The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-01-27


No subject is Of such vital Importance to bee
keepers of the North and West as how to winter
bees without loss. In all conventions at the
North it is like Banquo's ghost, ever present to
be feared and dreaded. Bee-keepers who dwell
in a land where the thermometer is expected to
indicate 80 degrees below zero and sometimes
reaches the bottom, do not trust to luck, hop
ing for mild winter, but make
use OF means to avert Its severity The bee
keepers of the Dominion of Canada and
of northern New York lost fewer colonies
than those located much further south. When
the Rev T. L. Langstroth invented his nova
BILE frame, a Quaker friend, coming into his
apiary, said Friend Lorenzo, thee sees me not,
nor hears me; thee thinks thee has made q great
invention; it is no invention; thee has made but
q revolution in Bookkeeping" And in like man.
ner the progressive bee-keepers of the North
have inaugurated revolution in wintering bees;
among them is Mr. Ira Barker. author Of the
following essay. read before the North American
Bee-keepers' Society, at its late reunion at De
troit
Mr.. Barber began by saying: .'It is quite often
said that no one has learned the secret of winter
ing bees safely every time; but deny the asser-
ton, and ask this association of bee-keepers if
a quarter of century of successful winrering
of hundreds of colonies of bees without loss,
except where an occasional one staryes, is
not long enough to establish the fact
that bees can be wintered as safely as
any other stock? In my early experience
I had all the troubles in wintering that many
are experiencing now, and / tried every place
and manner that looked reasonable, to add
to their comfort, and, rule, when they came
out of winter quarters the loss would be from 30
to IS per cent. For a long term of years have
so wintered that fully so per cent. came out as
good as when they were placed in winter quar-
tiers. Ifyou ask where l winter my bees. my
answer would be. in warm damp. cellar. Why
prefer warm cellar is because warm atnos-
phere is the natural element of the honey bee;
] prefer damp atmosphere because bees are
more quiet and healthier than in a warm, dry at
mosphere for so long as ITO days without water.
I'm warm cellar. where the temperature is
from 600 to 90o there is no discharge from the
bees. unless it be in dry state; and if the bees
have to be fed for winter it can be done the last
thing before placing them in, and then the bee
keeper knows just what the bees have, and no
harm will be done, because their feed is not
sealed. The hives should be packed in a solid
body when kept in high temperature. and
piled one on top of the other, three or four
of packing, if some of the bees get uneasy and
leave their hive they are quite sure to enter
some other hive, and no harm is done.
I'm wintering in a warm cellar bees require all
the combs they occupy in the summer, and they
will be all over the combs, and do not cluster.
The cellar must be closed with no currents OF
air. either hot or cold, passing through it to
arouse the bees 1t is necessary to have small
ventilator from the top of the room for constant
draft; three-inch pipe is sufficient for 200 colo
the bees when the mercury goes below zero
much is said about moisture in hives, and all
manner Of ways are tried to get rid of it. A
warm atmosphere disposes of all moisture that
arises from the bees without any absorbents.
Every colony should have plenty of feed to carry
it through our longest winters. before placed in
cellar, that the owner will have no excuse to
60 near it until spring. More feed is used in q
warm room than in a cool one.
1.-THE time to place bees in the cellar is before
cold weather arrives-about the middle of No
vember, a rule. use caps taken from the
hives for stands to set the brood-chambers on, so
that each tier of three or four hives rests the
one cap. The caps should be placed close
together, and when all are in they form floor to
the cellar, and yet each stand is separate, so
there is no jarring when handling in taking
them out The bottom tier of hives should be
raised off the bottom boards about half an inch
at one end Of the hive, while all the rest should
be left just as they come from the yard, with
good cloth and sound top board well glued on
every hive. When all are in close the cellar and
| let them entirely alone until there is something
for them to do in the spring About the time
that willow begins TO bloom is early enough
in my locality.
"This plan of wintering bees is no theory, but
| is one practiced by scores of bee-keepers in
| northern New York. and invariably without loss
| in winter. This plan is given for wintering
| large lots of bees. Where few are kept, where
| live, there is no trouble in wintering them in
any cellar whore vegetables will keep without
| freezing. What claim for this plan of winter
ing is: l. 1t is the safest plan. 2. It is the
| cheapest. 3. 1t requires far less labor than any
vet recommended"