48 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Out-of-Door Wintering of Bees 



Read at the Michigan Affiliated Meeting of Beekeepers, Detroit, Mich. 

 December lU-11, 1914 by Ira D. Bartlett, East Jordan, Mich. 



Mr. Chairman and Brother and 



Sister Apiarists:- — 



Either your Secretary misconstru- 

 ed the meaning of my topic or 

 else the printer figured one or botli 

 of us were wrong and changed it, 

 as my topic was to be "The Out-of- 

 Door Wintering of Bees," instead 

 of "The Wintering of Bees Upon 

 the Summer Stand." 



I have had no experience in win- 

 tei'ing bees in the latter way and 

 doubt very much if it would be 

 wise to attempt it on a large scale 

 in this Northern part of the state. I 

 have been very successful in win- 

 tering bees out of doors, packed in 

 what I term "winter hives," which 

 are made large enough to hold four 

 colonies, and space left around 

 the outside of about 5 inches to 6 

 inches for packing after the hives 

 are placed in position, such position 

 giving space for some 6 inches at 

 the backs and 2 inches at the sides. 



The winter apartment is first 

 prepared with a 3-inch packing over 

 the floor, said packing coming up 

 even with four strips running at 

 right angles with the long way of 

 the hive, and upon which the sum- 

 mer hives are placed, two colonies 

 facing the East and two to the 

 West. After placing them in proper 

 position to give the spaces above 

 mentioned and placing the entrance 



strips, which allow free passage of 

 the bees to the outside at any time, 

 the packing of planer shavings is 

 put around the colonies and over 

 them some 10 inches or 12 inches. 

 The summer bottoms which have 

 a % inch space in front running 

 to % inch in the back, are left on, 

 and over the frames is first placed 

 a canvas cloth, then a heavier quilt 

 of burlap, (usually a sugar sack 

 doubled, making four thicknesses, 

 is used), and over the burlap sever- 

 al thicknesses of newspapers. 



This packing is very warm and 

 the condensation of moisture over 

 the frames is very infrequent, with 

 the result that the bees come out 

 active and bright and the frames 

 and combs are in very nice condition. 

 I contract the entrance down to 

 about four inches, and bank up 

 snow around the hive when it comes. 

 There is no danger of smothering 

 the bees even though the entire 

 winter hive is covered with snow, as 

 there is a great plenty of air in 

 the snow for the use of the bees. 

 Even if a crust forms in spring, 

 don't worry. It won't smother the 

 bees; there is always plenty of air 

 in the snow. If bees are packed 

 warm and dry and have air and 

 good stores, they live a long time. 

 Where the trouble is, is in the 

 (Continued on page 68) 



'andy for Winter Stores 



By F. L. POLIX)CK, Stoiiffville, Ontario, Canada 



For several years I have been using 

 candy more and more for wintering 

 and I believe there is nothing equal 

 to it, especially for our severe north- 

 ern winters. 



My first trial of it was some years 

 ago, when I found half a dozen col- 

 onies that had been overlooked some- 

 how, and that were very weak in the 

 autumn. They averaged three or four 

 frames of bees and about ten pounds 

 of honey. I ought to have united 

 them, but they had queens that I was 



anxious to save, and besides I was 

 trying to make all the increase pos- 

 sible. So I put them in the cellar, 

 giving each a six-pound cake of hard 

 candy laid on top of the frames. 



It was a very cold winter, and the 

 temperature in the cellar fell to 32. 

 But when I set the bees out they were 

 all alive and nearly as strong as when 

 they went in. They had consumed 

 most of the candy, but scarcely any 

 of the honey, showing that the small 

 cluster had not been able to move 



