922 
WINTERING IN CELLARS 
Some consider it essential to remove the 
bottom of the hives entirely. Others con¬ 
sider it good practice to have a deep space 
under the frames by raising the hive off 
the bottom in front and supporting it there 
by a couple of blocks. But some disastrous 
results in wintering seem to show that too 
much bottom ventilation is bad unless the 
cellar is kept at a temperature of about 60 
degrees and thoroly ventilated. The author 
uniformly secured the best results with a 
reasonably small entrance, or one about the 
size used during the fall or late spring. The 
larger the colony, of course the larger the 
entrance that will be required. In the case 
of a strong, populous colony the entrance 
should be % inch deep by the full width of 
the hive. The colonies of medium strength 
should have the entrance reduced accord¬ 
ingly. 
INSPECTING THE BEES DURING MIDWINTER; 
AND DEAD BEES ON. THE CELLAR BOTTOM. 
Experience has proved that, when the 
temperature is maintained at 45 degrees, 
very little attention need be paid to the 
bees, especially in the fore part of the win¬ 
ter. But during the last month or two of 
confinement the bees require watching more 
carefully; for if they get to roaring many 
of them will be lost. It then becomes nec¬ 
essary to make frequent examination to de¬ 
termine the temperature and the quality of 
the air. It will also happen, perhaps, 
that a good many dead bees will be found 
on the cellar bottom. While this is not 
necessarily a cause for alarm, it is not as 
it should be. If the cellar and temperature 
are right there will be very few dead bees; 
but if they accumulate, their dead bodies 
should not be allowed to taint the cellar, but 
should be swept up perhaps every two or 
three weeks and removed. 
A disposition to roar should be met by 
more ventilation, and at the same time the 
temperature should be reduced. If all the 
colonies in the cellar should become uneasy 
during midwinter it is evident that some¬ 
thing must be done at once or the whole 
lot of bees will be lost. They ought not to 
become uneasy until late in the spring. If 
they can not be quieted by infusion of 
fresh air, it may be best to give the uneasy 
colonies 'a flight on the first warm day by 
setting them outdoors and letting them 
stay there for 24 hours or until they can 
clean themselves. Dysentery or diarrhea 
in the bee-cellar is generally the result of 
too much cold air or too high a tempera¬ 
ture, either of which will induce too large 
a consumption of stores; and where bees 
are not able to void their feces, the intes¬ 
tines become distended, resulting in 
purging. A colony so affected should be 
removed as soon as a warm day comes and 
given a flight, when it may be put back. 
WHEN TO PUT BEES IN THE CELLAR, AND 
WHEN TO TAKE THEM OUT. 
This is a question that depends entirely 
on locality. Most bees go into the cellar 
in the northern States from the middle of 
November until the middle of December; 
but usually it is advisable to have all bees in 
before Christmas. As to when the bees 
should be taken out of the cellar, authorities 
differ. Some set them out in March, and 
then put on winter cases. Others believe it is 
better policy to keep bees in late or until the 
last cold weather is past, and then set them 
out. The author advises taking the golden 
mean, waiting until the time natural pollen 
comes. But when bees are uneasy in the cel¬ 
lar it is advised to set them out earlier than 
would be done otherwise. 
TIME OF DAY TO TAKE BEES OUT. 
The old plan for taking bees from a cel¬ 
lar in the spring was to wait until fairly 
settled warm weather had come, and then 
on some warm bright day all the colonies 
were removed at once. The difficulty with 
this method is that the bees are likely to 
become badly mixed, owing to their eager 
flight without carefully marking the loca¬ 
tion. This results in a bad state of affairs, 
and should be avoided. Another method, 
followed to some extent, is to put some of 
the colonies out during an evening when all 
appearances indicate that it will be warm 
and bright the next day. A third of them, 
perhaps, are taken out, and these fly quite 
well the next day. The next evening an¬ 
other third is removed, and the last third 
the night following. The objection to this 
plan is that the bees removed first get to 
flying well and then start to rob colonies 
taken out later, thus making a fearful 
uproar. 
E. W. Alexandei", in Gleanings in Bee 
