THE beekeepers' DIRECTORY. 



75 



objection to chaff-hives is the, cost and labor of preparatipn for 

 winter. 



Two years of added experience enable me to give emphasis 

 to every word and line of the above article and I have now only 

 the following to add : — In localities where the winters are not so 

 cold as to prevent an occasional flight in mid-winter, bees will 

 winter better out-of-doors in chaff-hives than in cellars. But if 

 bees are placed in cellars as above and about the first of March 

 (on a suitable day for a flight) are removed to the summer stands 

 and packed, they will do just as well and consume less honey than 

 if left out of doors all winter. Again, bees do better in the spring 

 if protected than in single-walled hives, that is, they are not lia- 

 ble to spring dwindle, breed up faster, take less stores, swarm ear- 

 lier, and make more surplus honey than the unprotected colonies, 

 which are more severely affected by the cold windy days and 

 frosty nights of spring. 



The second method is by Mr. P. R. Russell of Lynn, Mass. 

 Mr. Russell is onte of the model beekeepers of the period and 

 has had wonderful success in the management of the apiary. 

 His method of wintering is as follows : 



To solve the problem of wintering bees successfully requires 

 the application of a little common sense in connection with 

 practical experience. In the early days of my beekeeping, I had 

 very poor success in wintering, not having a proper knowledge 

 of the matter. I then used the single-wall Langstroth hive hold- 

 ing ten frames, and sometimes I attempted to winter them on 

 their summer stands, and at other times in the cellar. In the 

 former case, I did not contract the brood-nest at all, or give 

 much of any protection, supposing the hive was all the protec- 

 ftion needed, but I found out my mistake after a while. Winter- 

 ing in the cellar proved a failure also, as my cellar was damp 

 and unsuitable. 



Now, for six winters past, I have left my bees on their sum- 

 mer stands packed in planer-shavings, mostly, ai\d with very sat- 

 isfactory results. 



In September, I contract my hives to their winter status by 

 removing all surplus . boxes and extra brood-frames, never leav- 

 ing in more than eight combs, *nd from that down to six accord- 

 ing to size of colony. By Oct. i, if any are found having less 



