?38 



ULEA^lxVOS JN JifiE CtlLTUUl:. 



Oct. 



partially wooded countrj'. Perhaps In a clearing- 

 they could make better time. On a very windy day 

 it takes them long-cr to make tl-lps. 



Fremont, Mich. W, I-;, (^oui.i). 



<'tiiiVliidfd )u'.ri tKsiii . 



pHepaRing bee-cellars. 



tin Vie NE£b to (lo to much pains .and kxi'Knse 



IN THE MATTER"? 



TT was with much interest that I read Dr. Miller's 

 j^ article bh " Ventilallnp Bee - Cellars," in 

 ^t Gleanings for Aug-. l.">. By using- a process 

 •*• nt reasoning, he tries to establish something- as 

 a fact; but for all this the reasoning is so lack- 

 ing In logic that scarcely any thing more than the- 

 ory is brought out. This the doctor seems to real- 

 ize; for he winds up by asking-, " Where is the man 

 who knows that ventilation for a bee-cellar is not 

 needed?" Now, I feel a good deal as the doctor 

 does when he says, "It is not very safe for me to 

 be very positive about any thing that 1 think I 

 know about bees;" nevertheless, as the doctor has 

 given his reasons in support of " that I think I 

 know," I wish to give my reasons for believing he 

 is wrong-, and answer his (iiicstions in the affirma- 

 tive. 



Eleven years ago 1 Iniilt my present bee-cellar, 

 andv-reasoning as Bro. Miller does, 1 provided for 

 sub-ventilation in connection with direct ventilation 

 from above. To make sure of plenty of pure air, I 

 made these ventilators large, so that, with a brisk 

 wind blowing, with the mercury at 10' above zero, 

 outside, I could in one hour reduce the temperature 

 Inside from 45° down to the freezing - point, by 

 throwing both wide open. After experimenting a 

 spell along the line of rapid change of air, I became 

 convinced that such was a positive injury to the 

 bees, for the commotion caused did not subside for 

 two or three days afterwai-d. Without dwelling 

 upon the items I will say that I was led step by step 

 to where the sub-ventilator was left entirely closed, 

 and the other, or direct upper ventilatior, three- 

 fourths so. In this way I wintered with fair suc- 

 cess until my high-pressure experiment with the oil- 

 stove, resulting in nearly a total loss, as the readers 

 will all remember. Whether this loss occurred 

 from too warm a temperature, or the gases from 

 the oil-stove, I have never solved. Tt might have 

 been from too much ventilation, as the ventilators 

 were run nearly full blast all that winter. But, to 

 return. 



The next winter 1 resolved on no more artificial 

 heat of any kind, and not to allow the temperature 

 to go lower than 43^^. I shut the upper ventilator 

 (the sub-ventilator being filled up with two feet of 

 dirt at the outer end) as tight as I could close it in 

 all zero weather and below. Skipping over the minu- 

 tiae I will say that, by degrees, I got so T left this up- 

 per ventilator closed for weeks at a time till last win- 

 ter, when it was closed after the bees had been in the 

 cellar for about two weeks, and left so till the bees 

 were set out, and 1 never had bees winter as per- 

 fectly before. Of course, the bees got a little di- 

 rect outside air every two weeks when I went in to 

 Bee them; but as I must open and close four doors. 

 Inclosing three dead-air spaces, the direct fresh air 

 that went in with me was very little indeed. This 

 cellar is built on purpose for bees, in a side hill, and 

 will hold 7.5 colonies, leaving me an alley-way, or 100 



if packed solid full. I had about 50 colonies in 

 it last winter. By keeping all ventilation shut 

 ofl" as above, the control of temperature was abso- 

 lutely perfect. Three days of 10 to 20° below zero 

 did not change the temperature inside one degree, 

 nor did the same number of days with 60° above 

 zero affect it more; while all through, the bees 

 kept a perfect guiet, except as occasionally a colony 

 broke the elustei- to go after a new supply of honey. 

 Twenty-five dollars would not have persuaded me 

 to have those doors left open one single night dur- 

 ing a warm spell, as brothers Miller and Root think 

 so necessary. Friend Root, at the close of brother 

 M.'s article, speaks of " trouble in cellar winter- 

 ing." Unless I am mistaken, Mr. Root has never 

 tried cellar wintering. It will not do to compare a 

 bee-house above ground with a good bee-cellar. Tt 

 it were bee-house or outdoor, I should say outdoor 

 every time. From the above the doctor will see 

 that I am " the man " to say that ventilation is not 

 needed. Do 1 say that my cellar had no ventilation? 

 No, I only say that it had no xpeciaJ ventilation. 

 Listen : 



Van Rittenkotfer, wlio is tlie best of authority 

 on this subject, says: "For every square yard of 

 wall surface, at !)|/i° Fahr. dift'erence of tempera- 

 ture, the spontaneous ventilation, or passage of air 

 through the wall, amounts per hour to 



4.7 cubic feet, with walls of sandstone. 



6.5 " " •• " •• limestone. 



7.9 brick. 



14.4 " " " •' " mud." 



Does the doctor now think that " doors wide 

 open " are necessary? Again, F. H. Elwood, who is 

 far ahead of the most of us apiarists regarding 

 the science of ventilation, gives, if I understand 

 him correctly, ~00 colonies of bees as requiring 

 less air than an ordinary man. Does not broth- 

 er M. think he could get along with perfect ease, as 

 far as air is concerned, in his bee-cellar all winter? 

 I think I could in mine, built for only 75 to 100 colo- 

 nies. Let us hear from others, as winter is near by, 

 and we " want to know, you know." 

 Borodino, N. \. G. M. Dooi.ittlE. 



Now, old friend, you are wrong this time, 

 and 1 am a little" surprised, too, for you 

 hardly ever make a mistake, even in regard 

 to something that happened years ago. I 

 wintered bees in the cellar, I think for three 

 winters, and the last time they were so un- 

 easy they made the cellar too Avarm. Be- 

 sides, the smell of that cellar was decidedly 

 unpleasant and uncomfortable. I tried to 

 make the bees go back into their hives by 

 ventilating, opening the doors and windows 

 nights, etc., but I did not succeed. I think 

 the bees in the cellar pretty much all died. 

 One colony that I bought of a neighbor, and 

 left outdoors, wintered nicely, just as my 

 neighbor's bees did. The figures you give 

 show how much air will get through the 

 wall where no dirt is banked up on the out- 

 side ; and where, the soil is on Medina clay, 

 and that pretty well soaked with water, I 

 don't believe you get as much air as your 

 table gives. T am very glad of these figures, 

 however, for I have long been aware that 

 both air and water pass through stone with 

 more or less facility. It was after I had 

 such bad success wintering in the cellar that 

 I built my bee-house above ground, which 1 

 described at the time in the American Bee 

 Journal. 



