HOW TO WINTER BEES
IDEAL CONDITIONS
The wintering of bees in the northern latitudes is usually attended
with more or less loss. Although we now think we know the conditions
necessary for perfect wintering, it is only now and then that they are
attained. There are so many unhappy and unpredictable circumstances and
vicissitudes, that one must needs be a true prophet as well as a good
bee-keeper to be sure that all his swarms will successfully pass the
period of snow and cold.
The problem of wintering hinges as much on protection from dampness as
on protection from the cold. We all know that double windows in a room
keep the frost off the panes. The reason for this is that the dampness
of the room is not allowed to come in contact with the cold outside
glass. So it is with the beehive; if it is single-walled the dampness
from the breath of the bees causes the frost to gather on the walls
of the hive, which later melts and wets the bees so that they chill
easily; the double-walled hive is a guard against this condition.
GETTING READY FOR WINTERING
First of all that watchward of the bee-keeper must be fully realised,
“Keep the colonies strong.” Most men of experience do not attempt to
winter a colony that is not large enough to cover at least four of the
Langstroth brood-frames. If a colony is as small as this, the division
boards should be used to contract the hive and make it as cosy and
comfortable as possible. It is far safer to try to winter a colony that
covers six frames than one that covers only four; the more the bees the
warmer the hive, the less the loss, and also the less missed are those
that die. To secure good swarms it is best to keep up the breeding
throughout the summer, which can be done by feeding if the honey is
scarce.
Next in importance to a strong colony is good honey and plenty of it
sealed in the combs, so that wholesome food may help to sustain the
bees during this trying period. With a four-frame colony four frames
of sealed stores will be enough. A Langstroth brood-frame should
hold about five pounds of honey if it is well filled. If the colony
is larger, then more honey must, of course, be given. We never allow
any of our colonies to begin winter without at least thirty pounds
of sealed honey, and when a colony is very large we have given it
thirty-five pounds. This may seem wasteful extravagance on our part,
but the honey not used in the winter is of use in the spring. It is
necessary that the honey be of good quality; the bee is such a neat
housekeeper that she will suffer death rather than let food pass
through her alimentary canal when she is dormant, and thus render
unsanitary the bee-city, a devotion to municipal sanitation which is
hardly found elsewhere in the annals of living beings. If honey of poor
quality is fed to the bees and they hold within themselves such food,
disaster is likely to ensue. In preparing the hive for winter what is
known as the Hill’s device, which is a series of curved pieces of wood
held in place by a strip of tin, is placed above the frames to support
the cushion so as to allow the bees to readily climb over them. We use
a super cover in our chaff hives instead of the Hill’s device.
There are three ways of wintering bees in common use. First in
the chaff or double-walled hives left in the open. Second, in
tenement-hives. Third, the hives are carried into cellars. The
reprehensible way of leaving bees out of doors in single-walled
hives with no protection during the winter is no longer practised by
civilised people.
OUTDOOR WINTERING
Many apiarists protect the hive by a box, several inches larger than
the hive in every diameter, placed over the hive, the spaces between
being packed with chaff or dried leaves. A passage-way out is always
preserved so that the bees may fly out during the early warm days, and
free themselves from the accumulated waste. This is a cheap way of
securing the advantages of a chaff hive. Such boxes are sold by the
dealers, and many good words are said for this method of wintering.
THE CHAFF HIVE
The chaff hive is probably the most perfect of all of the devices
for out-of-door wintering when convenience and the saving of work as
well as success are taken into consideration. The chaff hive is a
double-walled hive with wall spaces packed with chaff. It is a certain
guard against extremes and sudden changes of temperature, as it remains
cool in the hot and warm in the cold weather.
The chaff for packing should be fine. That from timothy hay, oats or
wheat is commonly used; saw dust and planer shavings and dried leaves
closely packed are also often resorted to. The packing should be below
as well as on the sides of the hive. A cushion made of burlap and
filled with chaff is put above a Hill’s device or super cover, as this
is the most convenient method of packing the hive on top. The bees
should be thoroughly established and have their stores ready as early
as October 1st. It is claimed by the admirers of the chaff hive that
they prevent spring dwindling by keeping the bees warm in the early
spring; and also that they keep the hive cool enough so that the brood
is not developed in the combs until the proper time for it.
The chaff hives are sufficiently warm to preserve bees during ordinary
winters, but neither they nor any other out-door device were entirely
successful during the long, protracted cold of the winter of 1903–04
when many bee-keepers in the Northern States lost 40 per cent. of their
bees. It might be wise when such a winter occurs to give some temporary
protection to the hives, like covering them with boughs of evergreen or
building a close windbreak. The entrance to a chaff hive should always
be contracted in winter to keep out cold and mice.
THE TENEMENT HIVE
This is a box made for holding from two to ten hives, and which we have
used with perfect success. Our favourite tenement-hive was arranged for
six hives in two stories. The bottom was packed well with dry leaves
or chaff, and three hives were set somewhat near each other. Entrances
were boxed back, affording a front hall for each hive-entrance. After
three hives were thus set in and packed with chaff on every side and
between, a shelf was put across and on this were set three more hives
which were likewise packed. The entrances to the upper row were on the
same side as those to the lower row, and the cover of the box sloped
back from the front of the hives and was hinged along its highest
edge; thus when we wished to examine the hives we lifted the cover and
examined the bees from the back side instead of standing directly in
front of the entrance. Our losses were rare and small while using these
tenements. The advantage of the tenement over the chaff hive is that it
is cheaper, and that several colonies packed together help to keep each
other warm.
WINTERING IN CELLARS
The way we always wintered bees in the old days was by placing them
in a cellar which was used for vegetables and was ill-ventilated and
damp. We well remember that in the spring the cellar windows were
covered with arrested prisoners; we do not recollect that we lost many
colonies, but if we did not, it was owing to the ways of inscrutable
Providence rather than our own understanding of the needs of the bees.
Probably most of the bees in the Northern climates are wintered in
cellars; and because they are wintered in all sorts of cellars with
varying degrees of dampness the mortality among them is likely to
be great. A cellar fit for wintering bees should be cemented on the
floor and sides, made mouse and rat tight, and should be well drained,
well ventilated and so arranged that the temperature may be kept in
the neighbourhood of 45° F. In such a cellar the hives lifted off
the bottom boards should be placed four or five inches apart on two
scantlings laid on the floor. In the next tier the middle of a hive
should bridge the opening between the lower hives on which it rests.
This arrangement gives plenty of ventilation to the hive from below,
and it is very important that the air be introduced below rather than
above. The cellar should be kept dark, and if the weather is warm
and the bees seem uneasy it should be ventilated at night by opening
the windows, which, by the way, should have wire screens to keep out
intruders. Some leave the bottom boards out on the summer stands, each
board bearing the same number as the hive which rests upon it, and
thus in the spring it is easy to find the home of each colony; but if
the bees are brought into the cellar without the bottom boards on the
hive they are quite likely to fly out more or less. Usually, therefore,
they are brought in on the bottom boards, and these are piled in
some convenient place until needed in the spring. In this case it is
advisable to have a map made of the apiary, and the hives and their
places numbered on the map, and thus each hive may be returned to its
old stand in the spring.
If bees are wintered in the ordinary house-cellar it is far better to
partition off the part used for the bees from that used for vegetables,
and much pains should be taken to keep the air good and the cellar well
ventilated.
Special bee-cellars are in vogue in some large apiaries. The cellar is
sometimes made beneath the bee-house, and sometimes it is a structure
by itself. Of all such cellars, the Bingham seems to us the cheapest,
and surely quite as practical as the others. It is built like a square
cistern, twelve feet square at the bottom, sixteen feet at the top
and six feet deep; it is cemented at the bottom and on the sides, and
the ceiling is flush with the level of the ground. Over this is built
a gable roof, the eaves extending down to a drain on either side so
that all the water is carried off. The ventilation is secured through
a pipe extending from the cellar ceiling to the top of the roof. The
floor over the cellar is tight and covered with sawdust; access to
the cellar stairs is gained through a trap door. Such a cellar as this
should be built on a dry knoll. Mr. Bingham has wintered successfully
ninety colonies in this house; and it will hold nearly twice as many.
The bees may come out of the hives and die in great numbers when they
are wintered in a cellar. If any such seem distended and swollen they
have probably died of dysentery, and the matter should be looked into
immediately. However, many of the bees that die in winter are likely
to be the old ones which are not vigorous enough to stand the strain
of the cold. The cellar floor should be swept several times during
the winter and all the dead bees removed so they shall not pollute
the atmosphere. The cellar should always be dark, but the bees can be
easily examined with a lamp, or what is better, a bull’s-eye lantern.
The carrying of hives into the cellar is an onerous task when the
apiary is large. The entrance to the hive should be closed the night
before so as to be sure the whole family is moved. The hives should be
carried with as little perturbance to the occupants as may be; several
methods of carrying the hives easily and quietly have been invented.
Mr. Root uses a wire bent like a V with the wooden piece of a common
pail bale at the angle. The prongs of the V are bent at right angles
into hooks which hook under the bottom board; two men carry the hive,
one on each side, each with a carrier just described. Mr. Miller has a
simple rope carrier that slips under the cleated ends of the hive. Mr.
Boardman has a delightful device, which is a carrier in the shape of a
push-cart with two wheels. A board just large enough to set the hive
upon with rope handles at either side serves admirably.
WHEN TO PUT BEES IN THE CELLAR
This should be done as soon as steady cold weather comes on. In this
northern climate the colonies should be ready in October, for the
appointed time for putting them in the cellar is likely to occur
between the first and fifteenth of November. If put in too soon and the
weather is warm they become uneasy; they should be put in during a dry
day so that the hives will not be dampened by rain or fog.
WHEN TO TAKE BEES OUT OF THE CELLAR
This is decided somewhat by the bees themselves; if they awaken and
push out and try to escape in great numbers, it is a sign that they had
best be put out as soon as it can be safely done. Mr. Root makes the
practice of putting his bees out of the cellar in the middle of a warm
day in midwinter, so that they may have a cleansing flight, and then
puts them back in the cellar that night; which shows that a merciful
man is good to his bees. However, some other bee-keepers think that
this taking them out in midwinter is fraught with danger.
In a climate like that of New York it is hardly safe to take the hives
from the cellar before the last of April or the first of May. The
general rule is to wait until there is a prevalent temperature of
70°, and the willow, the alder, and the soft maples are in blossom,
so that the bees may gather pollen as soon as they are put out. The
glowing banners of the red maple blossoms give signal to most of the
bee-keepers in the northern climate that it is time that the bees were
on the wing.
SPRING DWINDLING
The cause of this is attributed to various conditions by various
bee-keepers. The evidence of it is shown by the listlessness of the
swarm, and by the dying of the bees. Whatever the reason, all apiarists
agree it is more common during cold, backward springs, and that it is
less prevalent when the bees are put out in warm, sunny locations. The
only remedies suggested are that the brood-chambers be contracted so
that the bees can easily keep the comb warm, and that plenty of good
syrup and rye flour and water be given to the bees if they are unable
to get food from the flowers. Many apiarists have tried the joining of
two colonies when this dwindling appears, hoping thus to get enough
bees in a hive to keep it warm, but they all agree that this does not
help the matter.
MAXIMS FOR WINTERING
Keep the colonies strong. Be sure that a good-sized swarm has at least
thirty pounds of sealed stores.
Pollen should not be left in the comb for winter use.
[Illustration:
_Photograph by M. V. Slingerland_
PLATE XXII. WINTER QUARTERS IN CHAFF HIVES]
[Illustration:
_Photograph by Verne Morton_
PLATE XXIII. PLUM BLOSSOMS
The fruit-bloom is a great aid to the bees while rearing their brood.]
Be sure that the honey is of good quality, and not made from decayed
fruit or honey-dew.
Give the hive ventilation from below.
If wintered out of doors, give the bees a chance to fly.
If wintered in cellars, do not put too many bees in a cellar. If you
have space for fifty colonies, do not try to winter more than thirty in
it.
In cellars take off the bottom boards and arrange the hives so that the
bees will get plenty of ventilation from below.
Have a thermometer in the cellar and keep watch of it. This should not
show more than ten degrees of variation. If the temperature rises to
55°, open the windows at night.
Keep the cellar dark and the air sweet.
Sweep the dead bees off the cellar floor several times during the
winter.
Contract the brood-chamber in the fall, and again, if necessary, when
the hives are set out in the spring, until there is only comb enough so
that the bees can cover it well.
See that the bees have plenty of food and good water near by when set
out in the spring.