IN-DOOR WINTERING. 345 



In-door Wintering. 



645. In some parts of Europe, it is customary to winter 

 all the bees of a village in a common vault or cellar. Dzier- 

 zon says : 



"A dry cellar is very well adapted for wintering bees, even 

 though it is not wholly secure from frost ; the temperature will 

 be much milder, and more uniform than in the open air; the bees 

 will be more secure from disturbance, and will be protected from 

 the piercing cold winds, which cause more injury than the 

 greatest degree of cold when the air is calm. 



'■ Universal experience teaches that the more eifectually bees 

 are protected from disturbance and from the variations of tem- 

 perature, the better will they pass the Winter, the less will they 

 consume of their stores, and the more vigorous and numerous 

 will they be in the Spring. I have, therefore, constructed a 

 special Winter repository for my bees, near my Apiary. It is 

 weather-boarded both outside and within, and the intervening 

 space is filled with hay or tan, etc. ; the ground and plat enclosed 

 is dug out to the depth of three or four feet, so as to secure a 

 more moderate and equitable temperature. When my hives are 

 placed in this depository, and the door locked, the darkness, 

 uniform temperature, and entire repose the bees enjoy, enable 

 them to pass the Winter securely. I usually place here my 

 weaker colonies, and those whose hives are not made of the 

 warmest materials, and tliey always do well. If such a structure 

 is to be partly underground, a very dry site must be selected for 

 it." 



In Russia, bee-keepers dig a, well from twenty to twenty- 

 five feet deep, and six or eight feet wide. The hives, 

 which, there, are hollow trees, are then piled horizontally 

 upon one another, like cord-wood, with one end open. The 

 well is filled to within six feet of the top, and a shed, made 

 of straw, is built above. The bees are left there during 

 the five or six months of Winter. 



In some other countries, they are kept in caves, aban- 

 doned mines, or any under-ground place near at hand. 



