WINTER SITUATION FOR BEES.

There is no part of Bee-management more utterly disregarded by cottage-hive Bee-keepers than that which relates to a proper situation for store-hives during winter. From whatever cause this inattention may proceed,—whether from custom, ignorance, or prejudice, it is much to be regretted; because nothing is so essentially conducive to the future prosperity, and often to the very preservation, of a colony, as due attention to its winter situation. Left, as stock-hives commonly are, in their summer aspect, and to stand upon the very spot they have occupied ever since the day of their existence as stocks,—with their entrances wide open, just as they were in summer,—exposed alike to every change of weather and to every attack of prowling enemies; or, if covered at all, it is mostly with a rude coat of straw, or reed, or such material as affords to mice, vermine, and various sorts of Bee-enemies, shelter and concealment, and, in fact, encouragement to attack and destroy the hives. Thus, neglected and unheeded, it is no wonder that so many stocks of Bees perish in the winter and spring of every year; the wonder rather is that any should escape.

Some apiarian authors are opposed to the confinement of Bees in their hives, except when snow is on the ground: then, and then only, they recommend the confinement of Bees as necessary for their safety. Now, I would respectfully ask—if, in the North of England and in Scotland, snow does not lie on the ground for weeks, and in some years for months together? and I would ask further—if Bees can bear this confinement with snow on the ground, why they cannot bear it when there is no snow? They argue, however, in the face of this admission, that confinement is injurious to Bees, and that a flight in the open air on a fine day, if there should happen to be a fine day, in the depth of winter, is beneficial to Bees, otherwise, they say, the Bees would not take it. A mild, open winter, every body knows, renders unconfined Bees poor—and when kept in a state of perpetual agitation and alarm by the restless enemies that surround them and nestle in their straw covering, and tempted by the faint, wintery sun-beams that gleam upon their floor-board through the unclosed entrance of their hives, they will, no doubt, sometimes sally forth. But what is the consequence? Hundreds and thousands of them become paralyzed[K] and never return; and those that do get home again have occasion for food: of course, the oftener these winter flights take place, the more the population of the hives they issue from is diminished, and the more pauperized that diminished population becomes in consequence of such flights: whereas, if Bees were confined, kept in darkness, or, at any rate, out of the influence of the sun, kept dry, cool, still, and undisturbed, no such disastrous consequences would ensue.

The following detail will show my readers the results of some experiments, relative to the aspect and situation of Bee-hives during winter; and whilst in some degree they corroborate the foregoing observations, they may perhaps induce those, who are anxious for the prosperity of their Bees, to submit to be taught a useful lesson respecting the winter management of them.

In 1824 I had six cottage-hives, which had prospered well with me during the summer of that year. In the autumn of the same year I resolved to weigh those six hives, and to place three of them on the north side of my house, and to let the other three remain in their summer situation. The separate weights of my hives, in November of the year 1824, were as under, viz.

The first three of these Nos. viz. 1, 2, and 3, weighing together 113 lbs. remained during the winter in their summer situation: Nos. 4, 5, and 6, weighing together 111 lbs. were removed to a cold dry place, on the north side of my house. On the 26th of March, 1825, I again weighed those six hives, and found their respective weights to be as follows, viz.

So that the three hives, remaining in their summer quarters during the winter, had decreased in weight just 63 lbs. being on an average 21 lbs. each; while the three which had wintered on the north side of my house had decreased only 15 lbs. being on an average only 5 lbs. each. This gives an average difference of 16 lbs. a hive, between a proper and an improper winter situation and aspect for Bees. It is lamentable to think how many people lose their Bees, either from ignorance, prejudice, or want of attention to this particular point—a proper winter situation.

I need scarcely relate to my readers, that the Bees which were placed fronting, or open to the north, were the first that swarmed the next spring. They swarmed in the month of May; while those hives that had remained fronting, or open to the south, did not swarm until July; and one hive (No. 2.) never swarmed at all during the season. At the latter end of October, 1825, I again weighed my hives, and found them to be as under:—

Hence it appears that the three hives (Nos. 1, 2, and 3) that had never been removed from their summer stands, were 33 lbs. lighter than when I first weighed them, that is, on an average, 11 lbs. a hive; and even with the weight of their two swarms added to them, there was a falling off in the year of 9 lbs. or, on an average, of 3 lbs, a hive: whilst Nos. 4, 5, and 6, had gained 17 lbs. or, on an average, nearly 6 lbs. each; and with the weight of their swarms added to them, they had gained 107 lbs. or, on an average, nearly 36 lbs. a hive in the year.

I could carry this subject much further in my explanations, as I did in my experiments, but it requires no facts in addition to those just stated to explain the difference of aspect in the winter-season to Bees.

Every cottager must know that the richer his Bees are in spring, the sooner they will swarm. Then, to make them rich, he must not neglect to place his hives out of the influence of the sun during winter,—in a dry, cold, and quiet situation. He will find by this practice, that not more than five or six pounds of honey will be consumed by a good stock; but if he suffer his Bees to remain fronting the south, they will in a mild winter, if they survive it at all, become paupers before spring.

Now what is proper during the winter for stocks in common hives, is equally proper for stocks in collateral-boxes, of which the middle-box is the winter-pavilion or stock-hive. Long before winter all the Bees of the most populous stock will draw into the middle-box and cluster round their Queen; and when that is the case, the dividing-tins should be put down, in order that all the Bees may be securely kept in the pavilion; and previously to removing them from their summer situation, the entrance should be carefully closed with a piece of wire-cloth, or perforated tin; which, whilst it admits fresh air into the box, will keep the Bees within and all their enemies without. It is hardly possible for the smallest enemy to make its way into a box thus secured. A perforated tin may also be put over the way down into the drawer. Towards spring this last may be withdrawn, and the Bees, when they begin to revive, will soon rid themselves of those that may have died in the winter, by carrying them down into the drawer. Having made every necessary preparation, remove your stocks to such a situation as that herein before recommended, and there in quietude let them pass the dreary months of winter. I do not advise that they be taken too early to, nor that they remain too long in, their hibernacula: generally speaking, they may be removed towards the latter end of November, and again in the third or fourth week of February; but the Bees themselves, if duly observed, will be the best directors.

This is my practice, and it is also the practice of my apiarian friend at Gedney-Hill, than whose, no stocks in this neighbourhood are more healthy or much more prosperous.