Care of Bees in J J' inter. 189 



cool until it is as cool as it can be, and yet be made to "run." To keep 

 the frame down close to the paper, so that the soft candy will not run 

 out while cooling, tack the frame down with some nails just long enough 

 to hold the frame down nicely, but not long enough to make it difficult 

 of removal. If a frame full of cand}- is more than a colony needs, a 

 less amount may be given by tacking a crossbar in the frame, part 

 way up from the bottom, and filling the upper space only with candy. 



Mice sometimes do some little damage, both to colonies wintered 

 indoors and those in the open air. This damage is confined principally 

 to that of gnawing the combs. If bee-keepers would only remember 

 that bees can pass through a space that is less than % inch, and that a 

 mouse needs a space nearly twice this, it would seem that there need 

 be no trouble in keeping mice out of doors. Simply contract the entrance 

 until it is only yl inch the narrowest way, and no mice can enter. This 

 should be done quite early in the fall, as cool frosty nights often drive 

 the mice into the warm retreat to be found inside a hive. When 

 bees are wintered in the cellar, many bee-keepers practice raising the 

 hive about two inches from the bottom-board ; others remove the bottom- 

 board entirely. This allows plenty of ventilation with scarcely any es- 

 cape of heat. All dead bees and rubbish drop down away from the 

 cluster of bees, where they dry up instead of becoming moldy and rotten 

 from contact with the warmth and moisture of the cluster. If a colony 

 docs die, the combs are left dry and clean, instead of being stuck to- 

 gether with a mass of damp, moldy, rotting bees. .\11 who have tried 

 raising hives in this manner are enthusiastic in its praise ; but it will 

 be seen that this plan gives the mice, if there are any in the cellar, free 

 access to the hives. The remedy is to trap the mice, or poison them. 

 For the latter purpose I have found nothing better than equal parts of 

 flour, white sugar, and arsenic, mixed, and placed in shallow dishes in 

 different parts of the cellar. 



Unless the cellar is well under ground, where it is well beyond the 

 influence of the outside temperature, it is well to keep watch and not 

 allow the temperature to run too low in protracted cold spells. A lamp- 

 stove, burned all night in a cellar, will raise the temperature several 

 degrees. During the fore part of winter a low temperature is not so 

 dangerous as it is toward spring, when brood-rearing may have com- 

 menced. From 35 to 45 degrees may answer until toward spring, when 

 it ought not to be allowed to go below 40 degrees, and may with safety 

 go as high as 48 or 50. So long as the bees remain quiet I would not 

 disturb them with artificial heat. If the cellar becomes too zoanii in the 

 spring, before it is time to remove the bees, it may be cooled down by 

 carrying in ice or snow, or the windows and doors may be opened at 

 night and closed in the morning. 



