The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1905-11-10
J. ABOUT WlNTERlNo BEES
Hives, Il Packed Warm Enough, WAL
Winter the Bees - Well - :
the Cellar.

r5s$&1aaEi. - AuSUSt SAA0 ASOOO ~ ~ 49, ~~
the Cellar.
The beekeeper who has kept him.
self within the safe beaten paths OF
his own experience, and who mas
avoided the many new forms and ran
cies that spring up and seem to hour.
ish for a day, may congratulate him
self that he is not thrown on his
base or led into temporary disaster
by following some line of manipula'
ton or some plan Of management that
is not practical or progressive.
r. would not discourage experiment
nor lay straw In the way Of prog
ress. Thought, theory. experiment.
each is key that unlocks the door 70
hidden truth. We may fall into error
at times, but the success attained -
the reward Of investigation and expert
ence; and this leads me to say. In re.
gard to wintering bees in this north
ern climate, that a plan or practice
that has proved itself true for period
of years without failure Is q sare
plan to follow for the one making the
trial, IL not for others. q" .. h.. 5 ..s. /.
In this locality, writes Hillsdale
(Mich.) correspondent of Gleanings
in Bee Culture. the temperature often
goes down from zero to 20 below; and
one great reason, and perhaps the chief
reason, why some have failed In out
door wintering Of bees Is that they are
not packed warm. formerly win
tered my bees in the cellar, and lost,
them in the spring by the score.
then tried an outside repository with
about the same percentage Of loss. !
have also packed them in chan, and
still lost 4 large number; but for the
past ,severa; years / have lost no bees
of any account. ss5.- I,
l now place them in winter cases,
three hives III case. These cases are
made of good lumber, and papered
with thick building-paper all around
the sides and bottom. I placed 81
colonies in these winter boxes last
fall, and every one of them is in fine
condition except one In a single box
that l overlooked. in packing. Since
I have adopted my present plan I have
not been troubled with spring dwind'
ling. What l wish to emphasize In
this connection is, that bees must be
packed warm, and here is where the
secret lies. y sss,5
The chaff hives made by the diner
ent firms are all right provided there
is sufficient packing Of the right ma
terial on the top. My argument Is that
they must be packed so warm that the
moisture will not condense-so warm
that the bees can move to any part
of the hive without any danger OF be.
ing caught in "blizzard;" 80 warm
that they Just laugh when they hear
the winds blow with the temperature
going down below zero. But some Will
say: "Pack your bees so very close,
and there will be no upward ventila'
ton, and the hives will become damp,
and the combs will become moldy, and
the bees diseased; and, as result,
they will come out In bad condition
in the spring. : S.G 3 i. 81 IF. s1a
It occurs to me that this bad state
of things which some seem to fear
Is not the result of close packing and
warm hives, but the result Of loose
packing, too much cold. and too much
upward ventilation. Absorbents are
all right If warm. However, the only
absorbent that l use Is the propelled
canvas, fiat on the frames, and then
two thicknesses of heavy building
paper, and then a large chaf cushion,
loose chair or forest leaves, as the
case may be, then the three hive
covers on top with the tight cover to
the winter box, which completes the
job. -s.- ,.r,Hr.~@
The most of my hives are seven
eighths of an inch deeper than the
standard L., making the frame just
ten inches from top to bottom. l
think it is true that this deeper hive
will generate more heat than a more
shallow one. run my bees for comb
honey, and I like this deeper frame.
It gives me more depth Of brood and
more bees, and It is bees that make
honey.
The whole surplus energy and
warmth and odor from this deeper and
more populous hive flows up into the
super above, warming the sections
and the foundation, go that have
very little trouble in forcing bees into
the sections. There Is such an w.
ward push that they must 60 above.