196 ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 



There is still another method of securing the proper temperature 

 for wintering- bees, aside from that of packing them in chaff, or put- 

 ting them in the cellar, and that is that of burying them in "clamps," 

 as they are called, the same as potatoes and apples are buried in 

 pits. Along trench is first dug a little wider and deeper than a 

 hive. In the bottom is placed a layer of straw, then two pieces of 

 scantling upon which to set the hives. Rails, fence posts, or any 

 kind of supports, are then laid over the hives, and covered with straw 

 upon which the earth is thrown to a sufficient depth to exclude the 

 frost. Sometimes ventilation is given these clamps, but it does not 

 seem to make any material difference whether they are ventilated or 

 not. It does make a difference, however, in regard to the soil and 

 situation. In a sandy or gravelly knoll, where the water will never 

 stand, the successful wintering of the bees is almost assured. In 

 heavy clay, the loss of the bees is equally certain. I say this from 

 numerous experiments. Bees in a clamp, in the right kind of soil, 

 in a good condition, winter equally as well as in a cellar, sometimes 

 it seems as though they winter better, and the only possible objec- 

 tions to this method are the labor and untidiness. 



