Wintering Bees in CellarsPhillips, Everett Franklin
Science
Wintering Bees in Cellars
Phillips, Everett Franklin
Bee culture
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 (fig. 3). 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.
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