1366 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



at the same time have an easy entraut-e. 

 I omitted to explain that, for a roofed-over 

 cellar on level ground a door-frame should 

 be inserted back of the panel work on one 

 side for a hatchway entrance, and the con- 

 crete poured around each side. If the cellar 

 is to be entereil through the top, from a 

 building above, then it will not be necessary 

 to provide for such doorway. 



I also omitted to explain that the panel- 

 work should be so constructed that it can be 

 taken down in order to get it loose and put 

 it up again. If lumber is expensive, the 

 forms need not be more than a foot deep: 

 but in that case you would make a pour of 

 cement once in 24 hours for every foot deep 

 of the cellar. With a cellar six feet deep it 

 would take a week before it would be com- 

 pleted. 



BUILDING A CELLAK IN SANDY SOIL. 



Where there is loose sand, and the crellar 

 is liable to cave in, it will be necessary to 

 make double forms like those shown in" the 



ry to get some coarse gravel or crushed 

 stone, such as is used for paving purposes, 

 and mix with the sand. Any old l)rick or 

 broken stone, or even cobblestone, that may 

 be found on a farm, can l^e used. The more 

 of them the better, as it will cheapen the 

 cost of the mixture without weakening the 

 wall. If you can get a wagonload or two of 

 cobblestones as large as your fist, you are 

 fortunate: for every one of these stones will 

 save just that much cement. They must be 

 clean so that the cement will adhere. 



WHAT KIND OF CEMENT TO USE. 



There are several good grades: but get 

 nothing l^ut the best Portland. Water lime 

 is unreliable, and should never be used: and. 

 besides, you would have to use enough more 

 of it to make it more expensive than the 

 Portland. In talking with our contractor he 

 mentioned the following cements as being- 

 standard and high-grade in every respect: 

 Pen Allen, Buckhorn, Lehigh, Buckeye, Me-, 

 dusa. North Hampton, and Atlas. There, 



E. GRAINGER. 



GEORGE LAING. 



MR. AND MRS. R. H. SMITH. 



SOME OF THE EXHIBITORS AT THE NATIONAL EXHIBITION, TORONTO, CANADA. 



See Canadian Department on page 1332. 



appended illustrations. Be sure to get the 

 bracing very strong, for we found by some 

 experience that, after pouring the concrete, 

 the pressure against the foi'ms Ijecame so 

 great, by reason of the weight, that the Ijrace- 

 work would let go at the Ijottom. This sim- 

 ply means that the material is wasted, or li- 

 able to be so, and that the forms will have 

 to be reconstructed or re braced: for when 

 the cement is once mixed it should be used 

 Ijefore it l:)egins to set. While the forms will 

 cost slightly more in a sandy soil, yet one 

 will have one important advantage on that 

 account — sand — right at hand, without haul- 

 ing. Bvit I would not use such sand unless 

 it is reasonably free from clay and dirt. 

 The more gravel in it the better. 



HOW TO PREPARE THE CONCRETE. 



Procure good clean gravel and sand mix- 

 ed, if you can obtain it. Ordinary creek or 

 river gravel answers a most excellent pur- 

 pose. In case there is not plenty of coarse 

 pebbles mixed in the sand it will l)e neccssa 



are other good cements, but he knows these 

 are tirst-class. 



As to the proportion of cement, gravel, and 

 sand, the ratios should run all the way from 

 1 to 5 to 1 to 8, the amount of cement de- 

 pending on the cleanness of the gravel and 

 the amount of stone that is put in the AA'all. 

 In our Iniilding we used 1 to 7, using a very 

 sharp I'lean bank sand and crushetl stone, 

 such as is used for mj^cadamiziug roads. For 

 a bee-cellar, 1 to 7 would make a very fair 

 proportion. For those bee-cellars that are 

 covered overhead, and reinforced, I would 

 advise a little stronger— 1 to 6 or 1 to 5 if 

 the river gravel has more or less of clay or 

 dirt in it. The clay simply weakens the ce- 

 ment, and, when present, more cement 

 shoukl be used. 



In mixing cement and gravel, first lay the 

 gravel or sand on a wooden platform, 

 spreading it out a,bout 4 inches deep. Next 

 pour on. by measure, the right proportion of 

 Portland cement, spreading it evenly over 

 the surface of ihe laver of srravel and sand. 



