854 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



using the best combs on top, as the colony will 

 eventually occupy the upper story. I have had 

 both queens continue laying in such united col- 

 onies until swarming-time. 

 East Townsend, O., Oct. 22. 



A MODEL BEE-CELLAR. 



SMALL, HIVES PREFERRED FOR THE CLUSTER. 



By B. Taylor. 



To winter bees successfully two things are 

 positively indispensable, especially in the north- 

 ern sections of our country. I regard the con- 

 dition of the bees themselves as being of first 

 importance. Next, good winter quarters. The 

 wintering-cellar at the Forestville apiary was 

 made by digging into a clay hill with a 30° 

 slope, in bank-barn fashion. The walls are of 

 solid stone 22 inches thick for 3 feet in height. 

 The next 4 feet the wall is only 14 inches thick, 

 leaving a jog on the inside of 8 inches. A sill 

 3x6 was laid on this jog, and a frame of 2x4 

 scantling set up even with the inside of the 

 bottom wall, the plate being on a level with 

 the top of the stone wall. This 4-foot-high 

 frame was sealed on the inside with matched 

 flooring. This leaves a space of 8 inches be- 

 tween the inner wooden and outer stone wall. 

 This space was packed with dry clean pine 

 leaves. This prevents frost from entering the 

 cellar through the lop of the wall. The floor 

 over the cellar consists of three separate floors 

 of matched flooring with a space of two inches 

 between them. These two-inch spaces are fill- 

 ed with dry sawdust. The first and second 

 floors were covered with tarred sheeting-paper 

 before the sawdust was packed in. This keeps 

 frost out from above. A common frame, four 

 feet high, was made on top of the wall, and a 

 first-class roof of shingles covers all. The cel- 

 lar is divided into two rooms lengthwise by a 

 board partition so one half the bees could be 

 kept in quiet darkness while the other half was 

 put in or out. An ante -room of 4 feet in front, 

 with one heavy outside and an inside door 

 through the partition into each room keeps out 

 frost from this direction. In the center of the 

 partition that makes the ante-room there is a 

 brick vault from bottom to top of cellar, 4 feet 

 square, with a door in one side. In this vault 

 is a proper stove where a slow fire can be kept 

 to warm up and purify the air when needed. 

 Th« stove is operated from the ante-room, and 

 does not disturb the bees. The cellar is floored 

 with two inches of cement. There are proper 

 means of ventilation, and the air is pure enough 

 for a living-room. The earth is banked at 

 sides and back end to top of wall; the entrance 

 is level with the bee-yard outside. When the 

 bees themselves are in right condition they 

 winter in this cellar with great certainty. The 

 outside foundation wall to our dwelling is 



made by digging a trench 2}4 feet deep, and 

 building a wall in it to t,wo feet above the 

 ground. Inside of this wall, and four feet from 

 it, is the cellar wall proper. Dirt is filled in be- 

 tween these two walls to the bottom of the sills. 

 The chimney of the house starts in the center 

 of the cellar, with a flue for ventilating. There 

 is a cement floor three inches thick, with a 

 complete system of underdrainage. There is a 

 brick drain laid in a circle around the house 

 outside, and as low as the bottom of the cellar. 

 The drains have a proper outlet. This extra 

 drainage was necessary because there was a 

 stratum of clay that held water, and the cellar 

 filled five feet deep in rainy seasons. Now it is 

 so dry that the hoops loosen on barrels in 

 winter, and is so warm we uae an outside en- 

 trance at all seasons. I have frequently win- 

 tered from ten to sixty colonies here, and with 

 greater success than in any other repository I 

 ever used. 



I have given these detailed descriptions to 

 guide others; for good quarters are vital in 

 successful bee-keeping. The best success I 

 have had in preparing colonies for winter was 

 by covering the hives with either cotton quilts 

 similar to bed-quilts, or covers of thick soft felt 

 paper, such as is used under carpets. The 

 covers were held tight to the top of the hive 

 by a frame of inch -square wood screwed down 

 tight. There was a Hill device, or something 

 the same, under the covers. The bees came to 

 the top and wintered directly under and in con- 

 tact with covers. Where paper was used, a 

 square of light cotton sheeting was put under 

 the paper to keep the bees from gnawing 

 through. The hives were left on the bottom- 

 boards, with an entrance '^s high the entire 

 width of the hive, front and rear. They were 

 piled up four or live high, as need demanded. 

 They were put into the cellar about November 

 1st, and left undisturbed until about April 1st, 

 when they were put on summer stands. 



One of the things I have found out in recent 

 years is, that we must have plenty of young 

 bees to begin winter confinement with. From 

 Dec. 1st to April 1st is five' months. Bees, as 

 a rule, entirely stop breeding here by Oct. 1st, 

 and do not raise much brood before May 1st. 

 This is .seven months. I do not believe workers 

 live much longer than this under the most 

 favorable conditions. Bees hatched in August 

 will be nine mouths old to reach May 1st. I 

 have had the most positive proof in the last 

 two years that they can not be made to live so 

 long by any known skill or perfection of food 

 or quarters. Some claim that bees live very 

 long when idle. I do not believe that men or 

 animals that follow nature's demands as to 

 work shorten their lives thereby. 1 have ob- 

 served that loafers do not live longer than the 

 industrious who lead a just and temperate life. 

 I expect to live an active life while I can walk, 



