" I "'Ml'i ''i'.i^^MMfjj^^ !SSi-^yi!Ll^,-J.!.^^^ ---^J.-Ll-Uc. 



Vol. XV. 



MAY 15, 1887. 



No. 10. 



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A CASE OF HIBERNATION. 



IDKAI, CKLI.AI! KOK WtNTEIlING BEES, AND 

 HOW IT II.AS WOKKED FOK THE PAST 

 TIIKEE YEAHS. 



fYOt'NG man, resident about 50 iniles from 

 hero, whose apiary 1 visited the other day, 

 has, r think, solved the hibernation prob- 

 lem, so far as cellar wintering is concerned. 

 He has been (luietly studj ins apiculture for 

 some years past, and three years ag-o last fall he 

 built a cellar tor bees on the most ap])rovcd princi- 

 ples he could gather from the experience of the 

 best bee-keepers, as recorded in the bee-journals. 

 The result is, that he has wintered his bees for 

 three successive winters, practically without loss. 

 When I visited him the other day he had about 

 half his colonies set out on their summer stands, 

 and we looked most of them over. They were in 

 tine condition, some of them were overflowing with 

 l)ees. One colony, on four frames, which he did 

 not expect to survive, were in good shape, and, in 

 his judgment, were stronger than when set away 

 iti the fall. 



There were about 250 colonies in the cellar, all 

 told. With half of them removed, the thermometer 

 stood at .52'; it had ranged from .53 to 58° all winter. 

 Vet at thi-: Uiirh t(!mperat\!re the bees maintain- 

 ed perfect (jiiietude. Not more than five pounds 

 of honey per colony had been consumed, on the 

 average. 



I call this a case of hibernation, from the still- 

 ness that reigned in the cellar, the small amount of 

 stores consumed, and, T may add. the fewness of 

 the dead bees to be seen on the cellar floor, which 

 had not been swept at the time of my inspection. 

 r am sure that, had the bees been very active, and 



exposed to a lower temperature, they would have 

 consumed far more honey, and there would have 

 been a larger number of dead ones on the cellar 

 floor. 



All who road this will want a description of the 

 cellar which has proved such a suitable winter 

 home for these bees. It is about 18x20 in size, 

 walls 10 feet high, and built of stone. A railway 

 runs through the farm on which this apiary is 

 kept, and from a deep cutting there is a sub-earth 

 air-duct, 200 feet in length, made of 10-inch drain- 

 tile, which supplies fresh air at the temperature of 

 the earth away below frost. A pipe for the es- 

 cape of foul air runs up from about the middle of 

 the cellar, and is connected by an elbow with the 

 kitchen cooking-stove. The bottom of this pipe 

 spreads out into a flange 3 feet in diameter, and is 

 supported on 4 bricks set edgewise. There is a 

 wooden pipe on each side of the cellar for the es- 

 cape of hot air. These are set in the wall, about 7 

 feet from the floor. The escape is through a six- 

 inch hole cut in the horizontal top of each pipe. 

 Outside there is an elbow, and the end projects 

 a couple of feet above ground. Through one of 

 these pipes, which was open at the cellar end, 

 there was a perceptible current of warm air at the 

 time of my visit. Several times, during mild spells 

 in v\ inter, these i)ipeshad been used to prevent the 

 inside temperature becoming too high. 



Evidently, this cellar worked like one huge hive. 

 Factory -cotton quilts only, covered the bees. The 

 cellar is a very dry one, the earth on the floor being 

 in a state of dust, and the dead bees, what few 

 there were, dried up, their bodies making an audi- 

 ble crackle when you crushed them with the foot. 

 There was no cellary smell perceptible. The air 

 was as fresh and sweet as could be desired. 



