34 WINTEMING BEES 



good many dead bees will be found on the cellar bottom. 

 While this is not necessarily a cause for alarm, it is not as 

 it should be. If the cellar and temperature are right there 

 will be very few dead bees, but if they accumulate their dead 

 bodies should not be allowed to stench the living bees, but 

 should be swept up perhaps every two or three weeks and 

 removed. 



A disposition to roar should be met by more ventilation, 

 and at the same time the temperature should be reduced. If 

 all the colonies in the cellar should become uneasy during 

 mid-winter it is evident that something must be done at 

 once or the whole lot of bees will be lost. They ought not 

 to become uneasy until late in the spring. If they can not 

 be quieted by infusion of fresh air it may be best to give 

 the uneasy colonies a flight on the first warm day by setting 

 them outdoors and letting them stay there for 24 hours or 

 until they can clean themselves. Dysentery or diarrhea in 

 the bee-cellar is generally the result of too much cold air or 

 too high a temperature, either of which will induce too large 

 a consumption of stores ; and where bees are not able to void 

 their feces, the intestines become distended, resulting in 

 purging. A colony so affected should be removed as soon 

 as a warm day comes. 



WHEN TO PUT BEES IN THE CELLAR, AND WHEN TO TAKE 

 THEM OUT. 



This is a question that depends entirely on locality. Most 

 bees go into the cellar in the Northern States anywhere 

 from the last of November until the first of January; but 

 usually it is advisable to have all bees in before Christmas. 

 As to when the bees should be taken out of the cellar, au- 

 thorities differ. Some set them out in March, and then put 

 on winter cases. Others believe it is better policy to keep 

 bees in late or until the last cold weather is past, and then 

 set them out. We would advise taking the golden mean, 

 waiting until the time natural pollen comes, or, in our local- 

 ity, soft maples bloom. But when bees are uneasy in the 

 cellar it is advised to set them out earlier than otherwise. 



