_Danvers, Mass._, Sept. 10, 1870.
* * * * *
Intelligent practice is very different from blind practice; or, in other
words, practice preceded by a sound theory is evidently far superior to
practice without theory.--TALBOT.
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Ventilating the Gallup Hive in a Damp Cellar.
The cellar of my house is nearly underground. Its size is 38 × 28 × 7
feet, inside measure. The temperature during the winter is usually 38°
F., with occasional extremes of 35° and 41°. It is damp, and not
specially ventilated. A stairway from the porch and one from the
kitchen, furnish all the air; the latter being very much used during
winter time. In this cellar I have usually wintered some of my bees, for
many years--trying various methods and different kinds of hives, with
the result always, till last winter, of more or less mouldy combs. I
then had among the lot four strong stocks and Gallup hives. These I had
setting up three feet from the ground, with caps and honey-boards
removed, and the loose top cover laid directly on the hives; and by
means of hard wood wedges pushed in between the lower edges of the hives
and the bottom-boards, and also between the upper edges and the top
covers, I gave them one-eighth of an inch air all round the hives, above
and below, except six inches in length at the entrance, where I gave
them one-fourth of an inch, so that the bees could get out. In this
condition the hives were left all winter. The bees remained very quiet,
humming almost inaudibly, and paying little attention to the light of a
candle which was carried in many times a day. Scarcely any came out to
die; and not over half a teacupful died in each hive. They consumed
comparatively little honey, and when the hives were examined after being
set out in the spring, the combs were all dry and free from mould. In my
experience absorbents used on a hive in a cellar have always caused
combs to mould. Who would think of laying on top of his hives a damp
straw mat, or a pile of damp corncobs? And yet it is all about the same
thing. Give the proper amount of air, and let it pass off unobstructed.
I shall try a larger number of hives the coming winter. Many thanks to
Gallup.