The Bee-Keeper's Underground Cellar
A local apiarist shares his experimental method for keeping bees alive through the cold Washington winters using subterranean chambers.
The story, cleaned up
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An interesting and valuable experience in the wintering of bees underground is that of the practical apiarian, Mr. G. M. Doolittle. In a dry, gravelly piece of ground facing the east, he dug about thirty feet, so that the back end was ten feet deep. He walled it with stone and mortar, covered it with a roof and three feet of dry earth, and added multiple doors to create dead air spaces for insulation. He found that ventilation was unnecessary and that his bees fared better with the cellar shut tight. To handle dead bees and moisture on the floor, he scatters two bushels of sawdust every month, keeping the space clean and odorless.
“On no one point did I ever go with more caution or more 'fear and trembling' than on this ventilation matter.”
While modern beekeeping has moved away from deep underground cellars, the struggle to help pollinators survive Washington's damp, unpredictable winters remains a central challenge for local hobbyists and industrial beekeepers alike.
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