For the American Bee Journal. 



A Cellar Above Ground. 



JOHN ROOKER: 



The old reliable Amebian Bee 

 Journal is the best bee paper in the 

 world, endorsed as it is by such eminent 

 bee masters as the Rev. L. L. Xang- 

 stroth, Capt. J. E. Hetherington, Prof. 

 A. J. Cook, G. M. Doolittle, Rev. A. 

 Salisbury, James Ileddon, Cb. Dadant, 

 Rev. E. L. Briggs and a host of others 

 — its articles are the very cream of api- 

 cultural literature. 



It seems to me very surprising that 

 so many are yet without a thorough 

 knowledge of successful wintering, 

 when Prof. Cook's prize essay contains it 

 in a nut shell (comparatively speaking). 

 The greatest obstacle, in my opinion, to 

 successful wintering being out-door 

 ''hobbies." 



I cannot easily believe that cold which 

 freezes the earth 2 feet deep can be 

 kept out of a hive of bees with 3 or 4 

 inches of chaff or other material ; the 

 entrance left open for air, admits also 

 cold enough to destroy the bees. 



Some 12 years ago the late Mr. S. 

 Wagner, founder of the American Bee 

 Journal, said that bees properly pro- 

 tected in winter became no older. My 

 observations confirm me in the belief 

 that he was right, and further that they 

 do not accumulate any feces when every- 

 thing is right. 



The Italian bee stops breeding early 

 in the fall; this is very necessary for 

 wintering in our cold climate, for just 

 as sure as they breed in the cellar they 

 will have the cholera, and if not given 

 a fly will die. Not many colonies will 

 attempt to rear brood in the repository ; 

 any that do, should be put out for a fly. 

 When there is no fall gathering, nearly 

 all the bees are quite likely to be old 

 when housed for winter : in such a case 

 they will be weak in the spring and 

 there will be some " spring dwindling.'' 

 The remedy for this (and it should al- 

 ways be applied promptly) is to take 2 

 measures of best light brown sugar to 

 one of water, and feed them from the 

 middle of Sept. until Oct. 1st to 10th, so 

 that all the colonies will have plenty of 

 young bees and 25 or 30 lbs. of honey or 

 feed. Storing this feed and rearing 

 those young bees will wear out all the 

 old bees, so that the colony will have 

 none but young bees to begin winter 

 with. Such colonies always have win- 

 tered for me without any loss, and are 

 in the next spring much ahead of those 

 not fed. 



To do this feeding right 25 or 30 lbs. 

 of sugar must be used. And just in 



proportion as this is neglected will the 

 profits of the apiary be diminished for 

 the next year. Its neglect may cause 

 the loss of the apiary, or the greater part 

 of it. Nothing has ever paid me better 

 than fall feeding. Before commencing 

 to feed, the colony should be confined to 

 from 5 or 7 combs, according to its size ; 

 the entrance should be contracted, to 

 prevent robbing, and a quart or x / 2 gallon 

 can of syrup with thin muslin tied over 

 its mouth, should be placed bottom up- 

 wards, on 2 sticks, 34 of an inch thick, 

 placed on the frames at sundown every 

 evening. Perhaps a quart is enough to 

 feed every 24 hours, if brood-rearing is 

 desirable. There is not much danger of 

 a colony breeding too late here for the 

 young bees not to get a fly before being 

 housed, which is very necessary for 

 their health. A surplus chamber should 

 be used to cover the feed can; or a 

 honey-board having a hole, to let the 

 can through, does just as well. After 

 the feeding is done, the cover should be 

 let down on the brood-chamber. 



When the winter has fairly set in, just 

 before it begins to freeze, is the proper 

 time to place the bees in the nouse. 

 Remove them without jarring into the 

 the cellar ; prop up the rear end of the 

 cover )4 of an inch, leaving the rear 

 end 1 or 2 inches higher ; then tier up 

 as high as can be conveniently done. 

 See that the temperature is about 40 to 

 50°. Keep the cellar as dark as a dun- 

 geon ; remembering it is their nature to 

 be in darkness; ventilate by flues al- 

 together. Any one that thinks all this 

 too much labor to perform promptly 

 should let bees alone, because this is 

 only just a fair beginning. It takes 

 work to make bees pay, as well as in- 

 formation and practical -knowledge. 



After 15 years' experience in winter- 

 ing bees, I do not see why a cellar made 

 on the top of the ground would not be 

 the best for wintering bees. Build a 

 boulder-wall on the top of the ground, 

 around as much room as desired ; say 15 

 x30 feet; with the walls 7 feet high. 

 Then fill up all around to the top of the 

 walls, letting the bank slope back, like 

 a hill-side ; leaving a door-way at one 

 end. A house for shop-purposes might 

 be placed above the cellar. The joists 

 should not be less than 15 inches wide 

 and over the cellar it should be ceiled 

 above and below the joists, so as to 

 admit of filling in with sawdust. The 

 cellar might be divided into two rooms 

 with a door in the partition so as to 

 winter the bees in the rear room, entered 

 through the front room. This would 

 give an even temperature and better 

 facilities for wanning the air, before it 

 comes in contact with the bees. This 



