PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING 57 



accomplished by auger holes through the gable ends of the roof. 

 The roof ^nd whole hive should be thoroughly painted, and the 

 hive placed several inches off the ground to prevent freezing and 

 thawing and the attendant soaking up of water. The entrance form- 

 ed by a bridge passage-way through the packing at the usual place 

 is contracted to an inch or so for the winter. There should be in 

 most instances no trouble in wintering bees so packed if they are 

 strong in numbers and with plenty of stores. 



Similar conditions may be approached with single walled hives 

 by placing winter cases around them and packing chaff or simi- 

 lar material between the two walls thus formed. The disadvant- 

 age of this is that the thick wall of the inner case next to the bees 

 and separating the packing material from the colony furnishes a 

 cold surface for condensation. 



In the chaff hives the inner case is. made of very thin boards 

 spread somewhat where joined and in some instances bound straw 

 or even a heavy quality of canvass forms the inner walls. The idea 

 is to bring the packing in the closest proximity to the cluster. 

 Several single walled hives packed close together in one long case 

 with straw about them were wintered very successfully several times 

 at the Experimental Station. In our tests the percentage of loss 

 among colonies wintered outside in chaff hives was found not to 

 exceed those lost wintered in straw or those placed in the bee 

 house. The colonies placed in the small winter room of the bee 

 house were connected with the outside for flight, thus establishing 

 normal conditions. The only packing they had was a tray of chaff 

 .above the canvas and a felt paper quilt above the canvass quilt. In 

 the coldest winter weather the temperature of this room was found 

 to be quite moderate, due to the heat generated by so many colonies 

 of bees enclosed in so small a space. 



One method widely practiced in the northern states and Canada 

 is to winter bees in dry cellars. Late in the fall before cold weather 

 comes on, after the bees have been put in shape inside and cloth 

 quilts with perhaps felt paper quilts, newspapers or chaff trays 

 placed above, the colonies are carried to a dark cellar. Here the 

 entrances, temporarily closed while moving, may be opened and 

 plenty of ventilation given above, the covers even being removed. 

 The temperature of the cellar should be kept evenly at about 42 

 degrees Fahrenheit. This should never be permitted to vary more 



