Advanced b^e-ctJltur^. 



torn board. It is simply a shallow box 

 (minus one end) as wide as the hive and 

 a little longer. In summer the flat side 

 is used uppermost. In winter the box 

 side is turned up, thus furnishing the de- 

 sired space under the bees. The open 

 end of the box is covered with wire 

 cloth having a mesh coarse enough to 

 allow bees to pass through, but shut out 

 mice. Every bee-keeper does not use 

 such a bottom board, perhaps would not 

 care for it, and then the best plan is to 

 keep the mice out of the cellar. If it is 

 of such a character that they can not be 

 shut out, then they must be trapped or 

 poisoned. For the latter purpose, I have 

 found nothing better than equal parts of 

 flour, white sugar and arsenic, mixed, 

 and placed in shallow dishes in different 

 parts of the cellar. 



Unless the cellar is well under ground, 

 where it is well beyond the influence of 

 the outside temperature, it is well to keep 

 watch and not allow the temperature to 

 run too low in protracted cold spells. A 

 lamp stove, burned all night in a cellar, 

 will raise the temperature several degrees. 

 During the fore part of winter a low tem- 

 perature is not so dangerous as it is to- 

 wards spring, when brood rearing has 

 commenced. From 35° to 45° will do 

 very well until towards spring, when it 

 should not be allowed to go below 40°, 

 and may with safety go as high as 48° or 

 50°. In this connection it must be re- 

 membered that moisture has an influence 

 upon thfe effects of temperature. So far 

 as effects are concerned, a moist atmos- 

 phere is the equal of a low temperature. 

 If the cellar is moist, either raise the 

 temperature, or remove the moisture. 

 Unslacked lime in the cellar will absorb 

 moisture. Even when the influence 

 of moisture has been considered it 

 will not answer to tie ourselves to a 

 certain temoerature. It is the tempera- 

 ture inside the hives that affects the wel- 

 fare of the bees. If the colonies are 

 weak, their hives open, and the brood- 

 nest uncontracted, a higher degree of 

 heat is needed than with strong colonies 



in close, well protected hives. Putting 

 colonies near the top of the cellar will 

 help matters some, as the air is warmer 

 there. The best guide in regard to this 

 matter of temperature is the behavior of 

 the bees themselves. If they are closely, 

 quietly and compactly clustered, there is 

 but little cause for alarm in regard to 

 the temperature. Quite a number have 

 reported excellent results by warming up 

 the bee repository to summer heat, say 

 once a week or ten days, if the bees be- 

 come uneasy towards spring. This en- 

 ables the bees throw off any surplus 

 moisture, and, as the temperature goes 

 down, they quiet down and remain so 

 tor several days, when they may be warm- 

 ed again. So long as the bees remain 

 quiet, I should not disturb them by arti- 

 ficial heat. If the cellar becomes loo 

 warm in the spring, before it is time to 

 remove the bees, it may be cooled down 

 by carrying in snow or ice, or the win- 

 dows and doors may be opened at night 

 and closed in the morning. 



Years ago many bee-keepers practiced 

 taking their bees from the cellar, if there 

 came a warm day in the winter, and al- 

 lowing them to fly, returning them again 

 to the cellar, but this practice has been 

 pretty nearly abandoned. If the bees are 

 in a quiet, normal condition, it often 

 rouses them and sets them to breeding 

 in mid-winter, which is far from desir- 

 ■ able. If the food, temperature, and other 

 surroundings are what they ought to be, 

 such a flight is not needed. If they are 

 very faulty, such a flight will not save 

 the bees from death. 



If bees out of doors are properly pro- 

 tected and have abundaut stores, they 

 need no care in winter, unless it is to see 

 that the entrances are not clogged with 

 ice, snow, or dead bees, when there 

 comes a day warm enough for them to 

 fly. If a rim two inches wide is put un- 

 der each hive when they are packed in 

 the fall, and an entrance made at the 

 upper edge of this rim, the entrance will 

 never be clogged with dead bees. 



