IX-DOOR WINTERING. 



363 



cellar is damp, the couibs will mould more or less; if it is dry, 

 they will keep in perfect order. 



648. After the bees are put in, they should be left in 

 darkness, at the temperature that will keep them the quietest. 

 We find that from 42^ to 45° is the best. Every Apiarist 

 should have a thermometer, and use it. The cost is insigiiifi- 

 cant, and it will pay for itself many times. 



Fig. 136. 



CELLAR BLIND, TO GIVE AIR WITHOUT LIGHT. 



But thermometers vary, especially the cheap ones. Try to 

 find at what temperature, with ijonr thermometer in your 

 cellar, they are the quietest, and then aim to keep it at that. 



The fact that bees, in Russia (645), are confined in deep 

 wells, for six months, shows that a total deprivation of light 

 cannot be injurious. It prevents them from flying out of 

 their hives, to which they would be unable to return, after 

 flying to the windows, allured by the light, when the tempera- 

 ture of the cellar rises occasionally and unexpectedly to 50 

 or 60 degrees. 



