638 



GLEANINGS IN BBii CULTURE 



OcTOBren, 1919 



from the top of the cellar, the door (A) is 

 closed, and the board (C) of the top open- 

 ing is lifted oif, allowing the air to pass 

 out of the chimney from the top of the cel- 

 lar. A board (D) extending downward ex- 

 cludes the light. An eight-inch tile (E) 

 joins the top of the wooden shaft and ex- 

 tends about a foot above the ground. 



Covering the back of the door and ex- 

 tending a short distance above it is a box 

 9% inches in depth. On a shelf near the 

 top of the box is an electric heater for 

 forcing warm air into the cellar, but in ac- 

 tual practice this heater was not found 

 necessary. As a matter of fact we found the 

 heat did more harm than good. Near the 

 middle of the box 

 is a shelf for hold- 

 ing the electric fan. 

 On the opposite 

 side of the door is 

 a similar shelf. Im- 

 mediately above 

 the shelves is a 

 round 17-inch open- 

 ing thru the cellar 

 door. Near the fan 

 is a door in the 

 box, making easy 

 the removal of the 

 fan from one side 

 of the door to the 

 other. By placing 

 the fan on the shelf 

 inside the door, 

 with the fan facing 

 the opening in the 

 cellar door, the foul 

 air is rapidly drawn 

 out of the cellar. 

 When placed on 

 the opposite side 



VeJitilatin 



ohimnev 



of the door the rear of cellar. Air leaves 

 tempered air from the cellar thru the door 



the warehouse may 

 be drawn into the 



(A), passing; over the top 

 of board (B), thru the 

 wooden shaft and tile (E). 

 cellar. Being able When desired, door (A) 

 to use the same fan '^ dosed, board (C) re- 

 ;„ +1, j„ „ „ 1 moved, and air from the 



in this way also , in. n n i 



•^ "■''" top of the cellar allowed 



saves buying a to pass thru the upper 

 more expensive sue- opening under the lower 



tion fan. A hing- ^^^^ ?^ ^"^^^^ '■J^^- ^"^ ">' 



J , , , , , * thru the chimnev. 



ed door at the bot- 

 tom of the air-chamber keeps the cold air 

 next to the floor of the warehouse from 

 being drawn into the bee-cellar when only 

 warm air is desired. 



As previously mentioned we found the 

 heater unnecessary. In fact, Mr. Pritchard, 

 who was in charge, disconnected the heat- 

 wires, and since then we used only the 

 electric fan. He kept this fan going almost 

 all winter pumping air from the large base- 

 ment thru the cellar. The daily variation 

 was less than one degree and the extreme 

 variation about five degrees. The only time 

 there was any considerable variation was 

 when somebody turned on the heat. Then 

 the temperature went up five degrees. 



Cellar Gave Good Results. 



Mr. Pritchard reports that the bees in 

 medium and strong colonies wintered nicely. 

 Everything came out according to our ex- 

 pectations except the two-frame nuclei, each 

 having a queen. These would have wintered 

 all right had it not been for the fact that 

 thej' were not put into the cellar until aftei 

 a zero freeze. Mr. Pritchard says that he 

 knows that these nuclei did not recover from 

 that severe shock. The severe freeze started 

 breeding that ended disastrously for some. 

 Importance of Ventilation. 



Mr. Pritchard says that the tests last 

 winter showed that ventilation is all-impor- 

 tant. With our electric fan it was possible 

 for us to regulate this to a nicety. 



Tliis brings up the question, if ventilation 

 is so essential, how about the other fellow 

 who has no electricity on his premises? If 

 the bees are wintered in the house cellar, 

 and they remain next to the furnace, the 

 room can be ventilated by leaving the door 

 into the furnace-room slightly ajar, or ])y 

 opening a window or two in the bee-room at 

 night, or both. If the bee-cellar is at an 

 cutyard constructed on the lines already de- 

 scribed, a subearth ventilator may be used 

 in connection with a chimney ventilator 

 thru the roof at one end of the cellar. Dur- 

 ing the coldest of the weather less ventila- 

 tion will be required; and it may be neces- 

 sary to close down the roof ventilator some- 

 what. During warmer weather, or during a 

 warm winter especially, bees will require 

 more ventilation. 



David Eunning of Filion, Mich., an au- 

 thority on cellar wintering, says less venti- 

 lation will be needed when the temperature 

 can be held around from 43 to 45. Mr. Doo- 

 little used to say the same thing. For this 

 reason a good cellar should have a relatively 

 large amount of wall, ceiling, and floor ex- 

 posure liacked by Mother Earth, the great 

 heat-stabilizer. 



I doubt if an electric fan will be needed 

 with an ordinary outdoor cellar when the 

 entrance leads outdoors. When, however, 

 it communicates with a general basement 

 .such as purs, where the air is warmed, an 

 electric fan is needed. 



Summary. 



If you are wintering well outdoors, do not 

 change over to cellar wintering, even tho 

 you might thereby save a half of your 

 stores. If the winter stores are in any way 

 inferior, I should much prefer to have the 

 bees outdoors. Cellar wintering may save 

 considerable stores, and may be used to ad- 

 vantage where the climate is very severe. 

 If there are deep snows, three or four feet 

 or more, or enough to cover the winter pack- 

 ing-cases, and if it remains so, and the snow 

 does not thaw and freeze around the en- 

 trance, outdoor wintering is preferable. 

 With very deep snow, bees can sometimes 

 be wintered in single-walled hives; but even 

 if they can be so wintered, that is not proof 

 that double walls would not save a lot of 

 bees and stores. 



