MANAGEMENT OF OTJT-APIARIES 59 



often happens than otlienvise, if we wait too long the hives will be covered 

 with snow or ice, or botli, which makes it very disagTeea,ble setting in, and 

 tends toward iinsueeessful wintering. As the farmer has agreed to help 

 me set the bees in at any time I may wish, I start out, the horse not being 

 able to trot a step on account of the deep mud, as our fall has been one of 

 much rain. Arriving, the cellar-door is opened where potatoes, apples, 

 cabbage, and such like are can-ied down when storing in the cellar, when T 

 turn my attention to near the north wall of the cella,r, where ha\ e been 

 |!iaced two six-ineh-square sticks of timber rimning the whole length of 

 this north side. Seeing that these are all in perfect shape, the carrying 

 vope used in the spring is taken with us to the bee-yard, both of us stop- 

 ping at hive No. 28, row No. 3. The shade-boatd is now carefully removed 

 so as not to disturb the bees, when the rope is adjusted about the hive, the 

 same as in can'ying the hives out in the spring, when we start with it for 

 the cellar. As the farmer is short and I am tall, when we arrive at the 

 cellar stairs I go first, and in this way the hive is kept nearly or quite 

 level, so there is no danger of the frames swinging together, as would be 

 the ease were the farmer to go first. Arriving at the timbers, the hive is 

 set thereon, when the galvanized robber-guard entrance is carefully removed 

 and the hive placed in its winter position with the now two-inch-deep 

 entrance the whole width of the hive, all open except the wire cloth turned 

 toward this north wall of the cellar, with the bottom-board coming close 

 up to the wall but not touching it. Hive No. 27 is now brought in and 

 treated in the same way, except that it is set on top of No. 28, *liile No. 

 26 is set on top of 27. When No. 25 is brought in, this is set on the timbers 

 the same as No. 28, and treated in the same way, only this hive is set about 

 two inches away from No. 28, the same as No. 28 was set that distance from 

 the west wall. Nbs. 24 and 23 are set on top of No. 25, when another tier 

 istbegun with No. 22. In this way we keep on till the whole 28 are in, 

 thus making nine tiers of three hives each, with No. 1 as the last on the 

 timbers, in a tier all by itself. The setting in is done in this way, so that, 

 in setting out, we may begin at No. 1, the same as last spring, so that the 

 flying bees may not be bothered by a continual setting of those from, the 

 cellar in front of those already set out. Also, in this way, each hive is sure 

 to occupy the same stand it did the year before. The entrances of the hives 

 are turned toward the north wall of the cellar for two reasons, the first of 

 which is that there is no window in this wall, while the door through which 

 the bees were brought is in and through the south wall. In this way the 

 bees are always in the dark as far as light shining in at the entrance is 

 concerned, while it allows the farmer to take his vegetables out of the cellar 

 at any and all times he may wish, with as little disturbance to the bees as 

 possible. In loading up these vegetables for market during the winter he 

 often has this outside cellar door open from one to three hours at a time, 

 yet he tells me he hears no more from the bees at the end of such opening 

 than when he first opened up. At any rate, the bees usually winter fully 

 as Tvell in this cellar, fixed in this way, as they do at my home underground 

 bee-cellar, purposely prepared for them. This is an account of ^what 

 was done at the twelfth and last visit for the season of 1905. 



