310 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



" Well, 42 degrees above zero is the high- 

 est I have seen it. What has been your 

 obsprvation on this point ? " 



' ' The highest I have noticed it is 43, and 

 I have been watching the matter quite 

 closely. Does not the time between the 

 dates spoken of include all of the winter 

 months ? ' ' 



' ' Yes. But what are you trying to get 

 at?" 



' ' Just this : It is useless to talk about win- 

 ter flights for cellar- wintered bees, no mat- 

 ter how bad they are spotting their hives or 

 wanting to fly, if there are no days during 

 winter when it is warm enough for them to 

 do so. ' ' 



' ' That is something I had not thought of. 

 How warm does it need to be for bees to fly 

 out?" 



"About 45 in the shade, with the sun 

 shining brightly, and practically no wind, 

 when the snow is on the ground; and as we 

 had no such days during the winters of 1903 

 and 1904, this talk about giving 'cellared' 

 bees a flight in winter does not avail with 

 those under such environments as we have 

 here in Central New York during the hard 

 winters for bees. ' ' 



' ' That is so ; and it is something I did not 

 think about while reading in Gleanings the 

 advice regarding such flights. But what can 

 we do?" 



" Use such cellars as will keep the bees 

 from wanting a flight; for bees which be- 

 come so uneasy that they spot the hives are 

 far from wintering well, and I consider it 

 far better to have a cellar which will winter 

 the bees well, without a desire for a flight, 

 than to have a cellar in which they become 

 so uneasy that we are obliged to open doors 

 and- windows at times, carry the bees out 

 for winter flights, and worry over them 

 more or less during the winter besides." 



" But can we have such a cellar? " 



' ' Certainly, if we can maintain the right 

 temperature while the bees are in the cel- 

 lar." 



" I think I saw a picture of your bee-cel- 

 lar in the A B C book, did I not ? " 



"Yes, there is such a picture and a de- 

 scription of it there. ' ' * 



" Where is that cellar? " 



" Over there to the right. Don't you see 

 it?" 



"What! That peak I see sticking out 

 from under that bank of snow? " 



"Yes. That is where the cellar is, but it 

 has been nearly bare of snow till lately, or 

 until since our February snows." 



' ' How often do you go into it ? " 



" I have been in only once since the bees 

 were settled down, after putting them in— I 

 think on the 10th of January. ' ' 



"Only once since the latter part of No- 

 vember? " 



" Yes, that is right." 



" I do not suppose you would want to go 

 in now, this sunshiny (nearly zero) morning, 

 on account of disturbing them ? ' ' 



"If you want to help shovel the snow 

 away from the door, we will go in. ' ' 



' ' I shall be only too glad to do that. ' ' 



"You will find one shovel in the barn 

 there, and I will take this one. There, I 

 think that will do, as this first door swings 

 in, made that way on purpose so little shovel- 

 ing need be done when I wish to go in." 



"Well, that is something I had not thought 

 of. It does save a lot of shoveling." 



"This next door swings out by the first 

 one, so as to allow the next to swing over 

 it; and this next one as well." 



"What! four doors?" 



' ' Yes, they enclose these three dead-air 

 spaces of about three feet each, as you see. 

 Now before we light this candle (a sperm 

 candle is better than a lamp for a bee-cel- 

 lar) , we will stand still here in the dark for 

 a few minutes till our eyes get over the 

 effects of the bright sun on the snow; other- 

 wise we can not see much, as an artificial 

 light looks dark in comparison." 



"Listen ! Is that little murmuring sound 

 I hear, like some far-off wind, or old ocean, 

 miles away, the bees ? ' ' 



"Yes. Some claim when bees are winter- 

 ing well that they are absolutely noiseless ; 

 but I do not find it that way. All cellars, 

 into which I ever entered, where there were 

 from twenty colonies upward, always gave 

 this same sound you now hear." 



' ' I should not have noticed it had you not 

 waited about striking a light ; but when we 

 are perfectly still, then it is noticeable. 

 Ah ! but that light now shows the hives 

 piled up on top of each other. But where 

 does any ventilation come from ? " 



"Through the surrounding masonwork, 

 and through the three feet of earth which is 

 over this flagstone roof, together with, 

 probably, a little through the three dead- 

 air spaces between the doors at the en- 

 trance. ' ' 



"What! don't you provide any special 

 ventilation? I thought it was claimed such 

 was one of the great necessities if bees were 

 to be wintered in the cellar. In fact, I 

 supposed bees could not live without a lot 

 of fresh air from the outside. ' ' 



' ' I know there are those claiming that 

 such is necessary. But let let us look at 

 the bees." 



"What kind of bottom-board have you 

 there?" 



"That is the Dr. Miller bottom-board; 

 and it is one of the nicest things I know of, 

 along the line of bottom-boards. It is now 

 deep side up. Look in that two-inch space 

 between the board and the hive." 



"Why, DooHttle! there is half a swarm 

 hanging down there; and where they touch 

 the bottom-board they are six inches across; 

 and, just see! they hardly stir. There are 

 not a dozen dead bees in there, and not a 

 pint on the whole floor of the cellar. How 

 many colonies are there in here?" 



"There are 57. The cellar was built for 

 100. It is barely possible, if the whole 100 

 were in, that things might not be as nice as 

 now, but I think about the same." 



' ' And you have not been in here since the 

 10th of January?" 



