the bees may be able to properly cap 

 it over. The entrances ought now to 

 be so diminished in size that only one 

 bee can pass at a time, especially in 

 colonies which are not surely strong. 



Among the majority of our leading 

 bee-keepers, the practice, I believe, 

 prevails of uniting all weak colonies 

 for winter. On this point I differ 

 from tliem. I hardly ever unite for 

 wintering. I simply crowd the weaker 

 colonies up into small quarters in 

 their hives, give them plenty of stores, 

 keep them warm, and they generally 

 come through just as well as the 

 stronger colonies. Of course I admit 

 it would be foolish to attempt to 

 winter weak colonies outside, without 

 thorough protection ; but I cannot see 

 the wisdom or economy of taking two 

 weak colonies, each with a good 

 queen, destroying one of the queens 

 if you have no use for her, and uniting 

 them to get them safely through the 

 winter when you can get l)oth safely 

 through, queens and all, without 

 uniting them, that is. if you have a 

 proper place to put them in. From 

 the small nucleus occupying but one 

 or two frames up to the strong colony 

 covering a dozen frames, all will win- 

 ter about equally well under proper 

 conditions. Other things being equal, 

 it is better to have two good prolific 

 queens in the spring than one. Of 

 course, wtien such colonies are put 

 out in the spring, the proper condi- 

 tions of space in hive, temperature, 

 etc., must be supplied ; and I would 

 by no means advise the inexperienced 

 beekeeper to engage in wintering 



weak colonies. But the skillful apiar- 

 ist who understands his business can 

 safely carry the weak colonies through, 

 and 1 think such an one makes a mis- 

 take in uniting, unless he is short of 

 queens, or wishes to weed out inferior 

 ones, or has an unsuitable place to 

 winter in. 



After supplying all colonies with 

 ample stores, or rather before doing 

 so. if practicable, I go through the 

 whole of them and diminish their 

 quarters. I take out all light frames, 

 and by the use of the division-board, 

 crowd every colony up into close 

 quarters, at the same time adding to 

 ttie stores of the weak from such of 

 the stronger ones as can spare. I cut 

 a small hole about tlie size of a dime 

 through the centre, or a little above 

 the centre, of each frame to give the 

 bees a free winter passage. This pre- 

 caution is not so necessary when tlie 

 bees are wintered in a uniform tem- 

 perature of say 4.5-' F. ; but when tliey 

 are wintered outside, or in a compara- 

 tively low temperature, it is abso- 

 lutely indispensable, or the colony 

 may starve with plenty of stores in 

 the hive, the bees benumbed with 

 the cold, not being able to get at the 

 honey. If the division-board fits 

 closely to the sides of the hive, with 

 only a narrow passage at tlie bottom, 

 a small hole should be put through 

 the centre of it, so that, should the 

 bottom pass.age become stopped, or 

 nearly so, witli dead bees, etc., the 

 bees that manage to get through at 

 the bottom may be able to get back. 



Having thus given every colony 

 sufficient stores for winter, crowded 

 them up into the proper space in each 

 hive, bored tlie division-board, re- 

 moved the frames with superfluous 

 pollen (for it is this, no doubt, which 

 has much to do with the dysentery), 

 and cut a passage way through the 

 combs, the bees should be disturbed 

 as little as possible during the last 

 few weeks before they are put into 

 winter quarters. Feeding them a 

 little every evening to coax them into 

 late breeding, will hardly constitute 

 a " disturbance." At any rate they 

 seem to relish that kind of disturb- 

 ance. As to the proper time for put- 

 ting them into the cellar, that must 

 be governed by the weather and other 

 circumstances. 



And now, having prepared the bees 

 for the cellar, doubtless the cellar it- 

 self needs a good deal of preparation. 

 Mr. M., who sends the inquiries, says 

 tlie cellar is damp. Most cellars un- 

 ventilated are damp, except in hot, 

 dry weather. If he means that his 

 cellar is wet, he ought at once to set 

 about draining It. if practicable. Tlien 

 let him partition off the portion of the 

 cellar the bees are to occupy, which 

 should be the warmestportion,or that 

 directly under the kitchen stove. Get 

 a tinsmith to make a pipe some .5 or 6 

 inches in diameter, or the same size 

 as the pipe of the kitchen stove. I^et 

 this pipe pass up from the bee de- 

 partment of the cellar, through the 

 kitchen floor, immediately behind the 

 stove, wliere it will be out of the way, 

 and enter the stove pipe by means of 

 a "T," just above the stove. There 

 should be a damper in the cellar pipe 



just near where it enters tlie stove 

 pipe, so that the draft may be turned 

 on and off at pleasure. I have had 

 this device in use some 10 or 12 years, 

 and it is the very best method to se- 

 cure thorough upward ventilation, I 

 have ever seen. For the ingress of 

 fresh air from without, the subterra- 

 nean passage is undoubtedly the best, 

 especially if the air is carried a suffic- 

 ient distance to have it warmed during 

 its passage through tlie underground 

 pipe, which, of course, ought to be 

 below the frost. Provision must, 

 however, be made for the introductioa 

 of fresh air into the cellar in some 

 way, whether by the under-ground 

 pipe or otherwise. 



In placing tlie colonies in their 

 quarters, the lower tin ought to be at 

 least 11.2 or 2 feet from the ground or 

 cellar floor, and the summer entrances 

 sliould be left yvide open. All top fix- 

 tures should be taken off until the 

 frames are exposed. Then place a 

 thin piece of cotton, large enough to 

 completely cover the top of the hive, 

 and hang over the edges over the 

 frames, with some device under it and 

 on top of the frames, to keep it up an 

 inch or so, in order that the bees may 

 pass freely under it. If the cellar is 

 to be kept at a temperature of about 

 4.5-' to •50-', this will be sufficient pro- 

 tection on top, for colonies of average 

 strength. If the temperature is only 

 40' or under, each colony must have 

 in addition to the covering mentioned, 

 a sawdust quilt 3 or 4 inches thick. 

 These quilts may be made of any thin 

 porous material, and filled in with dry 

 pine sawdust, or wool, if you can af- 

 ford it. No matter what the temper- 

 ature of the cellar may be, it is well 

 to have these quilts on hand for weak 

 colonies, which require more artificial 

 heat, also for changes of weather, 

 which may affect the temperature of 

 tlie cellar, and for spring use outside. 



Shelby, Ont. 



Bees for;Boys. — A farmer friend has 

 60 colonies of bees, a fine flock of light 

 Brahma fowls, and a farm of 120 acres. 

 He has two sons, aged 13 and 16 years 

 respectively, and the elder boy has 

 entire charge of the bees, of which he 

 is very fond. He runs his sections, 

 extracts the honey, introduces queens, 

 divides his bees, and rears queens 

 with a skill which many a veteran 

 might envy. He is already well known 

 in the city, three and a half miles dis- 

 tant, for his honey, and talks about 

 bees, and quotes authorities in the 

 most intelligent manner. All his 

 honey is sold in one grocery store, and 

 though he has had a good yield this 

 season, and has reaped a fine profit, he 

 cannot fully supply the demand at the 

 store. — American Agriculturist for No- 

 vember. 



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