AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



531 



it required has caused nearly all to 

 abandon it, although much of the suc- 

 cessful wintering, and the avoidance of 

 Spring dwindling, is to some extent 

 dependent on this central passage. 



\^hen we reflect that the queen, when 

 beginning to lay in Winter, lays first a 

 few eggs on one side of a comb, then on 

 the other side; then increases the circle 

 and lays a few eggs in the opposite 

 comb, and thus, little by little, increases 

 the spherical-shaped brood-nest, a cen- 

 tral passage through the combs not only 

 tends to an earlier beginning to lay, but 

 also a more rapid extension of the 

 brood-space. In the sectional brood- 

 chamber hive we have a permanent 

 central passage, earlier brood-rearing, 

 and, consequently, an abundance of 

 young bees in late Winter and early 

 Spring. 



SPACE UNDEK THE COMBS. 



I prefer a few inches of space under 

 the brood-combs, into which the dead 

 bees may drop entirely clear of the 

 combs. This will prevent moulding, and 

 consequently the live bees will remain 

 in healthier condition. 



In cellars and repositories which are 

 free from mice, this may be accom- 

 plished by removing the bottom-board 

 and placing the hives on pieces of timber 

 2 inches thick, or by making the second 

 tier of hives break joints with the first 

 tier ; but when mice are likely to prove 

 troublesome, or for outdoor wintering, 

 a rim about 2 inches high, with an en- 

 trance near the upper edge, should be 

 placed between the bottom-board and 

 the brood-chamber. 



CUSHIONS OVEK BEES. 



For outd(>or wintering, every colony 

 should have a cushion about 8 inches 

 thick, placed over the top of the frames. 

 These cushions I prefer to have filled 

 with chaflf, cut straw, dry sawdust, or 

 corn-cob chaff. First, lay some sticks, 

 about 3^ inch thick, across the frames ; 

 over them a sheet of muslin or burlap, 

 and the cushion over it. We frequently 

 overlook the fact that bees produce a 

 great deal of moisture, and that a warm, 

 sunny day will evaporate a great 

 amount from the cushions, if exposed to 

 the sun's rays ; therefore, on any warm, 

 sunny day in Winter, remove the roofs 

 from the hives, let the sun shine directly 

 on the cushions, and after they are 

 warmed on top, turn them over, and let 

 the sun dry them. Bees kept dry will 

 winter successfully, while bees under a 

 wet, soggy cushion are likely to become 

 diseased, other conditions being equal. 



INDOOR OR OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



In the Northern States the general 

 verdict seems to be in favor of indoor 

 wintering of bees, but by the use of the 

 latest improved double-walled hives. 

 Winter packing cases, and the proper 

 preparation sufficiently early in Fall, 

 we, in Iowa, can be excluded from that 

 verdict, and winter successfully outside. 



At various times I have made care- 

 fully-conducted experiments, which sum- 

 med up somewhat as follows : 



Outside wintering requires from 12 to 

 15 pounds more of honey per colony as 

 Winter food, and unless that is added in 

 the Fall some colouies piay starve, and 

 outside wintering would be condemned. 

 Again, on discovering that it requires 

 that additional amount of food, many 

 would decide in favor of indoor winter- 

 ing, arguing that the price of 15 pounds 

 of honey would pay for taking bees into 

 the cellar ; but at the end of Winter we 

 are only half through the season. 



Bees properly prepared and wintered 

 outside, have frequent and invigorating 

 flights during warm days in Winter, 

 breed earlier. Spring dwindle less, are 

 strong at the approach of the honey 

 harvest, and not only gather the addi- 

 tional 15 pounds consumed in Winter, 

 but in one experiment 10 colonies win- 

 tered outside produced an average of 49 

 pounds more honey each, than 10 colo- 

 nies, similarly prepared, that were 

 wintered in a cellar. 



WINTER PACKING CASES. 



When, in 1885, we offered a Winter 

 case for additional protection, many 

 who favored cellar wintering deemed 

 them an unnecessary expense, but the 

 thousands now in use, prove them an 

 investment that pays a good dividend. 



But what is necessary for a Winter . 

 case? Is an air-space sufficient? Let 

 us see ! To satisfy myself, I constructed 

 a box, with walls % inch thick, equal in 

 size to an 8-frame Langstroth brood- 

 chamber; this box was placed within 

 another box of % inch pine boards, the 

 outer box, being of such size as to have 

 a 2-inch space between, this was filled 

 with fine hay and sawdust. Another 

 pair of boxes were made, but the space 

 between was not packed ; the tempera- 

 ture in the open air was 10° above zero ; 

 within the inner box«s I placed a pan 

 containing water U inch deep, and 

 closed the boxes. Six hours later, the 

 water in the unpacked box was frozen 

 solid, while the water in the packed box 

 contained no ice. 



In a second trial, I placed an 8-frame 

 Langstroth hive within one of the 



