1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



227 



feet high in the clear, besides the space be- 

 tween the joists. 



To protect the entrance there is an outer 

 room 4X6 ft. Double doors open from the 

 outside into the small room, and there is a 

 single door between the two rooms. This 

 outer room is built with thick walls well 

 plastered, and is partly banked in. The 

 main cellar is entirely in the ground, and the 

 top is arranged to take one or two feet of 

 dry packing. I expect to use forest leaves, 

 but would use planer chips if they were 

 handy. I think, though, that forest leaves 

 make as good packing as any thing. Over 

 all there is a good shingle roof with a box or 

 wooden tube ventilator through the ceiling, 

 reaching down to within two feet of the 

 floor. AH the joints of the upper part are 

 laid in cement, and the place will be abso- 

 lutely mouse-proof, as all bee- cellars should 

 be. 



The inner door that separates the two 

 rooms has a small ventilator at the bottom 

 and another at the top; an opening 3 by 12 

 inches. 



My theory is that, by heating the outer 

 room with a small stove, the hot air will be 

 forced into the cellar at the top opening, and 

 the cold heavy air drawn from the bottom, 

 thus changing the air in the cellar, warming 

 and drying it. There can be an intake for 

 cold air to the outside from the small room 

 if it is found necessary. I do not expect to 

 use this heating arrangement if every thirg 

 goes well without it, but I would not build 



a bee-cellar without having this provision 

 for an occasional fire during the long cold 

 spells of mid-winter. 



This cellar cost about $75.00; but such a 

 repository, if it works right, will often pay 

 for itself in a single winter. I now have 

 105 colonies to winter, with a good prospect 

 for a white-clover year ahead, so it pays to 

 have things about right. You will observe 

 that I can go to this cellar at any time dur- 

 ing the winter, and enter so quietly as not 

 to disturb the bees in the least. The situa- 

 tion of the cellar is favorable; but if I were 

 compelled to build where the ground is 

 damp and flat I think I would build on top 

 of the ground, either on the plan of that of 

 Mr. Boardman, of Ohio (which I have exam- 

 ined and like) , or by making thick dirt walls 

 for protection. 



My cellar, as described, is only a simple 

 affair; but it has some good points, among 

 which are the following: Natural stone floor 

 with perfect drainage, heavy stone walls, 

 mouse-proof joints throughout; warm sub- 

 stantial covering, entrance protected by an 

 outer room in which there is an arrange- 

 ment for artificial heat, if necessary, with- 

 out disturbing the main cellar; entry way on 

 a level with cellar floor. 



Bridgeport, Wis., Oct. 23. 



[In a later letter Mr. Lathrop reported 

 that the bees in the cellar at that time (Jan- 

 uary) were very quiet, and seemed to be in 

 first-class condition. —Ed.] 





BEES LIVING ON COMBS BUILT IN THE OPEN AIR. 



