STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 69 



we have had almost perfect success in cellar-wintering, while 

 those colonies wintered on the summer stands have suffered 

 more or less especially during the coldest winters. Our 

 conclusion is that the chief point to be kept in mind is the 

 protection of the bees from cold, from the time it com- 

 mences in the fall, until warm weather in spring has come 

 to stay. Jas. Poindexter. 



Mr. Black — Some of us know the bees gather what we 

 call honey-dew, from the black walnut and black oak, and 

 the honey is dark and the bees that were in the cold any 

 length of time died out rapidly. Now I have wintered bees 

 in the cellar without the loss of a single colony. I wintered 

 out-of-doors with not a very small loss. Even in a single 

 wall I found no trouble in getting to all the hives. It seems 

 to me that they want a reasonable amount of ventilation. 

 Some 35 or 40 years ago I put a swarm of bees there when 

 the old box-hives were in vogue, and it set there and I kept 

 it as an experimental hive. The bees in the center of the 

 hive- had spread up by some way till one side had a crack 

 that I could put my finger into, and it was that way for 

 20 years. The bees were near where my stock was, and one 

 night when the snow was on th6 ground the cow upset the 

 hive and it laid that way all night. I picked it up the next 

 morning. They came out again in the spring and never 

 failed to give me a swarm. I used them as an experiment 

 till they were over 25 years old, when they died, and I have 

 thought it was not the cold, but continued cold^ that kills 

 bees in winter. I wintered one winter in the cellar and lost 

 none; they came out in first-class shape and for 30 or more 

 days the thermometer ran from 20 to 28 degrees below 

 zero, and there seemed to be less consumption of honey 

 and the fewest dead bees during that season than any season 

 yet. 



Dr. Miller — The idea was advanced that in general cel- 

 lar-wintering is safer than outdoor wintering. 



Mr. Bowen — I would like to ask how far South he 

 means that to apply. It seems to me that if it is successful 

 with the thermometer 30 to 40 degrees below zero, the dis- 

 tance north and south doesn't make any difference. I never 

 use the cellar, and I believe my loss is just as little as any 

 wintered in the cellar. One thing I do is to see they are 

 not to have an open ventilation, but on top of the brood- 

 chamber I fix it so there is a close ventilation so the heat 

 naturally arises from the brood-chamber, creates a very 

 slight current so that the atmosphere drops back. You 

 have a late season that way, and the bees never get killed. 



Dr. Miller — I don't see that I am getting an answer to 

 my question. 



Mr. Poindexter — I was just going to answer that ques- 

 tion in answer to Mr. Black's question about his ventilating 

 hives. I think the principal idea was that the hives are to 

 be kept dry. In keeping the bees from the cold by ventila- 

 tion just keep them dry. Place them where they have a 



