1883 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEB. 



597 



OUTDOOR WINTERING IN THE NORTH. 



HOW TO WINTER WITHOUT ANY UPWARD VENTILA- 

 TION. 



EN my articles last spring I didn't say a word about 

 my wintering experiences ; I just thought I'd hold 

 on till wintering talk became seasonable again; 

 and perhaps some of the comrades thought I had 

 had bad luck, and wanted to sneak out of confessing 

 it. I went into last winter with 130 colonies, reached 

 April 1st with 123, came down 5 colonies more during 

 the spring, and commenced the present season with 

 117. These figures are not bad, and yet they do not 

 give me nearly a fair showing. The loss was mainly 

 out of 13 colonies that I tried to winter in various 

 experimental ways. All these perished but five — 

 nobly pprished in the interests of science— but I think 

 the experiment was worth what it cost. I hope in 

 some future article to give the details; but, as I think 

 I have never given fully in Gleanings my approv- 

 ed method, T will write this time of that. Of 126 col- 

 onies packed in that way, only 4 were lost. Accord- 

 ing to the coroner's inquests that I habitually hold 

 over departed colonies, two of these died of dysen- 

 tery, one was destroyed by injudicious moving aft- 

 er they had become weak, and one was teo warm 

 when first packed, and formed the center of cluster 

 with the queen in a cold place, where she and part 

 of the colony perished. The survivors could have 

 been re-queened and perpetuated, I think, but I 

 chose to unite them with another colony. 



It is pretty evident that bees enter the wintrr. pre- 

 disposed to dysentery some seasovs, while other sea- 

 sons tliey have a full stock of vigor and vitality, 

 and will not fail to go through, unless the circum- 

 stances are very much against them. My bees last 

 year showed signs of dysentery very early. By Jan- 

 uary 9th three colonies were losing bees seriously 

 by coming out to die on the snow — a state of things 

 that soon spread to most of the apiary. On Febru- 

 ary 8th 1 was able, by means of afresh snow, to make 

 a crude estimate of the number of bees that came 

 chitside to die, and averaged it at 40 bees per colony 

 each day. I ventured a hope that there were enough 

 bees being raised to partly balance the loss, in which 

 I think T was correct. Feb. 13th the air about the 

 apiary had a smell of dysentery in it. Also other 

 bees in this vicinity died badly, and many colonies 

 were lost. After all this, to scare a fellow I finally 

 came off as stated above. I think it was because of 

 a very excellent method, although in that T am, per- 

 haps, a partial judge; but I'll proceed to dilate upon 

 it, any way. Somebody has said, "The best pack- 

 ing for bees is bees;" and I have rather taken that 

 as my banner. T reduce every colony to four frames, 

 and then chuck two of them into a hive. I do not 

 feed up to get the combs heavy with honey, but just 

 take the best ones there are. There will be mild 

 days in March, and probably in February, when an 

 empty comb can be taken out, and one of those re- 

 moved in the fall put in its place. In case all the 

 frames were very light, of course there would have 

 to be feeding; but that never seems to happen in 

 our locality. If the four frames contain, exclusive 

 of comb and pollen, eight ponnds of good honey, 

 they may be trusted, I think. To fit a hive for two 

 colonies, of course a partition must be put in. I use 

 two thicknesses of enamel cloth tacked to a square 

 frame made of thin strips of wood. With this ar- 

 rangement they cuddle up against the enamel, and 

 form the winter cluster just as If.they were all in 



one colony. Having but one hive to warm, they 

 use, I think, but little more honey than one colony 

 would. 



The combs, as hung in the hive for winter, should 

 be spread a little, making the spaces between about 

 twice as large as the bees left them. As an eight- 

 frame hive will not allow of this, I feel very strong- 

 ly in favor of having a hive admit of at least ten 

 frames, although in summer use I commonly reduce 

 to seven by division-boards. 



Upward ventilation I suppress totally by tucking 

 down an enamel sheet as closely as possible. I do 

 not wish to argue that porous covering Is a failure; 

 many use it, and do well; but I wish herein to give 

 my own method just as it is. So fax as there is any 

 change, I think the present movement among 

 thoughtful bee-folks is in the direction of the bees' 

 own methed, making all above them as close as it 

 possibly can be. 



I use folded cushions instead of sewed, wheat 

 chaff, and three or four inches of it. Not so much is 

 needed as when it is being constantly dampened 

 with moisture from below; and having the chaff 

 above always dry and warm is quite an important 

 advantage. 



It is almost needless to say, that I prefer hives 

 with double and chaff-packed walls. If the hive is 

 big enough, however, it can be made tolerable by 

 using a division-board at each side. 



One of the most Important items of my plan is the 

 bottom packing, which is accomplished by setting 

 the hive on a tray of sawdust two or three Inches 

 deep. A smooth and aon-porous bottom will be 

 covered with dampness, filth, or Ice, a good part of 

 the time, to the great injury of the colony above, 

 while thoroughly dry sawdust below keeps things 

 "just lovely." The center of the tray must have a 

 strip of board across for the enamel partition to 

 shut down on, lest the bees dig under and get at 

 their neighbors. The tray used in winter makes 

 the bot^om-boa^d for summer by just turning it the 

 other side up. 



in the tray below them each colony has its sep- 

 arate vestibule boxed off with thin lumber, and not 

 filled with sawdust, but empty. This vestibule ex- 

 tends in under the front ends of the frames IVi or 3 

 inches, so that dead bees may drop m considerable 

 numbers, with no danger of the entrance closing: up 

 with them. It can be cleaned out at any time, and 

 should be looked into occasionally. Only a loose bit 

 of board held by a half-brick separates the front 

 side of it from " all out doors." 



Last, but not least of the " wrinkles," is one made 

 possible by the one last named. The entrance of 

 the hive is closed, and a winter entrance 2 or 3 by % 

 is made in the vestibule; and it is made three times 

 as effective as an ordinary entianne would be by 

 having it vertical instead of horizontal. Tkat is to 

 say, it is % wide and 3 or 3 high. The loose bit of 

 board, armed at the end with a projecting row of 

 wire nails, to circumvent the mice, is slipped to one 

 side just far enough to make an entrance nearly un- 

 der one corner of the hive. I advise quite earnest 

 care to keep the entrance unobstructed at all times, 

 except during a severe " blizzard." The quickest 

 way to open things on the morning after a snow is 

 to take a tea-kettle full of boiling water, and give 

 each entrance a little tiny bit of a spill of it, being 

 very careful not to pour enough to make steam rise 

 up Inside the hive. So the separate items of my 

 plan are, 1, two colonies in a hive; 3, spreading the 



