124 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



resents the floor, or cellar-bottom. Thi.« is always 

 quite dry, as there is a drain under the wall, and 

 below the bottom all around, being 8 inches deep at 

 the southwest corner, and 20 inches deep at the 

 northeast corner, or outlet. 2 represents the south 

 wall. The hives are put up along both walls and 

 ■<rest end, putting one on top of the other ones four 

 deep, as seen at 8: also by H, H, etc., in Fig. 2. 



3, in Fig. 3, is the inner roof, which is made by 

 using 2x6 stuff for rafters (which are one foot 

 apart), with inch boards nailed on them at the top. 

 4 is the 3 feet of dry earth between the two roofs. .5 

 representing the outside roof. 6 is the ventilator, 

 showing the two elbows, which effectually exclude 

 all light. The hole in it is 6 x 8 inches square. 7 is 

 the sub-earth ventilatof, which is i feet deep, as far 

 as may be, and 100 feet long; but, as I have said be- 

 fore, this and the upper one are always closed of 

 late, winters, while the bees are in the cellar. As I 

 have often expressed, I believe this the best under- 

 ground arrangement possible for wintering bees, 

 and have tried to make it all plain, so any person 

 can build one who desires. The cost to me was not 

 far from S^SO.OO; but, of course, prices of lumber, 

 stone, and labor, vai-y in different localities. 



Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 7, 1888. G. M. Dooi.ittle. 



ANOTHER BEE-CELLAR ON DOOLIT- 

 TLE'S PLAN. 



A LITTLE "light" OX THE LIGHT QUESTION. 



I^N Gleanings for Jan. 1, Mr. Doolittle describes 

 his bee-cave, which Is of much interest to me. 

 I was glad to learn that there was a "' big gun " 

 like him wintering bees almost precisely as I 

 am, although there are some differences as you 

 will see. The dimensions of mine are 10 ft. wide, 

 20 long, and 6 deep. An oak frame was made to flt 

 in the hole, and oak plank placed (up and down) on 

 the outside of the frame. A ridge-pole was put 

 through the center, lengthwise, well supported, at 

 sufficient height to give the roof about a third pitch. 

 Oak plank was also placed on the roof. The whole 

 thing is covered with dirt to the depth of two feet, 

 and on top of this there is about one foot of coarse 

 stable manure, and then a board roof over the 

 whole, to carry off the rain and melting snow. 



There are two ventilators, one at or near each 

 end. One runs from two feet above the roof to the 

 ground, and the other just reaches down through 

 the roof. They are made so the opening in them is 

 about 3 inches square, and have a cap over them to 

 darken them. 



I have but two doors, an inner and outer, with 

 about three feet of space between them. The cave 

 Is dug lengthwise with the side of the bank, and 

 just a little below the brow of a little knoll (on the 

 south side); so, you see, without artlHcial means I 

 have the benefit of a snowbank all over my cave 

 every winter when we have snow. This cave has 

 been in use four winters, with fair to good success. 



The winter of 1886 I placed 68 swarms in there, 

 and brought every one through alive, but lost 7 by 

 spring dwindling. This winter I have 03 in there, 

 and on any of our cold bitter days the steam can 

 be seen rolling out of those ventilators— an indi- 

 cation of life and prosperity within. 



I have a thermometer hung down by a string 

 from the top of a ventilator, so that at any time I 

 can observe the temperature inside, without going 



in or making any disturbance. No matter what the 

 temperature outside is, it varies only from 45 to 48° 

 inside. 



Last Saturday, the 21st, I dug through the snow- 

 bank, and went in to see how things were progress- 

 ing. It was the coldest day we have had this win- 

 ter— 46° below 0. The temperature inside was 48° 

 above. Not a drop of dampness could be seen any- 

 where—not even on the door. There was a low, 

 contented hum that did me good to hear. I was 

 satisfied with the appearance of every thing until 1 

 got to the back end, when I discovered the ground 

 covered with dead bees, 1 should say equal to about 

 four swarms— may be more. For a time I could 

 not make out why they were dying off so at this 

 end, and not at the other. I happened to think of 

 light, and I turned down my lamp, and, lo! there 

 was the cause— a streak of light was coming from 

 the ventilator overhead. Faint though it was, it 

 played the mischief. This streak of light may 

 throw some light on the subject of the terrible mor- 

 tality of bees vte hear of this printer. I see the mice 

 are at work among the hives, but I do not appre- 

 hend any damage to the bees, but rather to the 

 cushions on top of them. 



The honey-yield was comparatively good in this 

 localitj- the past season. My report is, 2100 lbs. 

 comb honey from 37 swarms, spring count. 



Beldenville, Wis., Jan. 23, 1888. W. C. King. 



Friend K.. you have given us exactly the 

 report we wanted in regard to the influence 

 of light in the hee-cellar ; and I think that 

 friend Bingham (see page 132) will have to 

 admit that the light in this case drew the 

 bees all together in a big heap, even if it did 

 not catise them to come out of their hives. 

 Now. it may be that they would have co^me 

 out of their" hives just the same, even If the 

 cave had been kept in darkness ; and in 

 that case they would have been scattered 

 all over the cellar. But I am inclined to 

 think that that glimpse of light at a tem- 

 peratiue of 4b- was a bad thing. -May be 

 somebody else canjhelp us in this matter. 

 We are much obliged to you alsOjfKejid 

 K., for your description and report "of your 

 bee-cave. 



A LITTLE SCIENCE. 



PROF. COOK TALKS TO US UPON THE SUBJECT OF 

 POLLEN AS A FOOD FOR BEES. 



fHE following queries were sent in for 

 the Qnestion-Box ; but as Prof. Cook 

 was the only one among our corps of 

 contributors for said department who 

 could give any thing like satisfactory 

 answers, we forwarded the questions to 

 him, with the request to answer, which he 

 has done. The first question reads as fol- 

 lows : 

 (I) What arc the chemical properties of pollen'/ 

 Prof. Cook replies : 



Pollen grains are really cells, and consist of pro- 

 toplasm within a cell-wall which has two layers. 

 Professor Goodale, who is excellent authority, says 

 that the contents of pollen grains are, 1. Proto- 

 plasmic matter; 2. Granular food materials, such 

 as starch and oil; 3. Dissolved food-matter, as su- 

 gar and dextrine. Sachs says that protoplasm, 

 which, we know, fills the pollen grain, is rich in pro- 



