In order that the beekeeper may have reason to expect success in cellar wintering, it is imperative that he give careful consideration to the construction of the bee cellar. There has been a tendency among beekeepers greatly to overestimate the value of their own cellars, and especially to assume that the conditions which they are able to get in their cellars are exactly correct.

CELLAR UNDER THE RESIDENCE.

Some of the best bee cellars are those under the residences of beekeepers, and in general such a cellar is better than one built especially for cellar wintering. This is because the temperature of such a cellar usually is quite a little higher than that in a specially constructed repository. The best results in cellar wintering have been obtained in cellars under residences which are heated by furnaces, thus having a higher cellar temperature. In such a cellar provision must be made for partitioning off a space where the bees will be located so that there is no light or other disturbing factor during the time of their confinement. Since a cellar temperature about 50° F. is desirable, it is well to choose a part of the cellar through which some of the furnace pipes run, and if this results in too high a temperature these pipes may be insulated somewhat. It is best to choose a part of the cellar where there are no windows and where the outside walls are thoroughly protected to the top, either by a bank of soil or in some other fashion. This will result in a more equable temperature than is possible in a cellar exposed to sudden changes of temperature on the outside walls, for even a stone wall 18 inches thick will allow a considerable amount of heat to escape. In a cellar under a residence there will be abundant ventilation without any special provision being made for this. A test of the value of such a cellar is the even temperature which may be obtained, as will be discussed later.

SPECIAL WINTER REPOSITORY.

If properly constructed and protected, a special cellar or cave for the bees gives the best possible results in wintering, yet few such cellars have been built, for the reason that most beekeepers have omitted some vitally important factors. The usual fault is in having too great a variation in temperature and in giving excessive ventilation, which in turn causes fluctuations in temperature.

SOIL AND CONTOUR OF THE SURFACE OF THE GROUND.

To provide good drainage and adequate ventilation for the bee cellar without making any special ventilators, it is desirable to build it in a sandy hillside. If it is possible to choose a place for the cellar where the snow drifts deeply, this will afford a valuable addition to the insulation of the cellar. If the cellar is on level ground, drifting of snow may be increased by the proper building of open fences, such as are used to prevent drifting over railway tracks.

If it is impossible to utilize a sandy hillside, it will be necessary to build walls and a floor for the cellar and to make adequate provision for the drainage of the cellar. The hillside cellar has, the great advantage of having easy drainage.

CAPACITY OF THE CELLAR.

If the bees are kept in apiaries of perhaps 100 colonies and if a cellar is built for each apiary, then it is possible to build a cellar of just the right capacity. If a central cellar is built for all the apiaries and the bees in outapiaries are brought into the home apiary for winter, the beekeeper will wish to build the cellar sufficiently large for future expansion of his business, and beekeepers are finding out, that they can keep many more colonies of bees than they formerly thought possible. Perhaps the better plan is to have a cellar in each apiary.

The usual practice is to allow 1½ to 2 square feet of floor surface for each colony, on the assumption that the colonies will be placed in piles of four (fig. 2). It is not desirable to pile hives higher than this, if the cellar roof is 6½ feet high in the clear, and it is difficult to lift heavy hives any higher than the number specified. For an apiary of 100 colonies, it will be found desirable to have a cellar 10 feet wide and from 15 to 20 feet long, clear of the inner walls. If one is just getting a start in beekeeping he should build his cellar on the assumption that later he will increase the number of his colonies, and should allow for this, for it is better to have the cellar too large than too small.

WALLS AND FLOOR.

It has been claimed by many beekeepers that concrete walls and floor are not desirable, yet if the cellar is properly insulated there is no better material. If the cellar is built in a hillside of sandy soil, wooden sides will be satisfactory and no floor other than the soil need be provided. In such soil the drainage is good and the only function of the side walls is to hold the sides up to prevent caving in. In a moist soil a concrete floor and walls should be built, and the concrete should be waterproof. Under no circumstances should any of the side walls below the ceiling be exposed above ground.

ROOF.

The ceiling of the cellar should be below ground level sufficiently to bring it below the level of frost. For the regions where bees should be wintered in cellars this usually will be at least 2½ feet below the level of the ground (fig. 3). The ceiling should be 6½ feet above the floor, just sufficiently high to permit a tall man to work with comfort. If the ceiling is higher it will result usually in too low a temperature at the floor. The ceiling then should be covered completely on top with some insulating material, such as sawdust, and if sawdust is used it should be piled on about 1½ feet thick. Unless about this amount of protection is given on the ceiling it will be impossible to get the right cellar temperature during the coldest part of the winter. If the cellar is built in a sandy soil, it is possible to use the soil as a cover for the ceiling, in which event about 3 feet of soil should be placed over the inner roof of the cellar. The entire insulating material, of whatever kind used, should then be protected from rain and snow by having a roof over it. This roof should project at least 2 feet, preferably more, beyond the outside of the cellar wall, and provision should be made for currying off the water from the roof.

In case the beekeeper desires to build an apiary house over the bee, cellar, as is done frequently, he must provide a floor for this house at least at ground level, and he can not successfully use the ceiling of the cellar as the floor of the upper house. There is no objection to building a house above the cellar if adequate protection is given the cellar, but it must not be assumed that the house offers any material insulation to the cellar, for in most cases these houses are not heated in the winter. The relation of the house floor to the ceiling of the cellar is shown in figure 3.

ENTRANCE TO THE CELLAR.

Frequently the entrance is a weak spot in the insulation of the cellar, and it is useless to protect the roof and sides unless care is used in the building of the entrance. If the entrance is at the end or one side of the cellar, it will be necessary to build a sort of vestibule with double doors so that the heat of the cellar will not be lost rapidly. The heavier and thicker these doors, the better for the bees.

The best type of vestibule is a long, narrow passage lending into the hillside, and it should be closed by doors at both the inside and outside ends. If possible the vestibule should be built and protected so that the temperature within the vestibule will never fall below freezing. In the building of the vestibule, also, the beekeeper should consider the ease with which the bees may be carried in and out of the cellar.

DRAINAGE.

As has been mentioned previously, the cellar must be well drained, either by natural or by artificial means. No stagnant water should be allowed to remain in the cellar, although at the higher temperatures of the best cellars this does less harm than it does in cellars that are too cold. Some beekeepers have advocated having a stream of water flowing through the cellar, and this will do no harm in warm cellars, and it may serve to assist somewhat in maintaining an even temperature.

VENTILATION.

One of the most serious faults of bee cellars is in providing for too much ventilation, resulting in great fluctuations in temperature. In a cellar which maintains a temperature of 50° F. or more there is little need for ventilation, for the Was then need little oxygen and only a small amount of carbon dioxide is given off. Other things being equal, the colder the cellar, the greater the need of ventilation. If poor stores are in the hives, the bees will need more ventilation than will be desirable when good stores are used. In a warm cellar in a sandy hillside no ventilating shaft need be built.

In any event, one shaft 6 inches square running through the ceiling of the cellar to the outside will be sufficient for any cellar that is fit for the wintering of bees. During the coldest part of the winter the interchange of air between the inside of the cellar and the outside will be materially increased by the great difference in temperature and this one ventilator may be entirely or nearly closed. During the milder weather of the fall and spring this amount of ventilation will do no harm. The top of the ventilating shaft, which should extend at least 6 feet above the outer roof, may be painted black in order to induce greater movement of air when the sun shines. The shaft should be so arranged that it does not admit light to the cellar.