286 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



My pasturage was willow, soft maple, elm, 

 box elder, apple, cherry, plum, gooseberry, 

 currant, motherwort, catnip, white clover, 

 basswood, mustard, locust, hearts ease 

 Spanish needle, cow pea, and much other 

 bloom. The surplus was clover, basswood 

 and mustard in May, June and July, and 

 hearts ease and Spanish needle in autumn. 



The late fall bloom kept up brood-rearing 

 so tliat the last brood hatclied in October, 

 hence we had but little spring dwindling ; 

 and I never saw a regular siege of it until 

 this season. Go into winter with old bees 

 and spring dwindling will follow if the 

 spring is late. 



Since wintermg bees in Colorado I believe 

 that I can give some light upon the winter 

 problem. 



But few reading apiarists have not read 

 more or less of the discussion in regard to 

 " sealed covers," led by E. R. Root, the past 

 year or so. The " sealed cover " is a snare 

 in cold climates. As this and following ar- 

 ticles are intended as somewhat of a review 

 of the question, I shall give not only my own 

 experience and observations, but that of 

 others as given both in and out of print. 



Each colony should have its brood nest 

 fully established, and be supplied with suf- 

 ficient stores, when frost comes. There 

 should also be a good force of young bees that 

 have not done field service, yet have had 

 cleansing flights before cold confines them. 



Now, what shall be the external arrange- 

 ments ? Shall we put them in the cellar, 

 pack on the summer stands, or leave them 

 unprotected ? In either case shall it be 

 " sealed covers," absorbents, or what ? 



If the winters are close and severe, keep- 

 ing them in confinement from three to five 

 months, I believe I should recommend the 

 cellar. While in the cellar, they are kept 

 warm enough so that ihey can get after more 

 honey when the supply in the cluster is gone, 

 but a disadvantage is that they must be put 

 out in the spring without protection, just 

 when most needed, or there must be more 

 expense for protection. With open winters 

 and frequent fligiits, I would recommend 

 out-door wintering. By out door, I mean 

 where they have the liberty of flight when 

 weather permits. 



I consider diarrhoea the great enemy in 

 the East and North, or wherever bees are 

 long confined by cold. I do not think that 

 the disease is the result directly of confine- 

 ment. True, frequent flights prevent, or 



cure it, but my opinion is, that the principal 

 cause is moisture. If the colony has a sealed 

 cover, the air within the hive will rise to the 

 top and there remain, and soon it is heavily 

 charged with moisture exhaled by the bees. 

 So long as the outside temperature is below 

 that within, this moisture laden air is held 

 there by the law of nature, that heated air 

 rises. This is clearly shown in all mines and 

 in buildings. Now, the hive covers being 

 colder than the air within, that condenses 

 the moisture within until it drops upon the 

 bees and combs. The only way the bee can 

 contend with a liquid, is to take it up and 

 carry it from the hive. So the bees must lick 

 up the water that drips upon them and the 

 combs, in order to keep dry. This added to 

 the natural excrement, with no chance to 

 void, must certainly produce disease. 



Does not this show how it is that flights 

 prevent or cure diarrhoea ? 



If this be true, we may reasonably expect 

 that if we can keep the colony dry, they can 

 be long confined without detriment. W' hen 

 dry, they can endure much cold. It is a fact 

 that in this dry climate bees will fly freely 

 at a lower temperature than where a more 

 moist air exists. Any man knows that cold 

 is more easily borne when the air is dry. A 

 hive with a sealed cover will remain reason- 

 ably dry when there be frequent warm spells. 

 If the outside temperature rises above the 

 gent ral temperature inside the hive, the out- 

 side air will work into the hive and displace 

 that within, and thus tend to dry the inte- 

 rior. 



Last fall we left about ninety stands with 

 the covers just as they had been from the 

 time the supers were removed, from two to 

 three months previous. We had a severe 

 spell of winter in December and when the 

 weather moderated, five colonies were dead. 

 The bees and all the interior were complete- 

 ly wet. Wet killed them. We had another 

 lot packed in sawdust. They were in a hive 

 within a hive with about an inch of sawdust 

 between. A plain board was on top, and 

 sawdust upon this one to three inches deep, 

 with a heavy gable roof over all, making a 

 ten-inch space betwean covers. Some had 

 diarrhoea, and all suffered with wet. Loss 

 was about two-ihirds. 



Now, the easiest way to avoid this conden- 

 sation, is to give upward ventilation. The 

 use of absorbents is upward ventilation. 

 Absorbents may sometimes become so damp 

 as to be a detriment. At present I am 



