Read Ebook: Wintering Bees in Cellars by Demuth Geo S George S Phillips Everett Franklin

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ared do his bees have less than 15 pounds of stores in the hive, and the full amount of 45 pounds often will all be used, and is always needed if the colonies are to come to full strength on time for the gathering of the full crop. This amount is always augmented by honey from spring flowers, for 45 pounds of honey is not enough to bring a colony to full strength in time for the main honey-flow.

ARRANGEMENT OF THE APIARY.

Where bees are wintered in cellars the particular arrangement of the hives in the apiary is not so important a problem as where they are wintered on their summer stands, yet there are certain important considerations in the arrangement of the entire apiary which should be kept in mind.

WIND PROTECTION.

It is important that a place be chosen where the bees will be protected from cold winds in the spring after they are taken from the cellar and again in the fall before they are taken to the cellar. A grove of trees or an adjacent hill usually offers the best protection, or it is possible to make an artificial windbreak such as a high fence. A natural windbreak usually is better, for it is more extensive in most cases. Too much reliance should not be placed in buildings, for often they merely divert the wind slightly and may make conditions worse. A fence made of close boards usually is unsatisfactory, for it causes whirls.

DISTANCE OF THE APIARY FROM THE CELLAR.

To carry colonies of bees a long distance from the apiary to the cellar is not an easy task, even though the hives be light at that time of the year. It is best, therefore, that the apiary be located not more than 50 yards from the cellar, and even this distance is objectionable. If a special cellar is built for the bees, the apiary should be so located that the cellar may be built immediately adjacent. If the bees are to be wintered in the cellar under the beekeeper's residence, the apiary should be located as near as possible to the cellar door.

THE BEE CELLAR.

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 1-1/2 to 2 square feet of floor surface for each colony, on the assumption that the colonies will be placed in piles of four . It is not desirable to pile hives higher than this, if the cellar roof is 6-1/2 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 2-1/2 feet below the level of the ground . The ceiling should be 6-1/2 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 1-1/2 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.

PUTTING THE BEES INTO THE CELLAR.

Before the bees are carried into the cellar it should be well aired and cleaned, and it will be well to keep it open for several days beforehand. No debris or refuse should be left in the cellar when the bees are taken in.

TIME.

For zone 1 it is usually desirable to wait until about the middle of November before putting the bees into winter quarters. If one could know exactly when the bees would have the last opportunity for a cleansing flight, they would be put into the cellar just after that, but we can not always be sure that there will be suitable weather for such flight in late November, and there is, therefore, considerable doubt every year as to just the right time to put the bees away. Frequently it happens that the weather is suitable for a flight about November 20, and it is best to wait until then before attempting to put the bees in the cellar. The flight of only a few bees from the hive should not be construed as a cleansing flight. In this connection it is highly desirable that the beekeeper keep a careful watch of the weather maps daily, so that he may know at all times about what weather may be expected for a few days in advance. For the beekeeper's purpose the daily forecasts published in newspapers are scarcely enough; and if no daily weather maps are convenient near by, it will repay the beekeeper well to subscribe for them. They are valuable not only at the time of putting the bees into the cellar but at many other times of the year.

Soon after a period when the barometric pressure has been low, bringing high temperatures suitable for flights , there usually will be a period when the barometric pressure is high, bringing lower, temperatures. At the shifting from low to high barometric pressure there is frequently a time when it is cloudy. This is a fine time to put the bees into the cellar. These periods of high and low barometric pressure follow each other with rather marked regularity in the fall, and it is rather safe to assume that just at the end of the well-defined low pressure which next follows after November 15 is the best time to put the bees into the cellar. It is better to put the bees in the cellar a week or so before the last opportunity for flight than to put them in after exposure to cold which is not followed by a cleansing flight.

For zone 2 it will be desirable to put the bees away a little earlier, although the oncoming of winter is not so much earlier in the North as one might imagine.

HOW TO CARRY THE BEES.

When one person carries the bees into the cellar the best method is to stand at the back of the hive and grasp the bottom of the hive with both hands. The hive is then lifted and the cover brought up against the chest firmly, permitting the operator to walk without interference and with a minimum of stooping. If there are cleats on the ends of the hive bodies, those may be rested on the forearms, although with this method there is some danger that the bottoms will drop off unless they are stapled.

If the temperature is sufficiently low , there will be no need of closing the entrances when the bees are being carried in. Every care should be taken not to jar the hives more than is absolutely necessary from the time that they are lifted until they are in their final place in the cellar.

If more than one person is engaged in carrying in the hives, the hives may be placed carefully on carriers with handles, and two or more of them may be carried at one time.

HOW TO STACK THE HIVES.

The bottom hive in a pile should rest on an empty hive body or some other such support of about that size . The hives then should be placed one on top of the other until they are four high. It is best by far to put each pile of four hives about 6 inches from adjacent piles, so that in handling the hives on one pile there is no disturbance of bees in other piles. Allowance is made for this space between the piles of hives in the estimate of the floor space needed for each colony .

MAINTENANCE OF THE CELLAR DURING THE WINTER.

If the cellar is properly constructed it will need little if any care during the time that the bees are inside. It is only the poor bee cellar which requires constant attention to prevent changes in temperature.

TEMPERATURE OF THE CELLAR.

There has been much discussion as to the best temperature of the cellar during the winter. Commonly it is stated that a temperature of 40? to 45? F. is best, but this is colder than usually is best for the finest results. A temperature below 40? F. is invariably bad for the bees, and a cellar in which the temperature goes as low as freezing is not a fit place for bees.

It has been found by the authors that bees do the least amount of work when the temperature of the air immediately surrounding them stands at 57? F. This is, therefore, the temperature which the beekeeper should bear in mind, rather than to lay too much stress on the temperature of the cellar itself. The place for a thermometer in the bee cellar is inside the entrance of a good colony where it may be read easily by simply pulling it out. A chemical thermometer is best for this purpose, and it should register 52? F. or more inside the hive entrance. In order to have the right temperature within the hive it usually will be best to have the temperature of the cellar at about 50? F. or slightly higher. As will be shown later, however, it is quite possible to have the right temperature within the hive when the temperature of the cellar is a few degrees lower than that stated.

If the beekeeper will pay attention to the temperature of the interior of the hive he will find that in colder cellars it is desirable to give the hives some insulation to conserve the heat generated by the bees in much the same way that this heat is conserved when bees are packed outdoors, although the amount of protection will be much less. In a cellar where the temperature falls to 45? F. it will be found best to have the covers of the hives sealed on tightly and the entrances reduced to 3/8 inch by 2 inches. In a cellar with a temperature of 50? F. or more the entrances may be left open the full width of the hive. If there is a tendency for the temperature to fall to 45? F. or less, the tops of the hives may be protected by cushions of chaff or other materials placed at least on the top of the uppermost hives, for each of the lower three hives is protected somewhat by the one above it.

It will be impossible to maintain the temperatures recommended unless the cellar is built in the way described, or in some other way by which the cellar is equally well insulated. It is impossible to maintain an equable and high temperature in a cellar the walls and ceiling of which are exposed to the outside air.

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