The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1905-11-23
ABOUT w,MTERINc BEES.
Hives. II Packed warm Enough, VIII
Winter the Bees 10 Well -
the Cellar.

The beekeeper who has kept MIN.
self within the safe beaten paths Of
his own experience, and who has
avoided the many new forms and fan
cies that spring up and seem to dour
ish for a day, may congratulate him
self that he is not thrown OF 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.
would not discourage experiment
nor lay straw in the way Of prog.
ress. Thought, theory. experiment,
each is key that unlocks the door to
hidden truth. We may fan into error
at times, but the success attained is
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 plan or a practice
that has proved itself true for q period
of years without a failure Is a safe
plan to follow for the one making the
trial, II not for others.
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 ts that they are
not packed warm. I 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 chaff. and
still lost a large number; but for the
past several years have lost no bees
of any account.
now place them in winter cases.
three hives in a case. These cases are
made of good lumber. and papered
with thick building-paper all around
the sides and bottom. 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 overlooked in packing. Since
I have adopted my present plan have
not been troubled with spring dwind
ling.
The chat hives made by the differ.
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 q "blizzard;" so 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."
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 use is the propelled
CduVdSS AdC VA IAV AA0AAVoS okAAN SAVA
two thicknesses of heavy building,
paper, and then large chat cushion,
loose chaff or forest leaves, as the
case may be, then the three hive.
covers on top with the tight cover ia
the winter box, which completes the
job. :.
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. I
think it is true that this deeper hive
will generate more heat than 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, SO that have
very little trouble in forcing bees into
the sections. There is such an up
ward push that they must go above.