338 WINTERING. 



Mr. E. T. Sturtevant, of East Cleveland, Ohio, widely 

 known as an experienced Apiarist, thus gives his experience 

 in wintering bees in the open air : 



" No extremity of cold that we ever have in this climate, will 

 injure bees, if their breath is allowed to pass off, so that they are 

 dry. I never lost a good colony that was dry, and had plenty of 

 honey." 



The absorbents generally used are chaff in cushions, 

 straw, forest leaves (maple leaves preferred), corn cobs, 

 woolen rags, or wool waste, etc. Mr. Cheshire uses cork- 

 dust, which he claims gives fourteen times as much protec- 

 tion as a dead-air space. The oil-cloth, which makes an 

 air-tight covering, must be first removed, and if no straw- 

 mat is used, the cushion of absorbents may be placed right 

 over the frames. We use the straw-mat, and fill the upper 

 half-story with dry leaves, these being the cheapest and 

 best absorbent at our command. 



In the coldest parts of our country, if upward absorbents 

 are neglected, no amount of protection that can be given to 

 hives, in the open air, will prevent them from becoming 

 damp and mouldy, even if frost is excluded, unless a large 

 amount of lower ventilation is given. Then they need as 

 much air as in Summer. Often, the more they are protected, 

 the greater the risk from dampness. A very thin hive 

 unpainted, so that it may readily absorb the heat of the 

 sun, wiU dry inside much sooner than one painted white, 

 and in every way most thoroughly protected against the 

 cold. The first, like a garret, will suffer from dampness 

 for a short time only ; while the other, like a cellar, may be 

 so long in drying, as to injure, if not destroy, the bees. 



637. If the colonies are wintered in the open air, the en- 

 trance to their hives must be large enough to allow the bees to 

 fly at will. Many, it is true, will be lost, but a large part 

 of these are diseased ; and, even if they were not, it is 



