244 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



perature," "Ventilation," "Moisture," 

 "Buildings for the Apiary," etc., it would 

 seem that nearly all the vital points on cel- 

 lar construction liad been touched upon. 

 It is possible, however, that it may be profit- 

 able to go over the ground again in a gen- 

 eral way, searching out and bringing to- 

 gether those points bearing upon the con- 

 struction of wintering repositories. 



We put bees in a cellar simply to protect 

 them from a low temperature. Fortunately, 

 the temperature of the earth below the frost 

 line is a desirable one for the successful 

 wintering of bees. The main consideration 

 is to place the bees in such a situation that 

 they may have the benefit of the earth's 

 internal heat with no accompanying unde- 

 sirable conditions. I presume that the 

 majority of house -cellars would be desirable 

 places in which to winter bees. If they 

 lack anything I presume it is warmth. 

 They are too far above ground and the 

 walls not sufficiently non-conductive. Let 

 no one make the mistake of supposing that 

 thick or non-conductive walls will create 

 heat. All they can do is to retain it ; or 

 rather cause it to pass away more slowly. 



The heat in a cellar must have some source. 

 It must come from the earth, the bees, or 

 some stove or something of this sort. I 

 believe above ground cellars for wintering 

 bees have not, as a rule, been successful. 

 All the heat they receive is what comes 

 from the surface of the earth, while the 

 large exposure to the cold outer air allows a 

 rapid radiation of heat. 



The place to build a bee cellar is below 

 the earth's surface. The size, of course, de- 

 pends upon the number of colonies to be 

 wintered. I have been told that a small 

 number of colonies in a cellar would winter 

 better than a large number. If there is any 

 truth in the assertion, I should suppose that 

 it would come from a large number of col- 

 onies creating too much heat towards spring. 

 I have seen several cellars with as many as 

 200 colonies in each, and the bees wintered 

 well. Ernest Root told me that some East- 

 ern bee-keeper, I think it was Elwood, win- 

 tered 1,000 colonies in one cellar. I should 

 not hesitate to put 200 colonies in one cellar. 



A gently sloping side hill is a very desir- 

 able location for a bee cellar. This allows 

 the outer end of the cellar bottom to be 

 level with surface, thus avoiding going up 

 and down stairs and the construction of a 

 drain. 



Where there is a choice I should dig a cel- 

 lar in sandy soil. It is easier to dig and 

 does not hold water so long as clay does. 



The cheapest way of digging the cellar is 

 with a team, plow and scraper. By making 

 the excavation large enough it can be 

 scooped out to such an extent that but very 

 little shoveling will be necessary. 



Where stones can be readily secured they 

 are undoubtedly the best material with 

 which to make the walls. The only objec- 

 tion to wood is that it will eventually decay. 

 At the old place at Rogersville my brother 

 had a cellar built in a gently sloping, sandy 

 hill-side. It was excavated in the manner I 

 have advised, but its walls were made of 

 logs exactly like a log house. There was a 

 cellar under the house, dug in such stiff 

 clay that by giving the walls a slant no other 

 walls were necessary. The house burned 

 late in the fall, when it was almost time to 

 put the bees in winter quarters. Stones 

 were scarce and we had neither the time nor 

 money to get them — the cellar must be fin- 

 ished at once— while the logs could be gotten 

 near by for the cutting and drawing. The 

 cellar, inside, was 8x20 feet and 6 feet high. 

 It was covered by laying heavy, oak rails 

 across it, putting on a foot of straw and 

 then shoveling and scraping earth over it to 

 the depth of three feet. There is quite a 

 ridge of earth over the center of the cellar, 

 and most of the water runs ofif. In long 

 continued wet weather the water drips 

 through, and to make it complete a roof is 

 really needed. It was built five years ago 

 and the logs (nearly a foot in diameter) are 

 still sound, but, of course, it is only a ques- 

 tion of time when they will decay. 



I would not cement the bottom of a cellar. 

 There seems to be something desirable about 

 the earth's capacity for absorbing gases. 

 By the use of cement this is lost. If they 

 would remain in place, I would have simply 

 walls of earth with no covering. 



J. H. Robertson, of Pewamo, Mich., has a 

 cellar large enough for 200 colonies. It is 

 about half under ground and half above. 

 The walls are about three feet thick, made 

 of sawdust held in place by board walls. 

 There is sawdust overhead and a roof over 

 all. 



I suppose that really the best place for the 

 bee cellar is under the honey-house and 

 shop. The cellar wall furnishes the founda- 

 tion for the building and the latter a cover 

 for the former. In fact, I have often felt 



