440 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



arfi three rooms. One on the &^outh- 

 wpst 12x15 ft., is for extracting and 

 retracted honey. It bas a hard-wlKod 

 floor wide outer door, and only onfe> 

 thfcknrssof wall, so that m summer 

 it- is kent very warm, and so enaoies 

 ustori^en boney without leaving it 

 ?n' the h^ve till i/is all capped This 

 is also a demonstrated fact. The joisis 

 above are just so wide thatthey serve 

 as frame supports. The windows are 

 poised with weights, and these and 

 thedoorbave an outer gauze hinged 

 frame In case of the windows, this 

 extends 3 inches above the outer wall, 

 leavfng a half-inch space, so that bees 

 can easily pass out, while they do not 

 pass in. . 



A second room on the southeast is 

 alsoihe same size, but is double 

 walled, lath and plastered. It con- 

 rains a stove, but has no outer door 

 It is for comb honey for an.offlce, and 

 has trap-doors to cellar stairs. 1 And 

 that some are not m favor of this 

 room, but I think it very desirable. 



The entire north side of the build- 

 ing is for a shop. This IS 12x30 ft. It 

 has a pump from the cistern below 

 and stairs to the chamber above. It 

 has an outside door, four wmdows 

 and a door into each of the other 

 rooms. There will also be a stove m 

 this room. In winter then, when we 

 have a fire in either room, the chim- 

 ney will be heated, and the air drawn 

 from the bee-cellar. The wind, too 

 nassinc over the chimney, will suck 

 ?he af/f rom the cellar. In both cases 

 the air is supplied through the long 

 sub earth pipe, and so is tempered by 

 the temperature of the earth, and is 

 kept sweet and pure. This is boin 

 theory and demonstrated fact. This 

 room is large enough so that a small 

 engine and some machinery can be 

 introduced if desired. 1 find that this 

 house,large enough for a large apiary 

 can be built for $500 : and for safety 

 and convenience 1 believe it QUs the 

 bill. I cannot agree with Mr. Hed- 

 don, that we had better have double- 

 walled houses above the ground, i 

 think the cellar far better and more 

 convenient. I shall.be ^/'^y.f^illpd 

 have this plan criticised, for, as stated 

 before, this is a matter of great im- 

 portance to all bee-keepers in the 

 Northern States and in Canada. 

 Agricultural College,? Mich. 



covered with several feet of dirt, 

 which makes it equal to being wholly 

 underground.— G. M.Doolittle. 



I winter my bees on the summer 

 .stands,and in an ordinary house-cellar. 

 If I were going to build a place to 

 winter bees, all would depend upon 

 locition. I should prefer to build 

 intci a side hill. I would build of 

 stono, if plenty, or of brick. I should 

 want the floor constructed of cement, 

 and Should want it to have double 

 doors. To ventilate, I would use a 

 box vcLitilator about 8 feet inside, 

 reaching ^.o and resting on the floor 

 with openings cut in the sides close 

 to the botto-o ; also openings near the 

 top of the rtom constructed so they 

 could be closer, i flnd it best to ven- 

 tilate from the bottom ; if it gets too 

 warm then ope^- the top holes. If the 

 repository shoiid be built above 

 around, I woulo arrange it so that 

 it could be heatM. If you can afford 

 to build a reposito^y^ " build it well ;" 

 do not stop for a fe^ dollars expense. 

 — H. D. Cutting. 



I winter all my bees n. -oUars under 

 buildings. One of my apii^-ies is win- 

 tered in a cellar under a b-^.i^ouge, 

 built especially for the business The 

 bee-house is built on a dry knoi ^nd 

 is about 14x20 feet, with a cella.tun 

 size of the buildmg, and 6^ lif„^>. 

 and excavated so as to be below i.g 

 surface The walls are of stone, « 

 inchts thick, well mortared; then n 

 s lined inside with brick standing on 

 Pdse The joists overhead are 8 

 inches wide, and are sealed on the 

 nnder side with good lumber then 

 fined in with dry slwdust, and floored 

 wth matched lumber It has a hatch- 

 wav in one end with double doors , 

 wfth a trap-door to lay snugly down 

 over the hatchway to keep out snow 

 and rain. It is ventilated by an unaer 

 ™d drain 10 inches square, about 

 100 feet long. The dram has a small 

 l?de dorlhere it enters tbe cellar 

 to open or close as required. In the 

 onnosUe corner of the cellar from 

 where the drain enters, a stove-pipe 

 Inters through .tbe^ floor connected 

 with the stov^ in the honey-house 

 above.-C. M. Post 



cellar 6 feet 6 inches high, into which 

 a large sub-earth ventilator is brought; 

 the same lies 4 feet under the surface 

 of the ground, and is something like 

 160 feet long. At the outer end there 

 is a box arranged to allow the air to 

 enter the pipe and yet prevent snow 

 from entering and blocking it. From 

 the cellar there are ventilators into 

 the bee-room in each comer, and also 

 a winter entrance, thereby enabling 

 me to visit the bees without in the 

 least changing the atmosphere. From 

 the floor of the cellar there is a 2>4- 

 inch pipe connected to the chimney 

 (which reaches to the cellar) to draw 

 off the carbonic acid gas ; the upper 

 ventilators of the bee-room also join 

 the chimneys.— D. Chalmers. 



My bee-cellar is under my dwelling 

 house, where I winter my bees with 

 an average loss of only 3 to 4 per cent. 

 The cellar is an excellent one, well 

 drained and fairly dry, and the bee- 

 department is ventilated in the fol- 

 lowing manner : For the ingress of 

 air I use the cellar drain, which runs 

 below the frost, some 200 feet from 

 the house gradually thereafter coming 

 to the surface. By means of a pipe at 

 the outer end reaching always above 

 the surface of the snow, I keep a free 

 communication with the external air, 

 the temperature of which is consider- 

 ably raised before it reaches the bees, 

 bypassing about 2-50 feet under the 

 ground. For the egress of the toul 

 air and gasses I have a pipe 6 inches 

 n diameter, which starts withm 4 or 

 Hnches of the cellar floor and runs 

 " connecting with the kitchen stove 

 a^ve I have also two other pipes 

 ?nhe same diameter running out of 

 P'bee-cellar and reaching to the ex- 

 ^e^il air. These are kept stuffed 

 dur^s the coldest of the weather with 

 sma° jj-cuiar bags filled in with dry 



saW*-af oQfl ♦u^cQ rtoii ho pnsilv re- 



movt, 



bee- 

 these 



My bee-repository for wintering is 

 undir the same roof as the dwelling 

 occuDVing one-half of the first nat or 



Agricultural ^uuc^^, ^ . , the same^ The outer walls are double 



[AS Prof, cook has sent the above benig^^^incheB XdU^^Karti- 

 to the BKB JoxiKNAL, and asks for a Ln between the bee-room^and<^^^^^^^^ 



, , these can be easily re- 



or partially removed, when- 

 ever I becomes necessary, either to 

 l°^er fjg temperature of the bee- 

 cellap^V purify the air. With t 

 facilitit'^ju connection with a stove 

 standin;^y^gj^g of the bee-depart- 

 ment, w.^ij g^jj ^jg g^ed up whenever 

 1 necessar. ^^^ temperature in the bee- 

 repositor. ^^^^ ^^ y.gpt as desired 

 without ijgfj trouble. If you will 

 just keep jj^^ a few first princi- 

 ples or es? ^jg^j conditions of success- 

 ful winter ^^^ construct your 

 house m *Qfonnity <■><'>'•'""'*>> aid 



J--- c^i require 



from anybe/""*- ..-. 



thorough discussion and criticism, we 

 think the following answers to a 

 query in the Canadian Bee Journal 

 will be interesting and to the point. 

 The inquiry was for building a bee- 

 house for 60 colonies, and these are 

 the replies there given.— Ed.1 



Bee-houses above ground in this 

 localitv are very unsatisfactory .there- 

 fore I have given little attention to 

 them and do not feel competent to 

 advise in the matter. In no locality 

 can they equal an underground win^e 

 repository, and were 1 to buim any 

 IE or'the.safe, winteringof b^^^^^^^ 



tion DBLwecu uuc Y-- „y Tv,o fnrmer 



ins and also ceiling of the toimer, 

 are filled with only 15 inches of saw- 

 dust Like Noah's Ark, it contains 

 hnr one window and one door; the 

 former isTacked with about 10 inches 

 of fine sawdust before the bees are 



house ini»fQymJty therewith, and 

 you will th^ require but little advice 

 from anybt jjj ^^^ grst place, you 

 want a hou' ^^j. ^ggg frostproof , and 

 dryifpos3ig_ jjj the second place, 

 you want i^gji ventilated, and to 

 secure this ^ gyb-earth pipe is in- 

 dispensablfejjr the introduction of 

 fresh air f^j without. Build the 

 house, if pi 



thing for thesafe wintering or ueeb ^'^'=^t^ g feet above the surfi 

 %^^^\' \! r'lLt°e^r,^rt"rets1[ylSund. and underneath is 



«%^"'ntrwinter'Tuart ers, and the house if P^e: orrsite"siightly 

 P".*. '^^U^ in a like manner after- elevated, ar" ^ ' r subterranean 

 ^''^l^. The inside measurement of pipe„deep bP, the frost, and carry 



is capable of wintering 150 colonies, 

 beini 14 feet wide allows four rows o 

 shelving and two passes, the sneiyes 

 Ire thre^e deep, wide enough to let the 

 hives stand nicely (15 /nches) the 

 lower one 18 inches o^ tl^S,^°°J<J(fr^ 

 the others spaced 2 feet. The floor is 



surface of the 



a stone 



it off 300 fee^r ^ore, if possible, be 

 fore you cc^g^^ ^^^^ ^^e surface. 

 This will be j^j-^jg g^pensive, but a 

 few colonies^j^yg^ ^rom winter losses 

 would soon ^ygr j^ ^g to the up- 

 ward ventilt^jQ t^ij^t of course, can 

 be easily ac '^g^g^ yot 60 colo- 

 nies, 12 to 15jgt square, and 7 feet 

 high, inside g^,re, would be large 

 enough. W t j^ building a bee-cellar 



