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----------------- Original message (ID=615F46A7) (49 lines)
-------------------
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2001 20:31:24 EDT
Subject: Re: Screen bottoms
To: [log in to unmask]

Pech,
The entire talks about the use of screened bottom boards instead of wooden
bottom boards should give you a clue that it has been FOUND that bees do
better OPEN to the
air rather than closed in like we humans do in our homes in winter.  Without

going in
to great detail, the bees were here long before we humans had heated homes.

God, or nature, has provided for them the way to live in cold weather, and
efforts to change that have damaged the bee's way of living.

I suggest you read page 830 in THE HIVE AND HONEY BEE, 1992 Extensively
Revised Edition which discusses wintering rather fully.

When I began beekeeping in 1933 under the direction of Dr. James I.
Hambleton,
Chief apiarist of the USDA, he taught me to never reverse the bottom board
to
its shallow side position, never use an entrance reducer, and always have an

upper entrance at the top of the hive.  This provides great ventilation for
the bees, and removes the DAMPNESS, which is a major killer of bees.  Other
scientists have subjected colonies to temperatures of as low as -60°F for 30

days and the bees
did fine, proving that COLD does not kill bees, but many other things do,
like
northwest winds and dampness.

Before my disabling strokes, I kept as many as 135 colonies in both Maryland

and northern Virginia and lost very few colonies during the winter.  Now I
keep only 20 colonies, but have not lost a colony during the winter for
several
years.

I hope I have helped.

George Imirie
Certified EAS Master Beekeeper