20 



i^HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Bee-Houses and Cellars. 



Query, No. 3 — How should they be built ? 

 How ventilated ? What is the right tempera- 

 ture ? When should the bees be taken out ? 



Jajles Heddon says: "Observation 

 and experiment have forced me to believe 

 that no liind of a cellar with any sort of 

 ventilation, quantity of food, or degree of 

 temperature can be depended upon to 

 prevent bee-diarrliea wliere its primary 

 cause is present. Just liow special re- 

 positories sliould be built and operated, 

 cannot well be learned until we first Ijnow 

 the cause and prevention of the disease 

 which is at the bottom of all our winter 

 losses. I think that the future will prove 

 that such ventilation, temperature and 

 humidity as that in which the bees remain 

 the most quiet, is the best ; and that will 

 vary a little in ditferent localities and sea- 

 sons. Bees sliould be removed from 

 cellars or bee-houses after all danger of 

 any long confinement is past, or when the 

 first new pollen appears." 



Dr. C. C. Miller responds as follows : 

 " I use the cellar under my house, and I 

 also built a bee-cellar about a year ago, 

 making it the same as an ordinary cellar. 

 Bee-houses or bee-cellars should be ven- 

 tilated by a sub-earth ventilation pipe for 

 ingress of air, and a chimney or pipe at 

 the top for an exit for the air. A stove 

 containing a slow fire hastens ventilation 

 when tlie weather is cold enough. When 

 outside air is as warm or warmer ttian the 

 air in the cellar, leave the doors and 

 windows open at night. 



" The right temperature is that at which 

 bees remain the quietest, and I do not be- 

 lieve that it is, by any means, the same in 

 all cases, but must be determined in each 

 case by experiment. In my main cellar 

 the bees seem to be the quietest when tlie 

 temperature is about 40° above zero. I 

 usually remove my bees when the soft 

 maples bloom." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker^ says : "Bee-houses 

 should be built double-walled, the roof as 

 well as the sides, and the spaces filled in 

 witli sawdust. Six inches of sawdust is 

 enough for this locality, but farther north 

 not less tlian one foot may be required. 

 Large cellars are better to winter bees in 

 tlian small ones. In my opinion bee- 

 houses may be ventilated best by two air- 

 shafts in opposite ends of the building, 

 extending from tlie floor upward through 

 the roof. Where many bees are to be 

 wintered in a cellar, it may be ventilated 

 in the same way.?l think that that de- 

 gree at which the bees keep tlie most 

 ■quiet— from 40= to 50' Falir.— is the best. 

 Try them with a thermometer, and tlien 

 keep tliem as near tlieldegree as possible. 

 Take them out of the cellar early, or as 

 early as March 1, in this latitude, and as 

 early as Feb. 1.5, if the winter is a mild 

 one. As breeding will then begin, if they 



have pollen, stop all upward ventilation 

 and contract the entrances well. But if 

 they are wintered so far north that flights 

 do not occur often as late as March 1, they 

 should not be put out until frequent 

 flights are assured." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE answers thus : " It 

 matters little how bee-houses and bee- 

 cellars are built, providing they accom- 

 plish the purpose for which they are in- 

 tended, i. e., keeping a uniform tempera- 

 ture inside, no matter what are the 

 changes outside. Because a cave in the 

 earth will better accomplish this than a 

 bee-liouse or a bee-cellar under a dwell- 

 ing, is wliy I prefer the cave. I some- 

 times think that the matter of ventilation 

 is non-important, as bees frequently win- 

 ter in splendid condition with no special 

 provision being made for any ventilation ; 

 but by way of explanation, I will say that 

 I use sub-earth ventilation of 1.50 feet in 

 length, in connection with a direct upward 

 ventilation of the same size. These ven- 

 tilators allow of being opened or closed 

 at pleasure, and when I say that they are 

 closed nearly one-half of the time, it will 

 be seen that I do not value ventilation as 

 highly as some do. 1 endeavor to keep 

 the temperature at from 43° to 45° above 

 zero. 



" Bees should be taken out at about the 

 time when the first pollen appears ; yet it 

 sometimes occurs that tliey would be 

 better off if left in the cellar until the 

 willows and hard maples bloom." 



Prof. A. J. Cook says that " Bee-houses 

 and bee-cellars should be constructed so 

 as to be independentof outer temperature. 

 If built above ground, the walls should 

 be thick. Any under-ground cellar with a 

 flowing spring of water, and containing a 

 basin holding a barrel which receives and 

 gives out the water continually, is excel- 

 lent. 



"I would always ventilate them with 

 an under-ground pipe 500 feet long ; and I 

 should like a pipe also connecting with 

 fire above, so as to produce a current of 

 air. A pipe connected with a chimney 

 will do, however, with no fire. We have 

 sucli a cellar which has been in use for 

 years, and in it we have never lost a col- 

 ony. We have been very successful 

 with a temperature of from 38= to 42° 

 above zero. This winter I am trying a 

 higher temperature. The temperature in 

 the cellar is now 48% and I fear the re- 

 sult. 



" I would not take bees out until they 

 can gather pollen. Here it is about April 

 10." 



W. Z. HuTCirrN'soN responds as fol- 

 lows : "The walls of bee-houses or bee- 

 cellars should be thick, and made of some 

 non-conducting material. If partially un- 

 der ground, the temperature can be kept 

 more even. They should be so arranged 

 that the outside air can be admitted 



directly or through tile laid under ground. 

 There sliould be a ventilator at the top. 

 That degree of temperature at which the 

 bees are the most quiet, is the best. If 

 the bees are quiet, and show no signs of 

 bee-diarrhea, they need not be taken out 

 until pollen can be gathered." 



Messrs. Dadant & Son reply thus : 

 " We have never built a bee-house, but 

 our bee-cellars are deep enough in the 

 ground to be beyond the reach of frost. 

 It is important that they should be dry. 

 We ventilate them by means of windows 

 with blinds. Should blinds be missing, a 

 bunch of straw will do very well to keep 

 the light ont and to let the air in. We 

 think that the temperature should be 

 about 42° or 45° above zero. If the bees 

 are not quiet, they are either too cold or 

 too warm. We put them in on the first 

 cold days of December, and take them out 

 on the first warm days of Mareli ; but 

 much depends on the location and condi- 

 tion of the bees. If tliey are quiet, they 

 may be left in longer." 



Create a Local Honey Market. 



Now is the time to create Honey 

 Markets in every village, town and 

 city. Wide - awake honey producers 

 should get the Leaflets " Why eat 

 Honey" (only 50 cents per 100), or else 

 the pamphlets on " Honey as Food 

 and Medicine," and scatter them 

 plentifully all over the territory they 

 can supply with honey, and the result 

 will be a demand that will readily take 

 all of their crops at remunerative 

 prices. The prices for "Honey as Food 

 and Medicine " are as follows : 



Single copy 5 cts.; per doz., 40 cts. : 

 per hundred, $2.50. 600 will be sent 

 postpaid for $10.00 ; or 1000 for 

 $15.00- On orders of 100 or more, 

 we will print, if desired, on the 

 cover-page, " Presented by," etc., 

 (giving the name and address of the 

 bee-keeper who scatters them). This 

 alone will pay him for all his trouble 

 and expense — enabling him to dispose 

 of his honey at home, at a good profit. 



®" To give away a copy of " Honey 

 as Food and Medicine " to every mie who 

 buys a package of honey, will sell almost 

 any quantity of it. 



^^ The long winter evenings will 

 be well occupied by reading bee litera- 

 ture. When renewing your subscrip- 

 tion, it will be well to get some good 

 bee-books. See our list of books on 

 the second page and select what you 

 need. 



IS" Every subscriber is kindly in- 

 vited to obtain a new subscriber to 

 send with his renewal. Please notice 

 the premiums offered for clubs, on 

 another page. 



