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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



very great. If they can be kept quiet, 

 a very little air will suffice. In winter, 

 bees are in a semi -dorm ant state, one 

 closely bordering on hibernation, as 

 that word is properly understood, and 

 the amount of air necessary for their 

 maintenance is very slight. I believe 

 it was Mr. D. L. Adair who, years 

 ago, removed a box of surplus honey 

 from a hive, and, leaving the bees in 

 possession, pasted several layers of 

 paper over the entrance. As all of the 

 cracks and crevices were stopped with 

 propolis, the box was practically air- 

 tight. The bees were kept confined 

 .several days, yet did not, apparently, 

 suffer for want of air. Mr. James 

 Heddon tells of some man who, wishing 

 to "take up" some of his colonies in 

 the fall, plastered up the entrances 

 with blue clay, expecting to kill the 

 bees by suffocation. Upon opening the 

 hives a few days later, imagine the 

 discomfiture of their owner at seeing 

 the bees fly right merrily. I have sev- 

 eral times wintered bees successfully 

 in "clamps" where the bees were 

 buried under two feet of frozen earth. 

 Prof. A. J. Cook even went so far as to 

 hermetically seal up two colonies by 

 throwing water over the hives and 

 allowing it to freeze, thus forming a 

 coating of ice over the hives. The bees 

 survived this treatment. It is not likely 

 that, in any of these experiments, the 

 coverings surrounding the bees were 

 absolutely air-tight, but enough is 

 proven to show that, in winter, bees 



can survive, and, apparently thrive, 

 with a very limited amount of air. 



Special ventilation, simply for the 

 sake of securing fresher or purer air, 

 seems to be almost wholly unnecessary; 

 the few bee-keepers who plead for 

 special ventilation do so almost wholly 

 upon the ground that they can thereby 

 more readily control the temperature. 

 If the repository is sufficiently under 

 the ground, it does not seem as though 

 ventilation would be very much needed 

 for controlling the temperature, unless 

 it might be towards spring when the 

 bees had commenced breeding, and a 

 large number of colonies were in the 

 cellar. 



When bees settle down into that 

 quiescent state that accompanies suc- 

 cessful wintering, their need of air is 

 very slight, indeed. When their winter 

 nap is ended, and spring arouses them 

 to activity; and to brood rearing, more 

 air is needed. It is then, if ever, that 

 special ventilation is a benefit, but, as 

 this can be secured, in the ordinary 

 cellar, by the opening of doors and 

 windows at night, if it ever becomes 

 really necessary, it scarcely seems ne- 

 cessary to go to the expense of supplying 

 sub-earth pipes. I would not do it, nor 

 advise it. Where bees are to be 

 wintered in large numbers, in a spe- 

 cial repository, I would have some ar- 

 rangement whereby the heat could be 

 allowed to pass off, if it should become 

 advisable, yet not allow the entrance 

 of light. 



EXTRACTED DEPARTMENT. 



IN-DOOR WINTERING. 



Some Points on the Construction and 

 Management of a Cellar. 



In reply to a query, Mr. R. H. Smith, 

 of St. Thomas, Ontario, gives the 



readers of the Canadian Bee Journal 

 the following good advice: — 



For the province of Quebec I would 

 not recommend any kind of building 

 above ground as a repository for win- 

 tering bees; but, if such a building 

 were used, cedar, being a better non- 

 conductor than stone would be the bet- 

 ter material with which to build it. 



