322 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



disappear. Whether it or a board would 

 communicate more dampness to the inside 

 air I am not sure. In summer and early 

 autumn, when dampness would signify little 

 or nothing, the stone would yield the most. 

 By using coarse wire netting, and sinking it 

 in the ground a few inches, the original 

 scheme could probably be worked : but I 

 imagine the device would be too perishable 

 and too much fuss. At present I feel as 

 though my " Finality Hive," toward which I 

 am studying and working, would most likely 

 not try to utilize any earth warmth. A 

 double bottom with two inches of sawdust 

 inclosed, and the upper surface so thin and 

 porous as to drink up water, looks most f ea- 

 siable. 



How very much land there still remains to 

 be possessed in our honey Canaan. We 

 want a better wintering hive for cold lati- 

 tudes, a non-swarming hive for places where 

 swarm fever rages, a get-up-and-travel hive, 

 that will manipulate with perfect ease for 

 migratory apiculture, and less of the " burg- 

 lar-proof " features everywhere — else a hive 

 into which we shall have no need or occasion 

 to burgle. 



RicHAEDS, Lucas Co., O., Nov. 30, 1892. 



A Bee Cellar Above Ground Made a Success 

 by Means of Artificial Heat— Venti- 

 lating Tubes Not Needed. 



K. BOAKDMAN. 



mHE SUBJECT OF 

 T Bee Cellars 

 has been pretty 

 well talked up, as you 

 say, but not entirely 

 exhausted I conclude 

 from the diversity of 

 views entertained in 

 regard to it. I am 

 free to admit that I 

 have learned some 

 things about win- 

 tering bees that I did 

 not suspect a few years ago. 



It is not safe to jump to the conclusion 

 that bees will winter more successfully in 

 any kind and in all winter repositories than 

 on the summer stands. I have used four 

 different repositories — two bee houses and 

 two cellars under dwelling houses — all being 

 in use at the same time for several years. 



So far as I could judge one was as good and 

 safe as the others, but the test of experience 

 proved that the conditions, for some un- 

 seen reason, were not equally favorable for 

 wintering the bees well. But my experience 

 on this point does not support your opinion 

 that above ground cellars have not been a 

 success. 



My bee house at my home apairy is ar- 

 ranged convenient for using artificial heat 

 and it has been used every winter more or 

 less. The others are not arranged for heat- 

 ing artificially and no artificial heat has 

 been used in them. My home apiary has 

 wintered with uniform success for many 

 years and much more perfectly than the 

 others. 



This house I have described several times 

 but it may not be out of place to speak of 

 it briefly here. 



It is .50 X 12, by 8 feet to the eaves, double 

 walled and filled with sawdust all around and 

 overhead, and a cement floor. 



It is divided into three rooms. The mid- 

 dle room, which contains a stove, is divided 

 from the other two by a loose double wall 

 with a four inch space (not filled.) This 

 room is my bee kitchen in which all of the 

 house work pertaining to the apiary is done. 

 The other two rooms are for the bees. Some 

 other besides apiary house work is also done 

 in the bee house kitchen. During the last 

 two winters the room has been used for a 

 family laundry and the washings have been 

 done here and the water heated upon the 

 stove for that purpose every week. Of 

 course this is a regular application of arti- 

 ficial heat without consulting the tempera- 

 ture and is open to criticism, but the bees 

 wintered in the very best condition notwith- 

 standing my apprehension. 



A cistern of soft water is one of the con- 

 veniences of this cellar and by no means the 

 least. 



Since I built my first bee cellar I have 

 modified my views somewhat upon the sub- 

 ject of ventilation in bee cellars. I viewed 

 it then as a very important feature. It looks 

 all well enough in therory, but experience 

 does not support the theory. I put ventilat- 

 ing tubes in my bee rooms and had the sat- 

 isfaction of discovering that those colonies 

 nearest these tubes (those that were the best 

 ventilated) were the first to show signs of 

 uneasiness. I took out the ventilators after 

 the first winter and have never had any use 

 for them since. 



