Ski'TKiMukk, 1918 



a L E A N I N G S [ N B E E U E T U H K 



527 



been earel'uUy (ictoiitniic<l by tlic (loxciii 

 meiit exi)eitH. 



In later j^ears there has been a tendency 

 toward a higher temperature — 50 to 55 F. 

 This is because, in house cellars, a lower 

 temperature can not be maintained; but 

 where it can be regulated to a nearly uni- 

 form point by Mother Earth 45 is probably 

 better. 



So far we have not touched on the ques- 

 tion of food nor the age of the bees. Mr. 

 Eunning said that of course he would much 

 prefer good stores, for when good stores are 

 used, there is no spotting of the hives when 

 the bees are taken from the cellar in the 

 spring, even if they have been confined from 

 four to five months. But tho the bees will 

 not winter as well on poor stores as on good, 

 still if they are wintered in a properly con- 

 structed cellar, the amount of stores con- 

 sumed by the bees is so small that no seri- 

 ous consequence occurs. 



He says that many times the beekeeper 

 can not have young bees, and many times 

 he will have to put up with inferior stores. 

 But he is strongly of the opinion that if 

 bee-cellars were built right — and that, oiP 

 course, means proper drainage and protec- 

 tion — one could winter any kind of bees. 

 When the cellars are not properly protected, 

 good stores and young bees are almost a 

 necessity. 



So much for David Eunning 's methods — 

 methods that are in use in Michigan, where 

 good results have been secured. 



Wintering in an Ordinary House Cellar. 



Wintering in an ordinary house cellar is 

 possible and practicable; but it should be 

 understood that a house cellar is much more 

 subject to variations of temperature, either 

 on. account of the presence of a furnace in 

 the adjoining room to heat the house, or 

 because of the exposure of the walls above 



groiiiid to outside tciiipci-.-it ure, uliicli is al- 

 ways very variable. Our own ('xj)erience 

 has shown that where the temperature in- 

 side is variable — from 40 to 65 — there must 

 be a large amount of ventilation, especially 

 at the higher points. We have had most 

 excellent results with the temperature rang- 

 ing between 55 and 60; but when the tem- 

 perature is as high as this there will be a 

 loud roar from restless bees, unless there is 

 a constant interchange of air. Tt is a little 



Fig. 6. — Another of Mr. Sowinski's Lee-cellars. 



difficult to bring this about in an ordinary 

 house cellar; but where there are a few 

 colonies — 10 to 15 — in a room 10 x 12, the 

 matter of ventilation is not hard to over- 

 come, especially if the door leading from 

 the bee-cellar into the furnace-room is left 

 slightly ajar. It is put down as an axiom 

 that 10 colonies in a house cellar will win- 

 ter better than 50 or 75 colonies, i3rovided 

 the temperature does not go below 40. If 

 the cellar is not frost-proof — that is, will 

 not prevent vegetables from freezing — it 



Fig. 5. — This ce'.lar (TV2 \2i>) belongs to Peler Sowin.ski of Bellaire, Mich.; so also does the cellar (7x30) 

 sho^^Ti in Fi^. 6. Mr. Sowinski wintered 285 colonies in these two cellars without loss. The embankmtinit 

 in Fig. 6 appears to le covered. The home cellar, Fig. 5, embodies all the ideas of David Running. We 

 went into this cellar at the time of our visit, and, notwithstanding' the temperature was 80 degrees in the 

 shade outside, it was down to 45 in the cellar. Mr. S'owinski keeps his ve^setaliles, Initter, eggs, and other 

 food stutfs in this cellar. Tlie drinking-water, kept in .iutis hfrc, ff.pnis to )e as cold as ire. The .scheme 

 of ventilation was the same as >tr. Running's. 



