THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 375 



on the outside, which is very great. There is 6 feet G inches in the 

 clear inside under the lower joist. 



The entrance is ten feet long, and it is "just right," for there is 

 plenty of room and the inner door swings out and the outer door 

 swings in. There are four good wide steps and not too far apart, 

 so it is easy on those carrying the bees in and out. The doors are 

 extra wide. The cost is about $150.00, and I hired some out of this 

 and did the rest myself. The first winter paid for it, and this winter 

 saved enough to build another one — yes, I don t know but enough 

 to build two other ones. 



Lansing, ]\Iich. 



[Mr. Wood begins the description of his new cellar by referring away back 

 into the 80's, showing he has a ripe experience with the bees. If there is any 

 one capable of instructing others along the line of success in our beloved pursuit, 

 it's the "old heads" — those who by long experience have found out the better way 

 of doing things apiculturial Well do I remember of Prof. Clark and his sub- 

 earth ventilation schemes for bee-cellars. I think as Mr. Wood does, that they 

 w-ere a success, but somehow we have found out that something more simple, 

 just a plain cellar so well under ground that the temperature inside is not in- 

 fluenced by the sudden changes outside, is all that is necessary for successful win- 

 tering of bees. To be sure, some sort of a ventilator is necessary just as soon 

 as you begin to overload the cellar with bees, for they surely do raise the tem- 

 perature when a large body of bees is confined for a long time in the cellar. 

 Especially toward spring will it be necessary to give an overcrowded cellar 

 ventilation. 



In our big cellar in Charlevoix Co., which is 14x36 ft. inside, we did not 

 need any ventilator for 250 colonics, but when we put in another hundred, the 

 temperature soared to 50° tov.'ard spring. The next summer a 17" square ven- 

 tilator was installed, which helped matters some. Even with this large ventilator 

 open, the temperature would play around the 50° mark, and the last cold winter 

 the temperature ranged from 44° to 46° during the cold period, then toward spring 

 it raised some above the 50° mark. 



As I said last month, bees seem to winter well in a cellar with varying tem- 

 perature, providing other conditions are favorable, i. e., strong colonies, good 

 stores, etc. 



If I could take the reader with me to some of the cheaply constructed bee- 

 cellars in Northern Michigan that winter successfully year after year, I could 

 prove to them conclusively that the variation in temperature of bee-cellars was 

 of a secondary consideration. 



I helped to take out a bunch of bees one spring from one of these cheap 

 built cellars, so poorly built that the rats from the inside and the hens from 

 the outside had made openings along the eaves, so that the sun shone in at 

 several places — they were all alive and apparently in good shape, that did not 

 starve. 



Another instance was where 99 swarms had wintered out of 100 put in the 

 previous fall. This cellar had but one inch thick lumber for the door and the 

 snovvf drifted into the hatchway, filling it full. Do \o\x suppose the temperature 

 in that cellar was anywhere near the orthodox 45° most of the time? I guess 

 not. The temperature in that cellar likely varied 20° during the time the bees 

 were occupying it. They were good swarms when put in and had an abundance 

 of that fine Raspberry honey to winter on. 



After knowing of the success of so many of the cheap cellars, poorly con- 

 structed, I cannot tell you why we made it a point in building ours to so build 

 it that there would be the least possible chance for this variation in temperature. 

 But we did, and it does not winter a "whit" better for it, though. — Townsend.] 



