IN-DOOR WINTERING. 365 



■will usually keep the cellar quite warm in the coldest weather. 

 In our experience, we have had to keep the cellar windows 

 open, often, in cold weather. 



649. To allow cold air to enter without giving light, we 

 have devised cellar blinds (figs. 136-137). When the window, 

 inside, is raised, a wire-cloth frame is put in its place to 

 keep mice out, and there is a slide on the inside of the shutter 

 which can be used to give more or less air as the case requires. 

 Besides, the windows of our bee-cellar are made with double 

 panes, to exclude cold or heat more efficiently, when they are 

 shut. A slight quantity of pure air is needed at all times. 



As we have said above, when the warmer days of Spring 

 come, with alternates of cold, th^ bees will breed a little, 

 and if this is not begun too early, it will be a help to them 

 rather than an injury, for they will become strong, all the 

 sooner, after being taken out. 



650. A small number of colonies can be wintered in any 

 ordinary cellar, quite safely, when their food is of good qual- 

 ity, and the temperature does not vary too much, but they 

 must be quiet and in the dark. 



651. If the temperature of the cellar is too low, or too 

 high, or if the food is unlaealthy,-the bees will have a large 

 amount of fecal accumulation in their intestines, and will 

 show their anxiety by coming out of the hive in clusters, 

 during the latter part of their confinement. If, in addition 

 to this, the cellar is damp, the comb will mould; and when 

 taken out, some colonies may desert (407, 663) their hives. 



653. Great loss may be incurred in replacing, upon their 

 Summer stands, the colonies which have been kept in special 

 depositories. Unless the day when they are put out is very 

 favorable, many will be lost when they fly to discharge their 

 fseces. In movable-frame hives, this risk can be greatly 

 diminished, by removing the cover from the frames, and allow- 

 ing the sun to shine directly upon the bees; this will warm 

 them up so quickly, that they will all discharge their fseces in 

 a very short time. 



