TME BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 377 



the bees on, for you must know that sometimes there is water 

 standing- in the bottom of the cellar, and as it is a clay bottom it 

 doesn't pass ofif very fast. 



I carried the bees in and set them in tiers, three deep, on these 

 benches with the covers all on, but with a fairly good entrance 

 ventilation. Then I got a barrel of lime and set it in the middle of 

 the place I had them in to help dry the atmosphere, and thought 

 my job was complete. But I went down to the convention at 

 Saginaw and heard Mr. Smith, of Cheboygan, telling about how he 

 wintered his bees in a cellar so wet that he was obliged to float 

 them out on a raft in the spring. He said they always came out 

 bright and healthy in the spring and without any mold in the hives, 

 and laid it to the fact that he left them with all the covers ofT and 

 many of them without bottoms. The tops were simply covered 

 with burlaps. 



\\ ell, I didn't like the idea of going into my cellar and stirring 

 the bees all up to get those covers off, but still the idea appealed to 

 me and when I got home I went down and succeeded in getting 

 most of the covers off without disturbing them much. Perhaps six 

 or eight covers I left on. It got pretty cold last winter and for a 

 good share of the winter the thermometer stood at 32 to 34 degrees. 

 I had been told that the temperature should never be allowed to 

 go below forty, but I had also heard that artificial heat was a bad 

 thing unless absolutely necessary. So I let them go. 



Six of them died. I think four of them were without anything 

 to eat and I couldn't blame them. The other two were among the 

 ones I left the covers on, and they were a moldy, nasty mess. So 

 were the live ones that had the covers on, for that matter, and they 

 were not in as good condition other ways as those where the covers 

 had been removed. But those that had the covers removed came 

 out just fine — strong, no mold or dampness, and just as bright and 

 healthy a looking lot of bees as one could wish to see. 



Well, there ! Now I am ready to tell you what I have been 

 thinking about. Why can't I build a good cellar and winter my 

 bees there (by taking a little more pains I believe I can winter them 

 finely that way), and then when I set them out put them all inti) 

 those winter cases through the spring? I believe I can do this and 

 have bees in far better shape for the honey flow than I can by win- 

 tering out of doors, and at the same time not have any serious 

 trouble with spring dwindling, etc., which is the greatest drawback 

 to wintering in the cellar. I can build a cellar in a good sandy 

 location and I believe I can have it so it will not get so cold. I'm 

 tempted to try it, anyway. 



Barrvton. Mich. 



