934 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. IS 



SUB-EARTH VENTILATION. 



"Good morning, Mr. Doolittle. Little 

 frosty this morning'. Makes one think 

 about getting the bees into winter quar- 

 ters." 



"Yes, it is quite cold this morning; but 

 as it is still October, we shall hardly think 

 of putting the bees in the cellar for three or 

 four weeks yet. You did not think of put- 

 ting yours in the cellar quite yet, did you, 

 Mr. Brown?" 



"No, I suppose not; but I came over to 

 have a little talk with you about ventila- 

 tion, and especially sub-earth ventilation. 

 I was talking yesterday with an old bee- 

 keeper, and he said that, when he used to 

 winter bees in the cellar, some fifteen or 

 twenty years ago, he used sub-earth venti- 

 lation with success, and advised me to do 

 the same. But I am puzzled to know how I 

 am to secure this in my cellar, which is on 

 a level lot. The cellar in which I wish to 

 winter my bees is very damp, and the 

 building-site is on a very level piece of 

 land. Can I get a current of air to enter 

 the cellar by laying six-inch tile on a down- 

 hill plan, and sink a hole five or six feet 

 square at the outlet of this tiling? " 



" The only difficulty I see in your pro- 

 posed plan would be from a lack of drain- 

 age. What will there be to hinder water 

 filling this hole whenever we have a wet 

 spell during winter, whenever it rains or 

 when it becomes warm enough to melt the 

 snow? " 



" I had not thought of this. Do you think 

 it would be apt to interfere materially with 

 the plan? " 



" I do. Unless some means is provided 

 to do away with this water it will be apt 

 to come into the hole so as to cover the end 

 of the tiling just at a time or the times 

 when your sub-earth ventilation would be 

 of the most necessity, if it were ever such, 

 for the welfare of the bees. Then you 

 w^ould also have to provide some means to 

 keep the snow from filling the hole every 

 time the wind drifted it, as well as when it 

 fell. This could be done with little diffi- 

 culty as compared with keeping the hole 

 free from water during wet spells." 



" Do you think the plan would work all 

 right, barring the trouble from snow and 

 water? " 



" No. There is another thing which you 

 probably have not thought about. A sub- 

 earth ventilator will not work unless you 

 have some means for the warm air to es- 

 cape from the top of the cellar or room con- 

 taining the bees. And, even with a ventila- 

 tor at the top to let the warm air out, air 



will not circulate to any extent during a 

 time when the temperature outside is the 

 same as or warmer than that inside; and 

 such times as these are just when you need 

 fresh air in j'our cellar, if fresh air is real- 

 ly necessary', by special means, in a cellar 

 for bees. ' ' 



" Is there no way of overcoming this? " 



" It is possible to do this, I believe, to 

 some extent by so arranging that a pipe 

 can go from near the bottom of your cellar 

 up into the pipe from the stove which you 

 have a fire in every day. In this way you 

 can be sure of a draft which will change 

 the air in your cellar any day during the 

 winter, no matter how warm or how cold." 



"But would not this ventilate too much 

 at times when it is very cold outside? " 



" It would be likely to do this; and to 

 overcome this part you should have some 

 means for regulating the amount of air that 

 is to pass through, from the full amount to 

 none at all. This can be done with some- 

 thing along the line of a " damper," simi- 

 lar to those used in stoves and pipes." 



" How deep should this sub-earth ventila- 

 tor be laid in the ground? " 



" Deep enough so as to be low where 

 frost will ever touch it. This will depend 

 much on whether the surface of the ground 

 is likely to be protected with leaves or 

 snow. If so protected, two feet will be deep 

 enough; but if in a bleak place where the 

 winter winds have full sweep over the 

 ground, from three to four feet will be nec- 

 essary." 



" Then how long should it be? " 



" From 100 to 150 feet, or long enough so 

 that a below-zero air entering at the outer 

 end may be heated to near the temperature 

 of the cellar on entering the same, thus not 

 causing a chill over the cellar when it en- 

 ters." 



" I think I understand. But why did 

 you hint once or twice along in our talk 

 that this sub-earth ventilation might not be 

 really necessary? The old bee-keeper I 

 talked with was sure no cellar was proper- 

 ly fitted for wintering bees without it." 



" I have no doubt he thought a sub-earth 

 ventilator was really necessary. But allow 

 me to whisper a word or two. After you 

 have tried this sub-earth ventilator, ar- 

 ranged as you propose, and improved by 

 all of the suggestions we have here talked 

 about, for a winter or two, turning the reg- 

 ulator in the pipe from one to twenty times 

 a day, you will soon find yourself turning 

 it off or shut most of the time; and finally, 

 unless I am greatly mistaken, 3'ou will 

 leave it shut altogether; for all of my ex- 

 perience goes to prove that, where any cel- 

 lar is so arranged that the temperature can 

 be kept between 43 and 48 degrees Fahr., 

 we need have no fears from dampness or 

 bad air." 



"What! you don't pretend to say that 

 all special ventilation is unnecessary? " 



"I was fully as enthusiastic over venti- 

 lation of all kinds for bee-cellars as it is 

 possible for any one to be, and spent lots of 



