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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 2 A, 



""^^tM 



Something About Bee-Cellars — A Talk. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent wishes me to give the readers of the 

 American Bee Journal something about bee-cellars — how they 

 should be ventilated, where they should be situated, what the 

 temperature inside should be, etc., saying, "More and more 

 bees are being wintered in cellars hereabouts, and as more 

 attention is being paid to this matter, undoubtedly many 

 would be interested in an article from your pen on this sub- 

 ject." I have often written on this subject in the past, and 

 had supposed I had written about all that was necessary, but 

 perhaps a few general remarks on the subject may not be 

 amiss, so, with the editor's permission, I will give a sort of 

 rambling talk on the matter. 



To my mind, it matters very little how a cellar is built, 

 providing it accomplishes the purpose for which it is intended, 

 that is, keeping a uniform temperature inside, no matter what 

 are the changes outside, as this is the one desideratum for the 

 perfect wintering of bees in cellars. Of course, you will want 

 the cellar large enough to accommodate all the bees you will 

 ever expect to put into it, if you are contemplating building 

 for that purpose. If it can be built in a sidehill it will better 

 accomplish the keeping of an even temperature than a cellar 

 under a house can be made to do, and this is the reason why I 

 prefer the outside cellar or cave. 



If the cellar under your house can be partitioned off so 

 that the apartment for the bees need not be disturbed by the 

 constant going after vegetables, etc., and so that an even 

 temperature can be maintained, such a cellar Is equally as 

 good as an outside cellar. The trouble with the cellar under 

 the house lies in the fact that the cold and warm air produced 

 by the varying temperature of winter passes through the floor 

 of the rooms above, so that no even temperature can be kept 

 below. If the space under the floor, between the sleepers, can 

 be filled with chaff or sawdust, It will help much to obviate 

 this trouble. 



If the cellar is dug in a sidehill I would have it long and 

 narrow. Mine is 24 feet long, 7 wide, 6 high, and is large 

 enough to accommodate about 100 colonies with plenty of 

 room for an alley way between the hives, which are set ne.^t 

 the wall on either side. From this you can get at about the 

 size you may need. The cellar in the sidehill has another 

 advantage, in the fact that the path into it will be on a level 

 with the ground outside, so that the hives can be set on a 

 spring wheelbarrow and wheeled right where you wish them 

 into the cellar. This one item alone would almost, or quite, 

 pay for the outside cellar in the course of 20 years. 



Some seem to think that it is very important that the cel- 

 lar should be dry, so that no moisture nor drops of water ever 

 collect on the walls or hives ; but all of my experience goes to 

 prove that, if the temperature can be kept between 43^ and 

 48^, all the moisture that will naturally accumulate in any 

 cellar will do no harm. My cellar is so moist that drops of 

 water stand all about overhead and on the side-walls of the 

 room, yet the bees do not seem to be affected In the least by it. 



I am coming to think more and more that the matter of 

 ventilation is not so Important as we used to think, as my bees 

 winter in splendid condition with no special provision being 

 made for ventilation. Let me explain a little : 



When I built my cellar I constructed a sub-earth ventila- 

 tor 100 or more feet long, in connection with a direct upward 

 ventilator of the same size. Either of these could be con- 

 trolled at will, and every change of weather found me chang- 

 ing these ventilators. This made so much work that after a 

 little I began to leave the upper one closed for a time ; and at 

 times of much cold the sub-earth ventilator was closed also. 

 By close watching I could not see that it made any difference 

 with the bees, so I soon came to a point where I left the ven- 

 tilators closed all the time. As this keeping all ventilators 

 closed gave a more even temperature the upper ventilator was 

 dispensed with altogether a few years ago, when I had to 

 renew the roof to the cellar, while the sub-earth ventilator 

 has not been in use for three years. 



If I had a cellar in which the temperature falls lower 

 than 40°, I would put a slow fire in it, so that, when there is 

 much severe weather the temperature might be kept up at 

 43° to 48° if possible. A change of 10- to 15° in tempera- 

 ture is liable to make the bees uneasy, cause them to go to 

 breeding, get the diarrhea and spring dwindle. 



If the cellar is under a house some seem to think that a 

 small pipe from the chimney above the fire, running down to 

 within a few inches of the cellar-bottom, to be used in a warm 

 time, is a good thing in that it causes a change of air during a 

 warm spell, which results in keeping the bees quiet with a 

 much higher temperature than they would without this change 

 of air. I am not so sure on this point ; but if I had a cellar 

 that would insist on going to 50° and above, every warm spell 

 during the winter, I would try it. With me I consider a tem- 

 perature of from 43° to 45° to be the best for a cellar ; but I 

 would say that the temperature which is best is the one in 

 which the bees are the most quiet. That may not be the same 

 with others that it is with me ; therefore I would advise all to 

 keep watch closely, and when they find where the bees are the 

 most quiet, control the temperature just there as nearly as 

 may be ever afterward. 



Bees will be quiet in a much higher temperature the fore- 

 part of winter than during the latter part ; therefore the cel- 

 lar which will cool off a little as the winter advances is much 

 the best, providing it will not rise when the weather begins to 

 warm up in the spring. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



That Discussion ou Sections and Separators. 



BY EDWIN BEVINS. 



In the report of the proceedings of the Lincoln meeting of 

 bee-keepers I see what purports to be a discussion of the 

 question, " Are one-pound sections scalloped out enough to 

 allow bees to pass through with ease when we use separators ?" 

 Some things were said, following the introducing of the ques- 

 tion, but not much that had any particular bearing on the 

 question itself. 



Mr. Kretchmer made an ineffectual attempt to bring the 

 discussion to bear on the point in controversy, and then the 

 discussion (?) was cut off by the Presidentbefore much of any- 

 thing was elicited that could in any way be helpful or satis- 

 factory to bee-keepers. 



Mr. Westcott did say that the section should be cut out 

 1/6 of an inch, but when Mr. Stilson asked him what kind of 

 separators he used, he replied that he used scalloped sections. 

 Then Mr. A. I. Root says : " I should hardly think that there 

 is any trouble about these being made shallow enough. They 

 have been made deeper and shallower." Now, will somebody 

 be so kind as to lift the veil of mystery which shrouds the 

 meaning of this remark of Mr. Root's ? What sense it has 

 when applied to sectioiis I have not yet been able to compre- 

 hend. 



In reply to the question of J. E., on page 746, Dr. Miller 

 tells him that, "The kind called section-holders have tin sep- 



