304 rORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



FURNACE IN CELLAR. 



About that time my friend, E. R. Root, happened to 

 be here, and strongly advised as the best way out of the di- 

 lemma to have a furnace put in — one big enough to heat 

 the whole house, and of such character as to burn wood, 

 green or dry, coal, hard or soft, and indeed anything hav- 

 ing any inclination toward combustibility. I followed his 

 advice, or rather I outran it, for I got a larger furnace 

 than be thought advisable, the fire-pot being 27 inches in 

 diameter. I am not sorry the furnace is so large so far as 

 heating the house is concerned, for it makes a delightful 

 summer temperature in any part of the house, no matter 

 how cold the weather, without any of that unpleasant and 

 unwholesome burnt-air effect. But it makes a matter of 

 impossibilty for me to think of keeping the temperature of 

 the bee-room down to 45 degrees and I am looking for- 

 ward with some anxiety as to how the bees will come out 

 in the spring. 



UNFAVORABLE CONDITIONS. 



Conditions, however, have been exceptionally un- 

 favorable, so that if there should be a considerable loss 

 in wintering it does not follow that such will usually be 

 the case. 



The workmen that set up the furnace were late in 

 finishing up the last part of the work in the cellar, so that 

 the bees were not put in till the 8th of December. On that 

 day the temperature was 8 degrees below zero. It would 

 have been much better to have left them out for another 

 flight if I had been sure of a day warm enough without 

 waiting too long. But I was not sure of that, and I 

 thought it better for them to be taken in in rather bad con- 

 dition than to run the risk of leaving them out longer. 

 The sequel showed I was wise in so doing, for no day 



