The Care of Bees in Winter 
355 
to remove the moisture so that condensed moisture will 
never be observed on the bottom boards. If moisture con¬ 
denses on the covers only it does no harm. Since adequate 
ventilation without too great a reduction in temperature is 
difficult without artificial heat, this is an additional argu¬ 
ment in favor of using the cellar under the residence for the 
bees. 
Colonies should not be put into the cellar until all brood 
has emerged and until all the young bees have had a chance 
to fly to void their feces. There is a growing tendency at 
present to put the colonies in early and this is to be com¬ 
mended. After a good flight and after the bees are clustered, 
the hives should be carried in with the least possible dis¬ 
turbance. They may be piled one above the other as high 
as convenient for lifting (Fig. 144) and the tiers should be 
separated by alleys wide enough for convenient passage. 
During the winter, dead bees should be removed from the 
floor as well as from the; bottom boards (with the minimum 
disturbance) and a careful watch should be kept that the 
bees do not become excited by too low or too high a tempera¬ 
ture. A reliable thermometer is practically necessary in 
good cellar wintering and the use of a sling psychrometer 
(wet and dry bulb thermometer) to determine the relative 
humidity of the air in the cellar is recommended. If the 
bees remain in proper condition they may profitably be left 
in the cellar until rather favorable weather arrives in the 
spring. If dysentery develops they may require earlier 
removal. 
It is obviously impossible to give definite dates for putting 
bees in the cellar or for taking them out. This the beekeeper 
must determine according to the climatic conditions and, 
of course, the dates may vary from year to year. Perhaps 
the best advice is to put bees in the cellar immediately after 
the last good flight in November. Naturally one cannot be 
sure that bees will get a flight late in the month. It is also 
not desirable to leave the bees outside waiting for a flight 
which may not come, for feces accumulate rapidly in such 
