35 



warming up of the cellar at will ; the dark will prevent the bees from 

 flying about the room. It is advisable, in order to insure dryness, to 

 have the cellar bottom cemented. 



Temperature is a \'ital factor. The cellar should be furnished with a 

 thermometer. For the best results, the temperature should be main- 

 tained at from 35° to 45° F. all winter. In the spring, as the bees 

 begin to breed, it is safe to allow it to go as high as 48°. Over this 

 is likely to make the bees uneasy. 



As soon as the weather becomes settled, and the bees have begun to 

 rear brood, it is best to take the bees from the cellar for good. Accord- 

 ing to the location, this will be in March or early April. 



If you have difficulty in maintaining the proper heat, it is customary 

 to reduce the temperature by putting in the cellar for a few hours a 

 cake of ice or some snow. If you need to raise the temperature, you 

 can do so by burning an oil lamp. 



It will pay all those who have any number of colonies or neighbors to 

 build a bee cellar. The labor of doing this is slight, as is the trouble of 

 putting the bees in the cellar and taking them out; and the security 

 is great. With a little experience and reason, any one will be able to 

 winter his bees this way. 



Caring for the Crop and marketing it. 



We have so far considered factors which may facilitate getting more 

 honey and doing a better bee business. But the thougjit of what to tlo 

 with the crop after we have it, how to care for it and how best to market 

 it, seldom enters our consideration. All we look for is the honey; we 

 are not particular to keep it sweet, clean and unharmed by the moths. 



One of the most difficult things in apiculture is to properly keep and 

 to prepare the honey crop for market. The extracted crop is most 

 easily handled, for it can be run into cans, of the producers' choice, 

 sealed and set away for market. To put up an attractive package of 

 extracted honey is an art, and requires no little thought and skill. 



Unfortunately, it is difficult to obtain in any convenient quantit}'' 

 good extracted honey in our market. It is all in either small glass 

 packages, which are mere samples and are expensive, or it is in cases of 

 two 60-pound cans, which are difficult for the private customer to 

 obtain except through the wholesaler. 



In preparing the comb honey crop we can do no better than to follow 

 the procedure of a gentleman who ships the finest comb clover honey 

 which we have ever seen. We have often heard what care ]\Ir. R. H. 

 Holmes of Shoreham, Vt., takes with his crop, and we well know the 

 high rank it commands in the market. 



In the first place, Mr. Holmes stores his combs, as fast as they come 

 from the super, in an attic where it is dry and hot (not hot enough to 

 melt the wax). This allows the honey to ripen, and prevents a chem- 

 ical change in its constitution, which frequently happens if stored in a 

 damp atmosphere. 



In the fall, when it comes to shipping, each section is carefully 

 scraped and polished until you are scarcely able to see the marks of a 

 bee. The sections are then sorted and graded, — a task, as Mr. Holmes 

 tells us, which requires the most extreme care and experience. Only 

 the heaviest and most perfect sections are put into the first quality. 

 We have seen case after case of twenty sections weigh as high as 23 

 pounds; that is surely giving full weight. After sorting, the sections 

 are put into cartons and then packed into spotless cases, holding, as we 

 said, 20 pound sections each. The whole is then ready for shipment. 



