934 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



this floor serving- as a ceiling- to the room 

 below. The building had been construct- 

 ed, and bees put into the cellar, before I 

 happened to think that no ventilator had 

 been provided; then remembering that some 

 of the prominent advocaites of indoor venti- 

 lation had said that no ventilation, or but 

 very little, was required, I began to won- 

 der whether any was realh' needed. I ac- 

 cordingly wrote to Mr. Doolittle (a no-ven- 

 tilator man), who has used successfully for 

 a number of years a bee-cellar built on a 

 side hill, having walls somewhere about 20 

 inches thick. I explained the construction 

 of our cellar, and asked him if, in his opin- 

 ion, a ventilator would be needed. This is 

 his reply: 



Mr E. R. Root: — I have made no provision for ven- 

 tilation of my underground bee-cellar for the past 15 

 years It is 2Jx7, and 7 feet deep, and I winter from 

 (50 to So colonies in it each winter with good success. 

 The walls are of stone mason work, Ifi inches thick, 

 and the top covered with 4-inch-thick flag-stone, with 

 3 feet of dry earth over this. But the joints between 

 the flag-stones are so open that a little dirt sometimes 

 .sifts through. Then, of course, a little air gets in 

 through the four doors used for the entrance. I sup- 

 pose you will have an entrance also with doors. If so, 

 the only question would be whether your double flror, 

 packed with sawdust, will give less ventilation than 

 my flag stones. I confess to not being able to answer 

 that question satisfactorily in my own mind, as dry 

 dirt is quite porous, and the cracks between the flag- 

 stones are large enough to stick your finger through 

 in some places 



On one still, damp, misty time, holding on a week, I 

 went into my cellar, and the air was so impure that 

 the candle would not burn; and, when nicely burning 

 between the entrance doors, it would fade away and 

 soon go out on going into the cellar It seemed a little 

 hard for me to breathe, but the bees came out all 

 right. This was the only time but that the air has 

 seemed pure. At the tinre the candle would not burn 

 there was four feet of wet snow all over the whole 

 ground, roof and all. Just what advice to give you I 

 hardly know; but if your cellar were mine I think I 

 would risk it without a ventilator; but I do not feel 

 like advising you to do so Perhaps my experience as 

 given above may help you a little in deciding what to 

 do. I know nothing personally of clamps. 



Borodino, N. Y. G. M. Doolittle. 



On receiving- this I sent copies of it to Dr. 

 Miller and Mr. Bingham. Concerning- this 

 matter, Dr. Miller writes: 



Dear Ernest: — I've studied over the problem as to 

 your cellar quite a little, but without feeling c"impe- 

 lent to advise With the right kind of soil and cover- 

 ing I think there would be no need of special atten- 

 tion to ventilation. But if conditions were not all just 

 right the results might be disastrous. Perhaps the 

 safe thing to do would be to have the shaft put in and 

 closed up just as if no shaft were there. If all went 

 well it could be left thus all winter, and you would 

 practically have no shaft But if an insptction everv 

 two or three weeks should show that the danger-line 

 was reached, then you could open up the ventilator. 

 The point is that, with the ventilator, you can do 

 either way, and without it you are helpless if it should 

 be needed. The temperature and the number of col- 

 onies have something to do in the case. 



Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



Following- is the letter from Mr. Bing-ham: 



Mr. Root: — Your esteemed letter is at hand, also 

 Uoolittle's. The door on the level of the floor of his 

 cellar, and the difference shown by his candle, would 

 demonstrate that the carbonic laden air found a place 

 where it could be mixed with pure air at the door. 

 My experiments with a three-inch tin conductor-pipe 

 opening into the room over the cellar demonstrated 

 that, under such conditions.it would not be safe to 

 enter such a cellar or any other place where a lamp 

 would ,go out. If there was no danger one would like 

 to be able to see his bees now and then 



If a 16-inch-square flue does not reduce the tempera- 



ture below 32° (and mine did not as low as that last 

 winter), it would seem needless to endanger oneself, 

 even if the bees were not injured by an air-tight cellar. 

 It may safely be borne in mind that a cellar entered 

 from the top would not have as reasonable opportu- 

 nity to mix its vitiated air as one with an entrance i.n\ 

 a bottom level. 



My bees were taken into my cellar yesterday after- 

 noon, Nov. 15 The temperature is about 35°, flue and 

 doors above them open. The upper room has two 

 large ventilators, one at each end darkened partial y, 

 and located at the point of the gable. 



If the temperature should fall below ;^0° my di.Ois 

 will be closed. At 'i'Z to 40° the light does not seem lo 

 cause the bees to fly out. It would be a nice tempera- 

 ture out.side. Your cellar being new may need more 

 constant ventilation than if older. Mj- ventilating- 

 flue stops on the ceiling-floor. Said floor is supported 

 on 6-inch joists on the lower side of said joists, cover- 

 ing a space about 4 feet square. Thick building-paper, 

 two thicknesses, is secured by cleats This leaves two 

 4 feet by 6 inch entrances as a supply for the flue, and 

 no light is let in The top of the flue has a cap over it 

 to keep out dirt, rags, and rain. 



The greatest enemy to wintering out or in doors is 

 dampness, either in the air or hives. The reason why 

 your bees under the machine-shop were so quiet was 

 because so dry with sweet good air. 



I intended to put in another duplicate flue before 

 m\' bees went into the cellar, but was so busy I did 

 not. If I-were to build another cellar I would double 

 the size and increase the height of my flue ventilation 

 all I could. 



It is the upper air in a cellar that needs removal 

 The steam and dampness are there while the lower 

 stratum of air remains ready to supply the flue-draft, 

 which is proportionally greater according to its im- 

 mense elevation. This is not the sub ventilation idea, 

 you see. The lower stratum is all right if sufficient y 

 mixed with air that goes down the flue from an alti- 

 tude of 20 or more feet. The flue must not reach below 

 the ceiling, or be away from the center of the cellar. 

 A flue reaching to the bottom of the cellar showed a 

 temperature at its lower end nearly equal to that out- 

 side, while the general air of the cellar remained at 40 

 to 45° a few feet away from the inlet, and the air was 

 stuffy and dainp. The large tall flue enables the cellar 

 to be kept dry and cool without admitting light. This 

 is valuable when bees become uneasy from any cause, 

 most noticeably in the spring. Mr D., I think, has 

 been in the habit of opening his doors at night in 

 spring. The large tall flue from the ceiling would 

 have prevented that, That others have found f ul air 

 in cellars, and not reported, shows the value of bee- 

 journals, all of which placed my lantern experience 

 before the bee-keepers at once as soon as received 



Farwell. Mich. T. F. Bingham. 



P. S. — Nov. 18. — Clear, 25° at (i a.m ; air in cellar, 

 doors open, betters it, and the room above, 35° ; room 

 above cellar, 132° ; doors all around open all day the 

 l"th ; cellar at 40° ; bees hibernating peacefully, as if 

 outdoors; no effort to fly to the open doors. T. F. B. 



It appears from these letters that much 

 depends on special conditions. Taking the 

 advice of Dr. Miller I have had a ventilator 

 put in. But this was made before the re- 

 ceipt of the letter from Mr. Bingham, and 

 is only 6 inches sqtiare instead of 16; and I 

 am now wondering whether I have made it 

 large enough. If I had it to do over I would 

 make it fully 16 inches square as described 

 by Mr. Bingham, and will do so later if the 

 bees become uneasv^ during- winter. 



But the special feature of the Bingham 

 cellar is that it is virttialh' a cistern — that 

 is, the walls of the cellar proper are all txn- 

 der ground, without any part of them pro- 

 jecting- to the outside air to get through, 

 thus affecting the temperature inside. 



Our experience in wintering bees in the 

 machine-shop cellar last winter was most 

 favorable; indeed, I never heard or read of 

 a case where there were so few dead bees 

 as we had on otir cellar bottom. As Mr. 

 Bing-ham points otit, it was absoltitely dry, 

 and then it received a g-reat amount of ven- 



