1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



I0I8 



in use, which is almost constantly in the fall, 

 winter, and spring mcmths, there is a gi'ad- 

 ual but constant draft of air from the cellar, 

 the fresh air from every little opening com- 

 ing in to take the place of the air that has 

 been drawn out through the chimney. That 

 portion of the dwelling-house cellar where 

 bees are wintered shoiild be separated by a 

 partition so constructed that it will resist 

 heat and cold so thoroughly that the temper- 

 ature of the other part of "the cellar will not 

 intiuence that of the bee-apartment. Espe- 

 cially should such a partition be made if there 

 is a furnace in the cellar. Matched lumber 

 and building-paper are good materials for 

 such purpose, making the partition with an 

 air-space, if necessary, to resist the influence 

 of the outside cellar air. House cellars need 

 no special ventilators to admit pure air, es- 

 jjeciaily where there is a furnace in the cel- 

 lar to heat the house. Almost any good 

 house cellar can be made an ideal repository 

 for bees. If such a cellar is subject to too 

 much variation in temperature the bee-room 

 should be tightly partitioned off, ceiled on 

 the joists above, with a packing of four or 

 tive inches of planer shavings over the ceil- 

 ing. This packing will sufficiently reduce 

 the influence of the temperature from the 

 rt)oms in the house above the bee-apartjneut, 

 and deaden the sound of tramping and mov- 

 ing about on the floor over the bees. If the 

 cellar walls above ground are so thin or in- 

 substantial as to cause variations in tempera- 

 ture from that source, an inside wall of 

 uuitched material and building-paper may 

 be constructed at comparatively slight ex- 

 pense. The walls above ground may be 

 banked on the outside also. 



In constructing a special repository the lo- 

 cation should be carefully selected. Nothing 

 could be jjetter than a sand or gravel bank 

 with good drainage, and where the con- 

 strucition could be such that the bees could 

 be carried in and out on level ground, thus 

 avoiding the laliorious operation of carrying 

 heavy hives down and up a flight of stairs. 

 A clay bank with good drainage would be 

 almost as good as the sandy or gravelly 

 ground, but harder to work. After excavat- 

 ing such space as is desired, a good cement 

 or stone I'etaining wall should be construct- 

 ed, surmounted by a r(iof or ceiling of suffi- 

 cient strength to sustain the covering of 2.| 

 to 3 ft. of earth, over which a roof should ])e 

 Iniilt to keep the rain from soaking through. 

 The walls should be beneath the surface, or, 

 if built partly above ground, should be heav- 

 ily banked. In such special repository a 

 good-sized ventilatiug-shaft should be pro- 

 vided, passing from the ceiling up through 

 the roof, so constructed as to be easily regu- 

 lated. At the entrance to the cellar should 

 be constructed a vestibule, which should be 

 of sufficient size to accommodate a stove, 

 and be provided with a chimney of strong 

 draft. The vestibule would prevent drafts 

 of cold air from coming in contact with the 

 bees, and a Are in the stove with the inside 

 door slightly open woukl gradually change 

 the air whenever ilesirable to do so. Artili- 



cial heat to raise the temperature of a cold 

 cellar or dry the air of a damp one is an ad- 

 vantage, if without it the bees would suffer; 

 but the stove should never be in the same 

 room with the bees, but in an adjoining 

 room where the door can be used to regulate 

 the heat in the bee-room. If the desired 

 conditions can be secured without artiticial 

 heat, better results will undoubtedly obtain. 



It has occurred to the writer that stone 

 lime slacked in a damp cellar might be efii- 

 cacious in drying it out: and if it were so 

 (constructed as not to become damp as fast 

 as it is rendered dry this might be a cheap 

 and effective means of drying and cleansing 

 the air. There should by all means be a ce- 

 ment floor in the bee-cellar, especially if it is 

 built in (clay ground. 



Where a good spring of water is available 

 the same might be piped through the bee- 

 cellar with good eff"ect in maintaining an 

 even temperature. While bees will winter 

 with a pool of open water in the cellar, ov 

 even if the floor is covered with water, I 

 have obtained l^etter results in a dry cellar. 

 Where there is a furnace in the cellar, how- 

 ever, open water in the bee-room might I)e a 

 positive advantage. 



By careful "experiment I have found that 

 the average consumption of honey of over 

 100 colonies in four months of continement 

 was a little less than 7 lbs. However, it is 

 unwise to attempt to winter bees on the 

 minimum amount of food they will consume. 

 It is not always practi(cal to feed in the early 

 spring, on account of frequent and lengthy 

 cold spells. Bees will frecjuently starve when 

 there is one or two combs of honey in the 

 hive if they happen to be clustered on the 

 opposite side and away from the food. I do 

 not feel that the colony is safe with le.ss than 

 18 lbs. of honey, and 20 to 25 is better, as it 

 gives the bees a good stock to work on in the 

 spring. The saving in honey by cellar win- 

 tering, according to my best oViservation, no 

 actual test having been made as to the 

 amount of stores consumed by the colonies 

 wintered outdoors, would amount to from 5 

 to 8 lbs. per colony. Feeding sh(mld be 

 completed before the bees are placed in the 

 cellar. Another important advantage is that 

 a weak or nucleus colony which would sure- 

 ly perish outdoors may be safely wintered in 

 the cellar. 



The best cellar-wintering conditions obtain 

 where, in addition, to the three essentials 

 outlined above, noise, light, and direct 

 drafts of air are avoided. These distur))ing 

 influences arouse the bees to activity, induce 

 abnormal consumpti(m of food, resulting in 

 the rapid lowering of their vitality and con- 

 sequent lowering of their numerical strength. 



AH requirements to successful cellar win- 

 tering being faithfully observed, the colonies 

 will come up to the clover harvest fully as 

 strong as those wintered outdoors; and, on 

 the average, for a series of years, a much 

 larger percentage of colonies will safely 

 winter 



Good eft'ects have been obtained by open- 

 ing the cellar-door and windows at evening' 



