528 



GLEANINGS IN BEK CULTURE 



Ski'ticmiihr, 1018 



will be a very poor place for bees. A cellar 

 reeking with dampness is also bad, altho 

 bees have wintered well in house cellars 

 where there was a large amount of damp- 

 ness; but it was because there was a tem- 

 perature not lower than 45. We are not so 

 sure but that 50 would be better. 



The question of whether the hives should 

 be carried into the cellar without the bot- 

 tom-boards will depend on conditions. In 

 cellars of the David Eunning type the bees 

 should be put in with hive-bottoms and 

 covers sealed down. Mr. Kunning uses an 

 entrance I14 inches deep running the width 

 of the hive. 



Stores. 



Usually a single brood-nest will have 

 enough stores to carry the colony thru win- 

 ter in the cellar; but some beekeepers — 

 notably Leonard Griggs, one of the most 

 successful producers in Michigan — give to 

 every colony they put into a cellar a half- 

 dei)th super of natural stores. This is in 



FlO, 7. — This cellar belongs to Ira P.artlett of East 

 Jordan, Midi. He had some lieavy losses in tl.e 

 cellar, which he attributed to bad store-s and old 

 bees. When asked if he didn't have too much 

 ventilation, as shown by the ventilators, he admitted 

 that that might be true. Tlie .sides and embank- 

 ments are not covered by a roof, as will be noticed, 

 and the result is tluit tlie temperature varies. 



addition to what the lower story may or 

 may not have. In this connection Mr. 

 (iriggs follows Mr. Eunning in the construc- 

 tion of his bee-cellar. See Fig. 2. 



How to Build a Bee-Cellar. 



So far we have given no specific direc- 

 tions how to build a David Eunning cellar. 

 See Fig. 1 and legend beneath,. Where the 

 clay is firm and will not cave in, sustaining 

 walls are not necessary. But in most lo- 

 calities a wall or a board siding is very 

 necessary. Concrete walls are probably 

 cheapest in the end. Where the cellar is 

 temporary or on rented land very good bee- 

 cellars have been built by using cheaii 

 boarding nailed against wooden posts. Mr. 

 Brown of the Western Honey-producers, 

 Sioux City, la., makes four holes in the 

 ground with a post-auger. These holes are 

 deep enough so that an ordinary fence-post 

 will stick above the ground three or four 



Exterior view of the bee-cellai- of the late G. M. 

 Doolittle. Note fenro in rear. 



feet. The boarding is then nailed inside of 

 the posts above ground. The man then gets 

 inside of the inclosure, digs an oblong pit 

 deep enough so that he will have aV>out 6Vl> 



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