1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1269 



ing somewhere about the month of Novem 

 ber, and often whole apiaries will succumb 

 to the unfavorable conditions. This was one 

 of the strong arguments my friends urged 

 against me when 1 dt cided to launch out in- 

 to the bee business. But 1 knew that some- 

 thing was wrong somewhere, and that if this 

 "something" cuuld be found and remedied, 

 the bees would not die. When the Novem- 

 l)er rains began to fall my bees were in good 

 condition for the experiment. Rather than 

 run any risks I removed some weaker colo- 

 nies right into our house, and I lost not one 

 colony during that rainy spell. The problem 

 had been solved. 



Now, the subject of wintering has always 

 appealed to me in much the same way. As 

 manager of the Root Co.'s apiaries a few 

 years ago I often racked my brain to find some 

 expeditious plan by which bees could be 

 tided through the months of cold weather. 

 Outdoor wintering is ideal in that the bees 

 have always Nature's provisions of air and 

 sunlight — ideal, because on every warm 

 sunshiny day they may get the advantage of 

 one of those cleansing flights so necessary to 

 the sanitary conditions of the hive — ideal, be- 

 cause the colonies are nut removed from their 

 summer stands, and there is no danger of a 

 mix-up in the spring. But in other respects 

 outdoor wintering is far from being satis- 

 factory. The rigor of the northern winters 

 and the consequent effect upon bees wintered 

 outdoors, the excessive amount of stores re- 

 quired — these and other detrimental effects 

 of the system are too well known to need 

 elaboration. 



On the other hand, cellar wintering also 

 has its distinct advantages: Weaker colonies 

 may be pulled through; a smaller amount of 

 stores consumed; the northern icy blasts 

 evaded, etc. But cellar wintering has its se- 

 vere disadvantages too: The foul dank air; 

 the enforced and prolonged confinement of 

 the bees; the fecal exudations I'endering the 

 hives well nigh untenable; the bushels of 

 dead and dying bees strewn about the hives 

 and floor — all these are grave features atten- 

 dant upon indoor wintering. 



Now, is it not logical to seek out a system 

 whereby the best features of the above meth- 

 ods might be brought together? Is it possi- 

 ble to find such a system? And if so, then 

 are we not ready to cope successfully with 

 the winter problem? Such a system 1 think 

 I have hit upon. May be I have not. Any 

 way, the idea needs perfecting, and amid the 

 stress of my college life I can but give the 

 idea to the bee-keeping fraternity, and trust 

 that others will give it the time and thought 

 necessary for its development. 



I live on the fourth floor of a college dor- 

 mitory, and for two years have kept bees 

 near the desk in my study. One of the col- 

 onies is in a Root ten-frame observatory hive 

 (I may mention here that Prof. C. W. Cham- 

 berlain, of our physics department, has an 

 onttit exactly like my own, and has been 

 conducting like experiments at his private 

 dwelling. Our results are in precise accord). 

 I need not say that the presence of bees in a 



dwelling-room caused univers.nl comment, 

 indeed, in the interest of the common good 

 the curator demanded that they be removed 

 at once; but by respectfully asserting that 1 

 knew a little more alwut the thorny creatures 

 than did the learned gentleman, and by as- 

 suming the responsibility fur any damage 

 that might be inliicted upon the student pub- 

 lic, I was permitted to retain my pets. No 

 damage has yet been inflicted, although I 

 have had as many as six interested feminine 

 spectators at a time — and destitute alike of 

 smoker and veil. 



In such a room, for the second year I have 

 wintered my glass hive of bees. The hive 

 with its entrance contracted is placed on a 

 stand the same height as the window-sill, and 

 the window is then drawn down so as to rest 

 firmly on the alighting-board. This alight- 

 mg- board is so built that the egress is abso- 

 lutely outside the room, and no stray bee 

 can enter the apartment. The window is 

 wider than the alighting-board. This leaves 

 a space on either side which must be blocked 

 m order to keep the draft out of the room. 

 My rooms are heated with hot water. This 

 year I had extra radiation put in so that the 

 temperature has frequently been as high as 

 80°. See, then, the results effected: The body 

 of the hive has been kept perfectly warm 

 and cosy, and thus all the finest results of 

 cellar wintering have been attained, while 

 the entrance of the hive has been in direct 

 communication with the open air, and thus 

 all the benefits of outdoor wintering have 

 been enjoyed. Didn't the bees suffer from 

 the unorthodox heat? No, sir; they enjoyed 

 it - at least, they seemed to, for they were 

 enabled from time to time to leave the clus- 

 ter and stroll about the outside combs. Did 

 they not become excited and indulge in mid- 

 winter flights? Not a bit. The chilly cur- 

 rents of air blowing aiiross the entrance pro- 

 duced a i-estraining effect. Anybody can see 

 that the arguments against heat in cellar win- 

 tering will not apply here. In the cellar the 

 air is warm and ftetid. The excited bees 

 rush out into a flying temperature. Here, 

 while the hive is warm and comfortable, out- 

 side is the cold fresh atmosphere of winter 

 But it is a pleasant sight to see those bees fly 

 when a warm day comes. 



Let me say that, after having worked with 

 bees in different countries and under varied 

 conditions, I am fully convinced that some 

 sort of practical house- apiary is a thing en- 

 tirely feasible. In the tropics I have had my 

 veranda upstairs straining beneath the weight 

 of three-story sixteen-frame colonies. I could 

 work with these colonies when floods of rain 

 were deluging the apiary outdoors. And in 

 this northern region, where bees and bee- 

 masters are continually at the mercy of shift- 

 ing climatic conditions; where the work of 

 the apiary is constantly being hindered by 

 heat and cold, and wind and rain, would it 

 not facilitate mattei's to adopt artificial mea- 

 sures — somewhat after the manner of the 

 greenhouse men— for bringing about as near- 

 ly as possible the normal state of things? 

 Denison University, O. 



