266 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



and three feet high is fitted [on top of the 

 box with a suitable opening through the roof 

 to communicate with the flue between the 

 rafters, and the ventilating tubes from each 

 room below are connected with the lower 

 end of the enclosed space between the 

 rafters, thus securing direct communication 

 between each room and the outer air. 

 There are slides to close the bottom of ven- 

 tilators and the chutes from the cellar to the 

 outer air are thoroughly coated with coal tar 

 on the inside to prevent the ventilator from 

 getting water soaked, as a great deal of 

 moisture escapes from the bees. 



There are no windows in the cellar proper, 

 the openings being the doors through the 

 partition of the ante-room into each room of 

 the cellar. When these doors are closed it is 

 entirely dark. There are two windows in 

 the ante-room with window shutters to close 

 on the inside. 



The outer door is two inches thick and 

 hinged on the inside. 



There is a nice shed, 12x16 feet with shin- 

 gle roof, over the front entrance. This shed 

 is enclosed on the north side, and open on 

 the east and south. This keeps the entrance 

 to cellar from being drifted full of snow in 

 the winter and makes a splendid place to 

 sit and watch the yard in the warm 

 days. The whole expense for the cellar 

 was about |.3(X) and I am entirely satisfied 

 with the investment. I commenced this cel- 

 lar with the intention of making it as near 

 perfect as my skill and knowledge would 

 permit, and, after three winter's use, I see 

 no reason to make the slightest alteration if 

 I were going to build again. 



A thermometer is kept in each apartment 

 and they have stood at 42° for three months 

 without changing 2°. 



The clay floor keeps dusty all winter and I 

 never saw a particle of moisture on the walls 

 summer or winter. 



And now friend Hutchinson, this hastily 

 written sketch is my answer to your re- 

 quest for my experience and ideas on win- 

 tering cellars. My own is as near perfect as 

 any that I have ever seen and a description 

 of it is I think better than any speculative- 

 theory. 



I will return to say that the earth is banked 

 up to near the top of the wall on all sides. 

 The building is nicely painted, roof and all, 

 and is worth all it cost. 



FOBESTVILLE, MiNN. Oct. 4, 1892. 



Fall Feeding More Profitable Than Giving 



Combs of Honey. — How Bees May be 



Fed Even in Cold Weather. 



. E. HASTINGS. 



¥' 



ITH you, Mr. 

 Editor, I be- 

 lieve that the best 

 method of feeding 

 for winter is to 

 ^nve frames of 

 houey, but in run- 

 ning for comb 

 honey there are 

 not many swarms 

 that have frames 

 of honey to spare 

 after the season is 

 over. It is necessry every fall for me to 

 feed, as there are not enough fall flowers in 

 this locality for bees to gather sufficient 

 honey for winter. 



I used to run several swarms entirely for 

 honey in the frames to give to those that 

 were short, but abandoned the idea some 

 years since, for the reason that the amount 

 realized for the comb honey from those 

 same swarms, should they be put on frames, 

 would leave a good balance to the credit in 

 the difl'erence in the price of comb honey 

 and the sugar syrup fed back in the fall. 



The question now at issue is what style of 

 feeder and feeding is best to use for the 

 desired result, that of having strong colonies 

 ready to harvest the honey crop. The one 

 that I have used for six or seven years is the 

 "Perfection Feeder." For an all-purpose 

 feeder it cannot be excelled. It can be used 

 the year round, winter and summer. My 

 bees were fed in December, 1891, and win- 

 tered 0. K. Out of forty-five stocks the loss 

 was only three. With any other feeder it 

 could not very well have been done at that 

 time, as the thermometer several times 

 reached zero and below it. It can be used 

 in zero weather or lower, in doors or out, as 

 the syrup is directly over the cluster and the 

 bees do not leave the hive to get it. The 

 heat rising from the cluster against the 

 cloth on the bottom of the feeder allows the 

 honey to flow freely. If I want to feed up 

 quickly I put on two or three feeders at a 

 time and regulate the flow as fast as they 

 can take it. It can be refilled without dis- 

 turbing the bees or removing the feeder. 

 For spring feeding it is just the thing, and 

 can be used as before stated during cool 



