526 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1918 



and partly below. But the iniportaut thing 

 is to remember that the part above the 

 general level must be protected by four or 

 five feet of embankment of dry earth. The 

 ceiling of the cellar proper must be covered 

 vvith at least three or four feet of dry earth 

 or sawdust. Mr. Eunning has a workshop 

 directly above his bee-cellar, making only 

 a foot of sawdust above the cellar ceiling 

 necessary. In order to keep the side em- 

 bankments dry as well as the space over the 

 cellar proper, it is important that the roof 

 itself cover not only the width of the actual 

 inclosure, but the embankment at the sides 

 and ends. A wet or frozen embankment 

 means a low temperature in the cellar and 

 that is often fatal. 



Mr. Eunning told us that he believed he 

 could winter bees in a properly constructed 

 winter bee-cellar even in Tennessee or in 

 any of the Southern States with a great 



tliis sub-earth ^"entilator continue in a ver- 

 tical pipe to within a few inches of the 

 c(dling. This would bring about a thoro cir- 

 culation of air from top to bottom. 



The entrance to the cellar is effected by 

 means of double (or better, triple) doors 

 thru a narrow passageway leading from the 

 level of the ground to the bottom of the 

 cellar. If the cellar is halfway below 

 ground and halfway above, the entrance 

 and exit are made easy by means of steps. 

 If it is located under a side hill, so that 

 the bottom of the cellar is on a level with 

 the ground in front, the conditions are 

 ideal. 



To recapitulate: "The important thing 

 to remember," said Mr. Eunning, "is to 

 make the cellar room so that it will not be 

 subject to any outside variations of tem- 

 perature; and to prevent these variations 

 the sides, end, and ceiling must have 



Fig. 4. — 'This Ijelongs to L. C. Gordon of Bella,!,. Al,. li.. .md apparently has the same defect as Fig. 3. 

 The owner said that in this 12 x 20-foot bee-ceiiar last winier he wintered 151 colonies, without the loss 

 of a colony. According to David Running's idea the roof should have e^xtended over the side emban';ment. 

 But these embankments are made up of sand that dries out very quickly; and, in spite of tlve fact that 

 it is not covered, it makes a good insulator. This cellar has the ventilation recommended by Mr. Running. 



saving of stores. "For," he said, "it is 

 acknowledged that where bees can fly one 

 or more times during every week of the 

 winter they will consume anywhere from 

 two to three times the amount that bees 

 in the North will eat." He would put them 

 where the inside temperature of the cluster 

 would be at the point of the least activity, 

 or 57 degrees F. 



Eegarding the amount of ventilation, Mr. 

 Eunning has been successful in the use of 

 one ventilator in the back end of the bee- 

 cellar about 9 by 13 inches, extending 

 thru the roof, and surmounted at the top 

 by a chimney. This shaft should extend 

 down to the level of the cellar floor. This 

 is for the outlet of foul air. The inlet con- 

 sists of a sewer pipe running under ground, 

 opening into the front end of the cellar. 

 Altho he has not used it, he believes it 

 would be an advantage to have tlic inlet of 



enough protection of dry earth or sawdust 

 to keep the bee-cellar at the right tempera- 

 ture.* 



The temperature of Mother Earth, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Eunning, is about right for 

 cellar wintering. Mother Earth varies all 

 the way from 41 to 50 degrees. Mr. Eun- 

 ning said the best results in a cellar would 

 be where the variation of the temperature 

 is between 43 and 47 degrees; and from the 

 interviews that we have had with those who 

 have followed his ideas we have come to the 

 conclusion that an average of 45 degrees 

 is about right; for at that temperature the 

 bees inside of the hive approach nearly the 

 temperature of the least activity — 57 de- 

 grees Fahrenheit, which temperature has 



*Tn localities where there are deep snows less 

 insulation would he needf^d ; but, as there are some 

 winters with little .snow, it is well to huve a larsre 

 ilrv dii* cinliankment. 



