ISSr'y 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



78.5 



that I have been wishing I could have an 

 apiary located in just such a spot. In hilly 

 and mountainous countries they frequently 

 choose such sheltered spots for early gar- 

 dens. May be you know of such a place. If 

 so, accept it as a gift from God, and go to 

 work and be happy. 



Some years ago I had a little greenhouse 

 built partly under ground, for some experi- 

 ments for making bees rear brood in the win- 

 ter time. The east, west, and north walls, 

 and the north half of the roof, were protect- 

 ed by layers of dry earth, nearly a foot in 

 thickness. Over this dry earth a shingle 

 roof was placed, to keep the building from 

 getting damp. The whole south side, and 

 the south slope of the roof, was of glass. 

 The sun alone warmed up this structure so 

 that I could woik there in comfort Avitli my 

 coat off, while it was freezing weather out- 

 side. Ever since that experiment I have 

 wondered why people do not have rooms in 

 their dwellings, warmed by the lieat of tlie 

 sun, thus saving quite a bill for fuel, and 

 dispensing with the care of stoves, during at 

 least a great pait of every winter. AVhat a 

 grand place such a room would make /or a 

 playroom for the children I 



HEAT FKOJI THE EAKTH. 



Greenhouses are usually built partly under 

 ground, in order to secure the benefit of the 

 heat from tlie earth. In Mammoth Cave we 

 have an even temperature of about oo . This 

 temperature will answer very well for rais- 

 ing lettuce and radishes, providing you can 

 get light, without frost. The dilliculty, how- 

 ever, comes in here; you must have light on 

 all sides of tiie plants, and they must be tol- 

 erably near to the glass, or they will grow 

 spindling and one-sided. If we were sure 

 the sun would shine every day all winter, we 

 could make a greenhouse (or cold frame, 

 rather) that would answer nicely, by simply 

 utilizing the heat from the earth and the 

 heat from the sun. It happens, however, 

 that the sun does not shine more than per- 

 haps one day in four, on an average, during 

 the winter months ; and although we have 

 the walls never so Avell protected, if we hap- 

 pen to have zero weather during cloudy 

 days, the frost will come through the glass 

 sash prepared to let in the sun's rays, how- 

 ever tight the joints may be. We then should 

 have our garden all frozen up — at least, that 

 portion of it that lies very near to the glass, 

 without some kind of heat to reinforce the 

 lieat from the earth. Two thicknesses of 

 glass have be;^n suggested and tried, with an 

 air-space between the two sashes ; but as 



quite a portion of the heat of the sun is lost 

 I in passing through even one thickness of 

 I window glass, we lose considerably more 

 j where it passes through tvo thicknesses. A 

 ^ still further objection is, that the outer glass 

 j would be covered Avith frost, which might 

 [ remain days or weeks, thus cutting off light 

 as well as heat ; whereas, with only one 

 1 thickness of glass, the heat of the interior of 

 t the house quickly melts off the icy covering, 

 with the assistance of the>un from the out- 

 side. There is another way of managing with- 

 out any artificial heat, so that hardy plants 

 will not be killed ; and this is, to have a 

 good-sized cellar adjoining the gx'eenhouse, 

 so that a free communication of air can be 

 easily opened between the cellar and the 

 greenhouse. The large body of air in the 

 cellar will be considerably cooled off during 

 a cold nigiit ; but in its turn it will warm up 

 the body of air in the greenhouse, so that the 

 whole will keep above a freezing tempera- 

 ture. As soon as the sun comes up in the 

 nu)rning. however, this communication with 

 the cellar must be cut oft', or the sun will 

 have l)ut little etfect on so large a body of 

 air.* All things considered, however, a lit- 

 tle artificial heat during the severest portion 

 of wTuter is thought to be the simph si"; and 

 easiest ; but as it is a very easy matter to in- 

 jure the plants by too much heat by a lit- 

 tle carelessness, an arrangement of pipes for 

 carrying hot water seems to be by far the 

 most practicable method. Steam has re- 

 cently been made to answer very well ; but, 

 like the heat of the stove, or a fine, since 

 it is so liable to get things too hot, the hot 

 water seems to be safer. 



We woidd make the greenhouse as much 

 under ground as we possibly could, and still 

 get light enough so that the plants should 

 not grow " long-legged"' nor one-sided. The 

 sun's rays coming through the glass would 

 warm up the.walls and lloor during the day, 

 and these same walls and fioor would hold 

 heat enough to keep the plants from suffer- 

 ing until the sun's rays could cause a rein- 

 forcement the next day ; and many plants 

 would grow better this way than with the 

 aid of artificial heat. Such structures can 

 be used in places far enough south so that 

 the temperature is never quite down to zero; 

 and they are also used in our own latitude 

 after the severer portion of winter is past, 

 say during :\Iarch and .Vpril. They are call- 

 ed "cold frames." They are also used for 

 wintering over such hardy plants as lettuce, 



* An open tank or cistern of water will answer the 

 same purpose as a body oj: air, to a certaiq extent. 



