562 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Cellar built entirely of concrett-. iiu-liidiiiir ilo( 



CONCRETE AN IDEAL MATERIAL FOR BEE- 

 CELLARS. 



walls. andSroof. 



BY W. W. SMITH. 



[Concrete is rapidly coming into practical use liy 

 owners of permanently located apiaries. As a hive 

 foundation and stand it has no equal, and it is not 

 expensive when the saving of good lumber Is con- 

 sidered. However, its greatest value lies in the 

 construction of cellar.s. A gravel bank furnishes 

 an Ideal place for such a cellar: for the material ex- 

 cavated, when mixed in proper jjroportions with 

 good cement, makes a permnnent wall that is wa- 

 ter-proof, sound-proof, and almost cold-proof, and 

 at a cost of but a trifle more than wood. The fol- 

 lowing article by an exjjert on cement will be help- 

 ful, as it gives the proportions necessary when us- 

 ing different kinds of material.— Ed.] 



Concrete is fire-i^roof, and, consequently, 

 an ideal material for keei)ing out either heat 

 or cold. Since well-projiortioned thorough- 

 ly mixed concrete is water-jiroof, concrete 

 bee-cellars may be built entirely or partly in 

 the ground as the severity of "the winter or 

 the requirements of the location may neces- 

 sitate. Thus the regulation of the temi)era- 

 ture in winter or in summer is merely a 

 matter of openingand closing the ventilators. 



The cellar shown in the photograph is 5 

 feet below and 2 feet above ground level. 

 The walls, roof, and floor are all 5 inches 

 thick, and of a concrete proportioned one 

 part Portland cement to '2yi parts sand and 

 live parts crushed rock. A concrete of one 

 l)art cement to 5 parts clean bank-run gravel 

 would have done as well. 



With team and scraper the pit was exca- 

 \ated to allow working room for building 

 tiie cellar 8 by 10 feet in the clear. The dirt 

 was dragged ii]) the incline upon which, la- 

 ter, were built the cellar steps antl hatchway. 

 The floor was laid first. Box forms for tlie 

 side walls were then erected. These forms 

 consisted of inch siding on 2 X 4-inch stud- 

 ding spaced 30 inches. The walls were rein- 



forced, within 1%. 

 inches of the inside, 

 with heavy woven- 

 wire fencing, with no 

 mesh larger than 6 . 

 inches. 



The wire fencing 

 was held in position 

 at the bottom by im- 

 bedding it in the con- 

 crete floor, and at the 

 top by two long sta- 

 ples driven tightly in- 

 to the form, one over 

 and one under the 

 wire. By use of a 

 thin plank for spad- 

 ing between the wire 

 and the inside form 

 while placing the con- 

 crete, the reinforce- 

 ment was kept in its 

 l)roi)er position, and 

 lilcewise a smoother 

 surface finish was giv- 

 en the face of the 

 walls. A foot extra 

 length of wire was allowed to project above 

 the side and end walls at the top, and was 

 used later to tie these walls to the roof. 



The ro :)f forms were shaped so as to give 

 the roof an arch rise of two feet in the cen- 

 ter. These forms were securely fastened to 

 the 2 X 4-inch studding of the wall forms, 

 and were also braced in the center to the 

 solid floor beneath. (If preferred, a ])eak 

 roof would do just as well.) After the side 

 walls were 7 days old, the roof was begun. 

 It was reinforced with the same kind of wire 

 l)laced crosswise and within 1>^ inches of the 

 under side. In building the roof, 1>^ inches 

 of concrete was first i)laced on the roof form. 

 This layer of concrete was slightly wider 

 than the width of fencing used. The wire 

 reinforcing was then laid on the concrete, 

 and the remainder of the concrete in the 

 roof put directly on the reinforcement. This 

 work was done rapidly, and the entire roof 

 was finished without stoi)i)ing, so as to avoid 

 the jiossJbilities of leaks through faulty 

 seams in the concrete. 



Sections of ten-inch sewer pii)e, bell end 

 up, were i)laced in ]iosition while the arch 

 roof was being constructed. Galvanized 

 sheet-iron hoods were afterward added to 

 these ventilators. The wooden supports of 

 the roof were not removed for 20 days. In 

 the meantime the earth has been tamped 

 back into place against the outside walls. 



The side walls of the hatchway were built 

 first, and, after the forms were removed, the 

 steps proper were made with a rise of 7 inches 

 and a tread of 10 inches. Five-eighths-inch 

 bolts 8 inches long, partially imbedded in 

 the concrete, hold the framing for the hatch- 

 way door. The frame for the cellar-door 

 pre p?r was set in between the forms before 

 the latter were filled with concrete. 



MATERIALS REQUIRED. 



Eleven cubic yards of crushed stone, byi 



