40 DR. MILLER S 



yet what their status will be in that particular. Tlicj .ire stiU 

 more or less on trial. 



Q. I have 20 colonies of bees that I want to breed up to Ital- 

 ians or Caucasians. Which would you advise me to breed them 

 up to ? 



A. Opinions differ; but Italians are so generally preferred 

 that you will be safe in adopting them. 



Cedar.— Q. My bees gathered pollen today (March 4), from 

 red cedar ,and as I have failed to find cedars referred to as a 

 source of honey or pollen, it struck me as something rather un- 

 usual. Is that a common occurrence? 



A. It is quite likely that it is nothing unusual, even though 

 no mention may have been made of it. It is only the plants from 

 which unusual quantities of either honey or pollen are obtained 

 that are generally mentioned as honey-plants. 



Cellars for Bees. — Q. I wish to build a bee-cellar to hold 200 

 colonies. I intend to build it in a side hill and have it entirely 

 under-ground, and cover it with a roof, then 3 feet of earth, then 

 a roof over this to keep the earth dry. How large would you 

 build it? 



A. Ten cubic feet for each colony is not far out of the way. 



Q. Would you make any special arrangements for ventila- 

 tion? If so, how would }'OU arrange the ventilators? The sides 

 and ends will be built of stone and mortar. 



A. It might be a good plan for you to have a ventilator, be- 

 cause it is easy to provide one when building, and not so easy 

 afterward, and if you find you are better off without it you need 

 not use it. T. F. Bingham had a repository not so entirely under- 

 ground, and he believed in a ventilator 16 inches square. A plain 

 board pipe from near the ground up will answer. 



[J. My cellar floor is concrete and is always damp. I am 

 thinking of covering it with four inches of dry sawdust. What 

 do yiiu think about it? I wintered 106 colonies in this cellar 

 without a loss in 1914, but the covers and bottoms were very damp 

 in the spring. I gave the bees all the ventilation possible, accord- 

 ing to the weather, and the temperature stood at about 45 degrees 

 on top and 42 degrees below. 



A. I'm afraid the sawdust will not do a great deal of good. 

 Possibly it might if you should sweep it up and dry it out as fast 

 as it got wet. Lime might do more good. 



O. j\Iy cellar (2S.\.iO feet) has a hot water boiler in it. The 

 temperature varies from 48 to 52 degrees. Do you think I can 

 winter a dozen colonies of bees in it successfully? 



