WINTERING IN CELLARS 
916 
Fig. 2.—This is a bee-cellar belonging to Leonard Griggs. Flint, Mich. It is a type of an above¬ 
ground cellar embodying the ideas of David Running. The cellar proper extends into the ground about 
3 feet. Then there is. a three-foot embankment about 3 feet wide around the upper part of the cellar. 
The ceiling is covered with about 3 feet of sawdust. To keep the side embankments dry and frost-proof 
the roof extends entirely over the cellar, and the embankment, except in front; and Mr. Griggs thought 
it would be a good idea to cover this also. He has been uniformly successful in wintering bees in this 
cellar. 
and can not be expected to give good re¬ 
sults. 
On. account of the difficulty in obtain¬ 
ing proper drainage it is not essential, the 
same authority says, that the whole cellar 
be submerged 2V 2 to 3 feet below the gen¬ 
eral surface of the ground to get below the 
frost-line. In the great majority of cases 
the cellar will have to be partly above 
ground and partly below. But the impor¬ 
tant thing to remember is that the part 
above the general level must be protected 
by three or four feet of embankment, of 
dry earth. The ceiling of the cellar proper 
must be covered with at least three or four 
feet of dry earth or sawdust. Mr. Run¬ 
ning has a workshop directly above his bee- 
cellar, making only a foot of sawdust above 
the cellar ceiling necessary. In order to 
keep the side embankments dry as well as 
the space over the cellar proper, it is im¬ 
portant that the roof itself cover not only 
the width of the actual inclosure, hut the 
embankment at the sides and ends. A wet 
or frozen embankment means a low tem¬ 
perature in the cellar and that is often 
fatal. 
Mr. Running told the author that he be¬ 
lieved he could winter bees in a properly 
constructed winter bee-cellar even in Ten¬ 
nessee or in any of the southern States 
with a great saving of stores. “For,” he 
said, “it is acknowledged that where bees 
can fly one or more times during every 
week of the winter they will consume from 
two to three times the amount that bees in 
the North will eat.” He would put them 
where the inside temperature of the cluster 
would be at the point of the least activity, 
or 57 degrees F. See Temperature. 
Regarding the amount of ventilation, 
our Michigan friend has been successful in 
the use of one ventilator, about 9 by 13 
inches, in the back end of the bee-cellar, 
extending thru the roof, and surmounted 
at the top by a chimney. This shaft should 
extend down to the level of the cellar floor. 
This is for the outlet of foul air. The 
inlet consists of a sewer pipe running un¬ 
der ground, opening into the front end of 
the cellar. Altho he has not used it, he be¬ 
lieves it would be an advantage to have the 
inlet of this sub-earth ventilator continue 
in a vertical pipe to within a few inches 
of the ceiling. This would bring about a 
thoro circulation of air from top to bot¬ 
tom. 
An electric fan can very often be used 
to good advantage, where electric current 
is available, to force fresh air into a cel¬ 
lar; or, better, foul air out of the cellar. 
The entrance to the Running cellar is ef¬ 
fected by double (or better, triple) doors 
thru a narrow passageway leading from the 
