Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1908-12-12
CARE OF BEES IN CELLAR
Temperature Must Be Even and
Ventilation Perfect or Little
Workers Will Perish.
By F. G. HERMAN, NEW JERSEY.

By F. G. HERMAN, NEW JERSEY.
1t matters very little how a cellar is
built, providing it accomplishes the
purpose for which it is intended-that
is, keeping uniform temperature in
side, no matter what are the changes
outside, as this is the one great es-
sential for the perfect wintering OF
bees.
If the cellar under your house can be
partitioned off SO that the apartment
for the bees need not be disturbed by
the constant going after vegetables,
etc, and SO that an even tempera-
. ture can be maintained, such cellar
is equally as good as an outside cellar.
1t is very important that the cellar
should be dry, so that no moisture or
drops of water ever collect on the walls
or hives; my experience is that the
Temperature should be kept between 4S
and 4s degrees.
/ am coming to think more and more
that the matter of ventilation is i'm
portant, as my bees winter In splendid
condition. Bees will be more quiet in
a higher temperature the fore part of
the winter than during the latter part;
therefore the cellar, which will cool off
a little as the winter advances Is much
the best.
During winter the bees cluster below
quite a portion of the stores, thereby
keeping the honey warm and of easy
access: the most compact form and
normal cluster can be maintained. In
cellar wintering give a large opening
at the bottom, so all the dead bees can
be easily carried out, and not clog the
entrance.
Where they have small entrance
the bees that die in the hive drop down
and clog the entrance, and the live
bees find themselves shut in; they be-
come weary and restless and eat more,
which causes them to become diseased
and die, The dead bees remaining in
the hive would decay, often causing the
death OF the whole colony.
Many are often puzzled to know how
much honey colony should have in
the hive on Oct. list to insure safety
rs regards stores, so they will not be
liable to starve.
After years of experimenting along
this. line, I now allow from twenty to
twenty-five pounds of honey to each
stand, and from fifteen to twenty
pounds for those which are to be win
tered in. the cellar.
If any lack in stores then take from
those colonies having more than is
needed, to supply the deficiency in 9TH
ers. A Hoffman frame filled full will
hold not far from six pounds.
The best time suited for removing
the bees to the cellar cannot be given
exactly, but only approximately. 1t
must vary according to the latitude and
the weather.
The first real cold spell, after warm
day, toward the latter part of Novem
Der, has always proven best. We want
a cold day because the bees are less
apt to fly about and worry the OPP
orator; and we want this to be as
nearly following a warm day as posi-
BILE, because on that warm day the bees
have had a chance to empty their bow
els and feel fresh and yet quiet.
The longer you wait after the wealth
er has turned cold the more chance
there will be of the bees having be-
gun to eat and load their abdomens
with food.
When they are once confined in the
proper repository, their consumption is
exceedingly limited, and they can stay
month after month without stirring, if
The food they do consume is of good
quality.
The bottom boards should be loos-
ened a day or two beforehand. If the
colonies are very strong, some will be
found with the cluster resting on the
bottom board. In such cases the front
of the hive must be blocked up an
inch or two for q time till the cluster
contracts.
When the bees are in a cellar the
evenness of the temperature under
proper conditiosn, enables them to con-
sumo a minimum quality of food, and
they stand much longer confinement
with ease, if the food is right, than
when out of doors.
The reader will readily see that the
best winter food is to be found in the
very best grades of honey. In the
mild winter anything will do, for If the
bees are not confined they have moth
ing to fear.
When the crop is short, if good honey
cannot be had in sufficient quantity
the artificial supply may be provided
by adding sugar strip to certain
quantity of honey, and very good feed
may be made by using a mixture COM
posed in the following proportions
Sugar, so: water, rs; honey, %. The wa.
ter is first heated ito the boiling point
then the sugar is thrown in, and afte,
it has slightly cooled the honey Is
added.
For colony to live in either moist
or cold atmosphere is at the expense
of it's vitality. If by an upward cur.
rent the moisture is carried off, cor.
responding evil presents itself in {
lower temperature; and although
strong coloniA- may survive these con.
ditions, fatalities will frequently occu,
among the weaker ones.