i86 Advanced Bee Ciilhire. 



In order to have the temperature as desired, it becomes important to 

 have one's bees in a repository of which the temperature is nearly inde- 

 pendent of outside changes. Tliis is, I think, secured far more satisfactorily 

 by having the repository entirely, or at least very largely, below the surface 

 of the earth. 



As the temperature is higher at the upper part of a cellar, the weak 

 colonies should be placed in a topmost tier of hives. 



It has been urged that, as spring approaches and breeding begins, 

 the temperature of the cellar should be raised. With a large number 

 of colonies the increased activity \\ould of itself have a tendency in this 

 direction. If there are onl}' a few colonies, artificial means of raising 

 the temperature are sometimes employed. Some have used oil-stoves 

 in the hatchwa}- of the cellar ; others have warmed the air with wood 

 or coal stoves. If an oil-stove is used, there ought to be a metal hood 

 over it, and a pipe connecting with a stovepipe in the room above, or 

 else with the open air. Of course, an oil-stove can be used without 

 such an arrangement, but it overloads the air with the gases of com- 

 bustion. I mention these make-shifts with something akin to reluctance, 

 as I feel that the proper way to do is to have a cellar so constructed 

 that there will be no necessity for their use. 



Mr. H. R. Ijoardman, who has had much successful experience 

 in wintering bees in cellars, prefers to have a bee-cellar with two apart- 

 ments, in one of which is a stove. If he ever finds it necessary to resort 

 to artificial heat he warms the air in the ante-room, and then admits it 

 to the room. In the use of artificial heat he does not find it nccessar\- 

 to employ it constantl)', or every day ; in fact, he says that the best 

 results are secured by giving the bees the benefit of a summer tem- 

 perature for a short time once a \\eek, and then letting them alone. 

 The}' will, after being warmed up, become quiet in a short time, and 

 remain so for several days, and no serious results may be apprehended 

 from cold if in a frost-proof cellar. 



WINTERING IN CLAMPS. 



There is still another method of securing the proper temperature 

 for wintering bees, aside from that of packing them in chaff, or putting 

 them in the cellar, ami Jiat is that of bur^'ing them in "clamps," as they 

 are called, the s? iie a.-, potatoes and apples are buried in pits. A long- 

 trench is first >-. ■■ a tile wider and deeper than a hive. In the bottom 

 i-i placed a layei if straw, then two pieces of scantling upon which to 

 set die h)-vcs. Rais, fence-posts, or any kind of supports, are then 

 laid over ill ' hi\-L-s, and covered with straw upon which the earth is 

 thrown to .1 ■.uf'i--Li(.nt depth to exclude the frost. Sometimes ventilation 

 is given these clainps, but it does not seem to make any material dift'er- 

 ence \vliether li:y are ventilated or not. It does make a difference, 

 however, h) re, '.rd to the soil and situation. In a sandy or gravelly 



