THE WISCON'SIN FARMER.      412



ature being so changeable and the want of
proper ventilation.
  Wintering bees out of doors, as practiced
by a large proportion of asnateurbee-keepers,
is always attended with bad results, as near-
ly one-half the stocks are frequently lost, and
those that are not, are so reduced in number,
that they will not swarm the coming season,



there not being bees enough to permit of it,
consequently are worth but little to their own -



era. When bees stand out of doors, every
warm day during the winter they are inclined
to fly from the hive, and thousands of them
get chilled and are lost, and where there was
a peck of bees in the hive in the fall, by
spring there may be but a handful left. In
the Middle or Southern States, bees can be al-
lowed to stand out of doors during the winter
with safety. In my more recent observations
and experiments, especially in the Northern
States, I have found no place to winter bees
in, equal to a dark, dry cellar.  .
  If the hives are rightly arranged, and the
cellar ventilated by opening either a door or
window in the night time, occasionally, there
will be no loss of bees only what die of old
age, and the comb will look nearly as white
as in the fall previous. Bees when kept in a
cellar of this kind, will not make a discharge
to soil the comb during the whole winter, and
will consume but a very few pounds of hon-
ey-say about a pound to a thousand bees;
for ordinary swarms it would require from
ten to twenty pounds of honey. At this low
temperature, the bees will remain very quiet
and still,'and if the cellar is kept perfectly
dark, they will remain so during the whole
winter, and will hardly know when spring
approaches, which will not be the case when
kept in a room above ground or out of doors.
Bees frequently receive more injury in being
confined in the hive on the approach of
Spring, than they will if allowed to fly out.
  1he time to put Bee. into Winter Quarters de-
pends somewhat upon the severity5 of the
weather-usually the last of November or the
first of December; if the weather is not toe
..dA 41.. -av sa.flv emain nout until nea-



January. They generally suffer more in
the latter part than in the beginning of
winter.
Position of the Hives when placed in the C0-
lar.-If straw or the old fashioned board
Hive, they should be turned bottom-side up
with the bottom-boards removed. Their ani-
mal heat will then drive all the dampness and



mould out of the hive. The only disadvant-
age in turning a hive bottom-side up, is, all



the dead bees and particles of comb will drop
among the particles of combs in the bottom of
the hive. But if there is honey enough there
will be no trouble resulting from it, as when
the hive is carried out-of-doors, and placed
right-side up, the Bees will readily clear it
out. If movable-comb Hives are used, the cap,
boxes, &c., should be removed and the hive
allowed to remain right-side-up, with the en-
trance closed.
  The Time to remove Bees from the Cellar de-
pends in a great measure upon the forward-
ness of the spring, and care should be taken
that the weather is warm enough that the
Bees can safely fly from the Hive and return
again, always observing to never set but a
part of the Hives out the same day, and al-
ways place them as near as practicable on
the same stand that they occupied the year
previous, to avoid confusion and robbery.
  After the bees have all made their excur-
sieA"aM they always will do on the first day,
and discharge themselves, thousands of bees
might then be saved by setting them back in-
to the cellar again for three or four weeks,
and at the same time supply each hive with
substitute for Bet bread which is Rye Meal
(or common flour will answer) as Bee bread
or Pollee is the first thing the bees will visit
the fields for, in early spring; by supplying
them with this useful article the lives of a
large number of bees will be saved which if
allowed to stand out would be lost.
       BURYING 3155 IN TZ GoROUND,
Is a practice that some inexperienced bee-



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