THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



741 



! <ir the Amerlctin Bee JoumaL 



Hotv I Biiilt My Bee Cellar. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



During the winter of 1S75-G, I ascer- 

 tained ttiab P. II. Elwood, Capt. J. E. 

 Iletlierinjiton. and otlier extensive api- 

 arists in ilerkimer, Montgoniery and 

 Otsego counties, X. Y., wintered their 

 bees quite successfully in what was 

 called " mud huts." 



These were made by digginga place, 

 about four feet deep, in the ground, 

 and providing a good drain therefor. 

 Timbers were laid on tlie ground for 

 the plates, upon wljich was placed the 

 roof, which was about live feet high 

 from the bottom, at the sides ; and in 

 the center, from 7 to !t, according to 

 the width of the cave. The whole 

 was then covered with earth to the 

 depth of 2 to .3 feet. Over the earth 

 was jjlaced another roof to keep the 

 dirt between the upper and lower roof 

 dry. In the front end a portion was 

 partitioned off, in which was placed a 

 stove, the heat from wliich was made 

 to permeate the bee cellar as desired, 

 so as to maintain the teniperalnre 

 considered necessary for successful 

 wintering. 



After the chaff packing had been 

 decided to be a success, I conceived 

 the idea of wintering a part of my 

 bees out on their summer stands, and 

 a iiarl in the cellar, thus working on 

 the plan which is called" mixed farm- 

 ing " by those tilling the soil about 

 here. Accordingly, in 1870, 1 prepared 

 chaff hives for a ])art, ahd built a 

 cheap temporary cellar for the rest. 

 Instead of regulating the temperature 

 with stoves, as was done by my bee 

 friends of the East, I placed this tem- 

 porary cellar in a hillside, believing 

 that, if it went into the earth deep 

 enough, an even temperature would be 

 maintained without the aid of a stove, 

 which proved to be a fact, for the tem- 

 perature in this cellar did not change 

 more than two degrees during all the 

 winter. 



After using it a few years I ascer- 

 tained that a winter that was favora- 

 ble for outdoor wintering was not as 

 favorable for cellar wintering, and 

 wee reraf), thus proving that the plan 

 of mixed wintering was a good one. 



In the spring of 187!), out of ninety 

 left on their summer stands, only fif- 

 teen came through; while lifty-three 

 out of sixty, wintered in this cellar, 

 came out in excellent condition. The 

 following spring, after a very mild 

 winter, all those out of doors came 

 out strong, while the bee-cellar gave a 

 loss of 10 per cent. However, the per- 

 centage of loss for the term of six years 

 was far greater out of doors than in 

 the cellar; hence this fall I have put 

 up a permanent bee-cellar in place of 

 the temporary one, and shall hereafter 

 winter at least half of my bees in it. 



Near my apiary is a small knoll, and 

 into this 1 dug thirty-two feet, by nine 



feet wide. A drain was then dug 

 anmnd the outside, which was eight- 

 een inches deep at the front, and 

 SIX inches at the back. This drain 

 was filled up level with the 

 ground, or floor of the cellar, with 

 small stone. From the lowest point 

 of this drain I dug a ditch one hun- 

 dred feet long, in which was placed 

 two tiers of three and one-half inch 

 tiles, one above the other, and so ar- 

 ranged as to serve the place of venti- 

 lation and drain comoined, if any 

 water should accumulate in the drain 

 around the cellar. These tiles were 

 covered to the depth of about three 

 feet, so as to warm the air as it came 

 to the bee-cellar. Upon the drain 

 around the cellar, a good wall was 

 built of stone, laid up with mortar, 

 which is live feet eight inches high 

 and gives me a cellar\wenty-four feet 

 long and six and one-half feet wide 

 inside. Upon the top of the wall I 

 placed plates 4x(; inches square, bed- 

 ding them in mortar, which raised my 

 walls to six feet high. Upon these 

 plates, rafters were placed close to- 

 gether, so as to hold a great weight, 

 and then covered with inch boards. 

 A ventilator was placed in the opposite 

 end, giving about two-thirds the ca- 

 pacity of the other, when the whole 

 was covered to the depth of three and 

 one-half feet with dry earth ; over this 

 was placed an outer roof, which ex- 

 tends six feet farther out than the 

 wall on either side, and a good incline 

 was given, to conduct all the water off. 



The front end of the cellar is three 

 and one-half feet lower than tlie sur- 

 face of the ground about it. while the 

 back end is about ten feet. I intended 

 to grout the bottom with gravel and 

 mortar, but the ground was so hard 

 and dry that I have postponed it, for 

 the present at least. At the end next 

 the bee yard, I placed three well-built 

 door frames, which were two feet apart 

 from center to center. To these were 

 spiked plank at the sides and on top, 

 and covered with earth (with a slope 

 wall standing out toward the bee-yard, 

 so as to have as much earth here as 

 elsewhere), over which the outer roof 

 is allowed to come, so as to keep all 

 dry. A door is huug on each door 

 frame, which gives three doors and 

 two dead air spaces, of two feet eacli. 

 before the cellar is reached. The total 

 cost of this cellar is a few cents over 

 $7.5. 



The hives are to be set around the 

 outside of the cellar, one on top of the 

 other, with chaff, or fine straw used as 

 packing, the same as if they were to 

 be left out of doors. As an experi- 

 ment I shall leave one row of hives 

 with the entrance the same as they 

 are when on the summer stand ; an- 

 other row will have the full entrance, 

 a third be raised on half-inch blocks, 

 and the fourth upon inch blocks. 



The cellar will hold eighty hives 

 and leave plenty of room for an aisle 

 to the back end, and 120 if tilled full. 

 One-fourth of ray colonies of bees 

 were placed in this bee-cellar on Nov. 

 3d, and to-morrow I shall put in one- 

 fourth more. In one week I shall 

 place in anotherfourth, and on the first 

 of December the remainder, which are 

 to be placed therein, and see which 



winters the best. Although the ther- 

 mometer marks 40 ' inside, those al- 

 ready in are so still that scarcely a 

 sound from them can be heard, but I 

 find those raised on the inch blocks 

 are aroused quicker by the light of the 

 lamp when taken in. 



About one-half of my number will 

 be lefton thesummerstands,tliorough- 

 ly packed in chaff, as heretofore, for I 

 think such a course gives the best re- 

 sults, taking a number of years to- 

 gether. 



If anyone could tell just what the 

 winter would be beforehand. I would 

 place my bees in the cellar for a cold 

 winter, and leave them out during a 

 mild one ; but as no one can do tliis, 

 I adopt the above, considering it the 

 best, all things considered. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 10, 18S2. 



For the American Bee JourDaL 



Wintering Bees in Chaff. 



E. B. SOUTHWICK. 



I have noticed some articles on win- 

 tering bees in chaff from some of our 

 most consistent bee-keepers, and I 

 think they are good, very good. I 

 agree with them in what is necessary 

 for successfully wintering our bees : 

 that is, the bees should be young, 

 healthy, and plenty of them ; they 

 shoidd be kept dry" and comfortable 

 the entire season ; they should have 

 Just food enough to keep them, and 

 that easy of access at all time. If we 

 can do this we may defy long, cold 

 winters and all their consequences. 



We have different ways of produc- 

 ing the saiue effect. Mr. Heddon's 

 way is very good, and I think it will 

 succeed ; but I think it is more work, 

 and not so handy, as Mr. Poppleton's; 

 I suppose it is as good; as anyone 

 could tix up such a hive as he uses. 



Mr. Poppleton's way is so near like 

 luine, that 1 will say nothing about it, 

 only where it differs from mine. He 

 says he has used his seven years, I 

 have used mine about the same time, 

 and think I have not lost a colony that 

 was good in the fall, that did not die 

 of starvation. 



My way of packing and unpacking is 

 as follows : My hive, inside, is 1.3 in. 

 wide, 12 in. deep, and as long as I 

 wish to have it. There is a space on 

 each side of 4 inches to pack with chaff 

 or leave as a dead air space,— and ex- 

 periments have convinced me that the 

 dead air space is as good without the 

 chaff as with it. The back end board 

 is loose and fastened in its place by a 

 clasp across the end of the hive ; it 

 can be moved backward or forward to 

 increase or diminish the size of the 

 liive, at pleasure ; the frame is made 

 to stand on the bottom and not hang 

 in the hive; it has a division in the 

 centre and a slot that runs nearly from 

 the top to the bottom ; this slot an- 

 swers instead of the holes that Mr. 

 Poppleton makes in his combs, and 

 the sticks that Mr. Ileddon places 

 across the top of his frames— that is, 

 they all allow the bees to move com- 

 fortably from one part of the hive to 

 another. 



