190-; 



Gl.KAXlXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



27 



CELLAR AVINTERING. 



Is Moisture a Detrinient or a Benefit? a 

 Case Where Many Colonies Died Because 

 of a I^aek of ]>Ioisture; Disturbance Det- 

 rimental; Mid-winter Flights not Ad- 

 vised ; Essentials to Good AVinterin^- in a 

 Bee Cellar. 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



During the last few years there has been 

 quite a change in the opinion of many bee- 

 keepers on this particular point in wintering 

 their bees. There is one thing, however, 

 that we can all agree on; and that is, a wet 

 cellai", with poor ventilation and a low tem- 

 perature, is the worst place that bees can 

 possibly be put in to winter; and some of us 

 have found out, from long and costly expe- 

 rience, that a wet cellar, if properly ventilat- 

 ed, and kept at a temperature varying only 

 from 44 to 48 degrees, is the best place that 

 can possibly be made for perfect wintering. 



With these dearly learned facts fresh in our 

 minds, a year ago we Ixiilt a model bee-cel- 

 lar, 24X40 feet in size, which will give ample 

 room for 1000 colonies, and at the same time 

 give us a walk through the center from one 

 end to the other. This is very handy in put- 

 ting them in, in the fall, or taking them out 

 in the spring; but its principal value is al- 

 lowing a circulation of fresh air through 

 the center of the cellar. The accompanying 

 photos show a part of this cellar with the 

 hives in their place. In order to show the 

 hives on each side of the alleyway we made 

 two photos of it, and then it shows only about 

 half the length of the cellar, as there were 25 

 hives in a row, or 100 hives in a tier. You 

 will notice that we remove the bottom-boards 

 from our hives, and set them dii'ectly over 

 each other, with four one inch blocks between 

 the hives. They rest on racks 8 inches high 

 from the floor, which is covered with about 

 3 inches of chaff or planer-shavings. This 

 makes a nice covering to the floor, and en- 

 ables us to walk among the hives without 

 making any noise or jarring them in the 

 least. It also prevents smashing any bees 

 on the floor, which makes it much easier to 

 clean up after they are taken out in the 

 spring. The under course of hives rests on 

 the cleats of a bottom-board turned wrong 

 side up. This gives ten inches of space from 

 the under part of the lower hive to the floor, 

 which allows a tine chance for fresh air to 

 circulate over the bottom of the whole cellar. 

 You will also notice that, where we have left 

 the under cover on, we raise it from the hive 

 and put a piece of section under it, forming 

 a little crack for the foul air in the hive to 

 pass oft'. But we prefer a piece of light can- 

 vas over the top without the under cover on. 

 In order to test this thoroughly, last win- 

 ter we left some hives with both canvas and 

 undercover on, as you will notice in the photo. 



This cellar was built late last fall, and the 

 walls were laid up with stone and Portland ce- 

 ment. It is 6^ feet between floors, and has 

 about a foot of space under the floor, which 

 is of matched lumber. Under this are two 



drains which convey water out all winter. 

 The walls were very wet during the whole 

 winter, as we had no time for them to dry, 

 putting the bees in only one week after they 

 were finished. Then in addition to these wet 

 walls we put a building over it of green lum- 

 ber, with a roof of galvanized iron. The 

 floor over the cellar was of matched lumber, 

 and double, with building paper between. 

 This kept the cellar very warm with so many 

 colonies in it; but with the perfect ventilation 

 we gave it the liees came thi'ough the winter 

 in as fine condition as I ever saw bees win- 

 tered, and only 2 hives out of 725 showed a 

 spot of dysentei-y, although the bees were in 

 the cellar from the 11th to the 14th of No- 

 vember until April 18th to the 26th before the 

 last were taken out. 



You may think this quite dift'erent from 

 what I have recommended — that is, taking 

 them all out at one time, and that at night; 

 but from April 7 to April 16 I was not ex- 

 pected to live from one hour to another, and 

 consequently the bees got but little attention 

 during that time. 



Last winter we had very changeable weath- 

 er here. The temperature outdoors varied 

 from 20 degrees below zero to 72 above — a 

 variation of 92 degrees — while in the cellar 

 it changed only from 44 degrees to 52, or a 

 variation of 8 degrees. This 44-degree tem- 

 perature inside lasted only about 24 hours, 

 and was caused by a temperature of 20 be- 

 low zero outside for two days, and the wind 

 blowing a perfect gale. We kept a thermom- 

 eter in the cellar, and could seldom find the 

 temperature change more than one degree 

 either way from 46. 



In speaking of moisture in our cellar I 

 often think of a bit of experience I had many 

 years ago. I put 250 colonies in the driest 

 cellar I ever saw. It was under a dwelling- 

 house where two fires were kept burning 

 nearly all the time. A short time after we 

 put the bees in they became very uneasy, 

 many leaving their hives and flying about 

 the room. I had made a large tight room 

 inside the cellar, of matched lumber, and put 

 a plank floor in it. I kept the temperature 

 about 45 degrees, but still the bees became 

 more and more restless, and, when taken out 

 in the spring, I shoveled up 141 bushels of 

 dead bees. That was the worst wintering I 

 ever had, and it was a sight to see those that 

 lived through the winter go to wet places 

 after water as soon as they had a chance to 

 fly. It seemed as if every bee went for wa- 

 ter before it returned to its hive. Their hon- 

 ey was so dry and gummy that the bees could 

 hardly eat it' until it had "been moistened with 

 the water they got outside. The dead l^ees 

 on the floor were so dry that, if you gave a 

 handful a squeeze, they would crumble up 

 almost as tine as corn meal. 



Since my experience that winter I have 

 changed my mind very much in regard to 

 wintering bees in a dry cellar. The best 

 success we have ever had was in cellars 

 where there was running water, and the 

 temperature kept at from 45 to 48 degrees. 

 Many years ago, when father Quinby used to 



