THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



117 



has biHMi an advocate of high tempera- 

 tiuv ill beo-eelhirs, and has insisted 

 that one of the chief requirements for 

 snccessf nl wintering is to Ivcep out snp- 

 l)lies of fresli air from tlie outside. 

 From that article I nialve sevei-al ex- 

 tracts wliicli will si)eak for them- 

 selves: 



'Wlien I was in the habit of airinj:' 

 my bees in winter (juarters, tliey did 

 all of their roaring in the ceUar; but 

 wlien tliey got to their stands in tlie 

 spring there Avas no roar left, for there 

 would not be enough bees left to get 

 up a good respectable roar. After 1 

 learned tliat bees would winter nicely 

 with what air was in the cellar, and 

 what naturally finds its way there, I 

 found my Iiees did their roaring on the 

 wing; and 7") or 80 per cent of them 

 were ready for the sections when set 



out. * * **,=!< 



I should like to have Dr. Miller, 

 and several otliers who are in the 

 habit of airing their l)ees, agree to test 

 this way of wintering, and see for 

 themselves how strong and healtliy 

 their bees will come out. Don't be 

 alarmed if they do roar, for tliey are 

 always happy as a rule, when they 

 roar the loudest. * * * * 



I have wintered them so hot they 

 could not stay in the hives, but would 

 bf all in a mass together, yet they 

 came out the strongest lot I ever saw. 

 No fresh air was allowed to reach 

 them in that condition. 



In case a man has only a few col- 

 onies they will winter fairly well in 

 almost any cellar; and, of course, 

 would not raise the temperature of 

 the cellar so as to require any special 

 attention; if it did not freeze, the bees 

 would l)e all right. 



It is where large numbers are kept 

 together, that fresh air is so demoral- 

 izing to them.' 



Then a little further on, referring 

 to myself, he says: 



'I hope that if E. K. Root comes up 

 into this State next summer he will 

 come on to tliis locality, where some 

 of the largest bee-keepers of the State 

 ••lie lo l)e foun<l. and wheic all use 

 large hives, and where all wintin- the 

 bees in cellars as I have described.' 



If circumstanc(>s had l)een so I 

 could have gotten away, I certainly 

 would have taken a run up to Mr. 

 Barber's cellar, and incidentally stop- 

 ped off to see Mr. Doolittle's. I will 

 try to do so ne.xt winter. 



Our own experience shows that the 

 bees in a cellar without ventilation, 

 especially where the temperature can 

 not be controlled, is disastrous to the 

 bees. They roar, tiy out on the cellar 

 bottom, and die in large numbers, 

 and roaring with us seems to presage 

 no good. 



Last year we had something over 

 20(J colonies in one of the compart- 

 ments of our shop cellar. On the tloor 

 above there was hea\y machinery in 

 motion, with the occasional dropping 

 of heavy castings, and yet the bees 

 wintered well, and are now doing so 

 again this winter. 



In February, of last year, when it 

 began to warm up outside, the tem- 

 perature in the cellar began to rise. 

 The bees became uneasy, tlew out on 

 the cellar bottom, and it was evident 

 that the loss would be considerable 

 We picked out one warm day, and set 

 a part of the bees out for a flight. Af- 

 ter a good cleansing they were return- 

 ed toward night. That lot of the bees 

 became immediately (juiet, but the 

 other portion roared as before. These 

 were set out on another day, and re- 

 turned, when they also ceased their 

 roaring. Previous to this when we 

 found the bees would become uneasy 

 we could quiet them down by giving 

 them ventilation at night, closing the 

 doors before morning. This had the 

 effect of neither increasing nor de- 



