44 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 15 



ONE OF E. D. TOWNSEND'S BEE-CELLARS, OUT- 

 SIDE VIEW AND INTERIOR, ALSO HIS METH- 

 OD OF VENTILATING A HIVE THAT IS TO 

 BE PLACED IN A CELLAR IN CLAY SOIL. 



mark all the time. In the slates a little 

 further south, where the bees can have a 

 flight every six weeks or two months during 

 the winter, chaff hives or special packing- 

 boxes containing from four to six inches of 

 chafT at the sides and eight inches at the 

 top are better adapted to the conditions. 

 Still further south, where bees liy each 

 month in the year, no packing is required; 

 but, instead, a good cover that will not leak, 

 and an abundance of stores, is all that is re- 

 quired for successful wintering. In this 

 connection it is of importance to know that, 

 the further south the bees are, the more 

 honey they will consume during the twelve 

 months of the year. In the North the ex- 

 tra surplus is laid up for winter use; while 

 in the South, not only the winter stores 

 have to be retained for the use of the bees, 

 but even more has to be provided for the 

 long summer drouth or the interval known 

 as the "starvation period." 



It is to be presumed that fairly good re- 

 sults with chaff-packed hives can be se- 

 cured in the territory above mentioned for 

 cellar wintering, if conditions are favorable; 

 but, generally speaking, better results will 

 be obtained in this cold region in the cellar 

 or special repository, as stated. It is equal- 

 ly true that fair results in cellar wintering 

 can be secured in the milder portions of the 



United States; but I understand that 

 it takes an expert to handle the tem- 

 perature of a cellar where the cli- 

 mate is varied throughout the win- 

 ter. In a changeable temperature 

 the chaff hive is in its glory; for 

 when the bees can have a day for a 

 cleansing flight each six weeks or 

 two months they will winter almost 

 l^erfectly. 



It is not unusual for bees in this 

 northern location to be confined to 

 their hives from 90 to 120 days with- 

 out a flight. In order to stand this 

 long confinement, the bees out of 

 doors would have to be in ideal condition, 

 and they would have to have an abundance 

 of good stores, as well as outside protection 

 from the prevailing winds, and more than 

 the usual amount of packing. 



The first view in the illustration shows 

 our bee-cellar in Charlevoix Co. This cellar 

 is 14X32 feet, inside measurement, and 7 

 feet deep. It is wholly under ground ex- 

 cept, the hatchway, which has double doors, 

 with about 4 ft. between the two doors, this 

 space representing the amount of earth in 

 front of the cellar each side of the hatch- 

 way. As the cellar is built in the side of a 

 knoll, all but the front is naturally under 

 ground. In the hatchway, a foot from the 

 inner door, a partition with loose boards is 

 built and filled in with straw during the 

 winter. 



Eight feet from the back end of the cellar 

 a ventilator 17 inches square is placed. 

 This is shown in the second \iew. The 

 lower end of the ventilator is about a foot 

 from the cellar bottom, and it extends up 

 through the covering of the cellar, but not 

 through the roof. This is not used much 

 in the winter; but in the summer it is left 

 wide open to dry out the cellar. 



Two rows of benches, to set the hives on, 

 are also shown in view No. 2, which gives 

 an idea of half of the back end of the cellar. 



