FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 295 



CARRYING IN BEES WHEN ROUSED UP. 



Often the bees get so warmed up by the middle of 

 the forenoon, that they fly out when their hive is lifted 

 to be carried into the cellar.. In this case the hive is put 

 back on its summer stand, and another colony, less wide- 

 awake, is taken. But if the rousing up becomes general, 

 operations must cease until the after-part of the day or 

 the next morning. If for any reason, as the lateness of 

 the season, or the fear of an approaching storm, it is 

 thought best to carry in a hive whether the bees are will- 

 ing or not, the entrance must be stopped. For this pur- 

 pose — as there is no danger of suffocation from stopping 

 for a short time — I know of nothing better than a large 

 rag or cloth which will easily cover the entire entrance. 

 The rag must be dripping wet. In this condi- 

 tion it can be very quickly laid at the entrance, 

 and being cold and wet the bees seem to be driven back 

 by it, and when the rag is removed in the cellar, few if 

 any bees come out. If dry, the bees would sting the 

 rag, and upon its removal in the cellar a crowd of angry 

 bees would follow it. 



WARMING THE CELLAR. 



Some think it a bad thing to have fire in cellar. I 

 would rather have the right temperature without the fire. 

 So I would in my sitting-room. But when the tempera- 

 ture in the sitting-room without a fire gets down in the 

 neighborhood of zero, I would rather have the fire. 

 Same way in the cellar. In this latitude, 42 degrees 

 north, I have known the mercury to reach 37 degrees 

 below zero, and some winters there is very little of the 

 time when my cellar is warm enough for the bees. A 

 thermometer hangs centrally in the cellar, and I try to 

 keep it at about 45 degrees. Sometimes it goes to 36 



