THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



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a handful a squeeze, they would crumble 

 up almost as fine as corn meal. 



Since my experience that winter 1 have 

 changed my mind very much in regard to 

 wintering bees in a dry cellar. The best 

 success we have ever had was in cellars 

 where there was running water, and the 

 temperature kept at Irom 45 to 48 

 degrees. Many years ago. when lather 

 Quinby used to meet with us at our con- 

 ventions, this wintering question was fre- 

 quently brought up: and it was the opinion 

 of us all at that time that, if a hive were 

 made with double walls, and well pro- 

 tected on the top so the bees could keep 

 the inside of their hive warm at all times, 

 then they would winter well in a cellar at 

 a temperature just above the freezing- 

 point But if we used single-walled hives 

 with their bottom-boards removed, and 

 on top had only a piece of cloth over the 

 bees then we must keep our cellars at 

 from 45 to 48 degrees temperature, 

 otherwise we might expect to have our 

 bees somewhat affected with dysentery 

 long before spring; and 1 am still of the 

 opinion that the construction of the hives 

 we use has much to do with the neces- 

 sary temperature of our bee-cellars. 

 Two very important requirements are 

 perfect quiet and total darkness. These 

 we can have much better in a cellar built 

 in a side hill, expressly for our bees, than 

 we can possibly have under our dwelling 

 houses, 1 think the amount of honey that 

 is saved where bees keep perfectly quiet 

 will go a long way in three or four years 

 toward paying the expense of building a 

 special cellar. 



Shortly after putting our bees away 

 last fall I noticed a small bunch had 

 gathered on top of one of the upper hives 

 directly over the cluster. There was only 

 a piece of canvas between the cluster in 

 the hive and ths little bunch on top. The 

 canvas was well coated with propolis on 

 the under side, and was tight all around 

 and had no holes in it so one bee could 

 feed another, but still they lived without 

 anything to eat until the 10th of January, 

 when I disturbed them so that they scat- 

 tered themselves over the hive, and some 

 crawled down and in at the bottom. 1 

 think there were about 30 bees in this little 

 bunch, and I am sure they had nothing to 

 eat for nearly two months unless their 

 honey sacs were full when they clustered 

 on top. 1 speak of this incident to show 

 that if our bees can be kept at a proper 

 temperature, and perfectly quiet, and so 

 dark that the whole winter seems like 

 one long night, it requires but little honey 

 to take them through the time that they 

 are confined in the cellar. 



Now in regard to giving them a mid- 

 winter flight. 1 am not at all in favor of 

 it unless they are suffering with the 

 dysentery caused either by improper food 

 or too low a temperature and bad ventila- 

 tion. Several timas 1 have set some out 

 for a midwinter fiight on a nice day. but 

 usually lost about all that were so treated. 

 The principal trouble is that, after they 

 are returned to the cellar, they never 

 again quiet down and form a compact 

 cluster as they do if not disturbed. 



Last winter, about Feb. 1. we thought 

 it best to put mats on about 200 colonies 

 that had been left with the under covers 

 on; and. although we had the floor covered 

 with about three inches of chaff, as we 

 always do to prevent any jar or noise 

 when going into the cellar, and we 

 handled them as carefully as possible 

 with but little light, it disturbed these col- 

 onies so that they were quite uneasy for 

 the rest of the winter, and wasted 

 more than twice as much as the bees in 

 the other hives did that were not 

 disturbed. Another thing 1 wish to speak 

 of in connection with wintering is this : 



Many leave their bees out too late in 

 the fall. Last fall we put 300 colonies 

 in our new cellar, Nov, 1 1. and they had 

 had no good chance to fly for over two 

 weeks. The 12th of November was a 

 warm bright day. and the 425 colonies 

 left in the yard had a good flight all day. 

 These we put into the cellar on the 14th. 

 and when taken out in the spring they 

 were in no way any better than those put 

 in on the 1 1th. although they had had a 

 fine flight some three weeks later than 

 the others; so don't leave them out to 

 waste away, as they always do with 

 these cold nights of early winter. If we 

 would all realize the importance of hav- 

 ing our bees well prepared for winter 

 early in the season, and then be careful 

 and not disturb them any more than can 

 possibly be prevented until they are car- 

 ried out of their winter quarters in the 

 spring, our winter and spring losses will 

 be much smaller than they usually are. ^ 

 1 shall have to make two articles oi 

 this wintering subject, and in my next 1 

 will give you some photos of the build ng 

 we made over our bee-cellar, and will 

 take up this subject of venflation. show- 

 ing how easily this cellar can be well 

 ventilated, and at the same time not dis- 

 turb the bees in the least. When our 

 bee-cellars can bs ventilated in the proper 

 way it is one of the most essential things 

 connected with successful wintering. But 

 when done as it frequently is. it is the 

 ruination of thousands of colonies, being 

 one of the principal causes of spring 



