WINTERING. 



Flies, as is well known, will secrete them- 

 selves in window-frames and other hiding- 

 places, subject to cold atmosphere, for weel\S 

 at a time, and yet revive on exposure to 

 warmth. As is well known, also, ants have 

 been repeatedly dug out of logs, frozen solid 

 —in fact, fairly enveloped in frost; yet on 

 exposure to warmth they will come to. 8ome ; 

 hibernators can endure a freezing tempera- [ 

 ture, while others, like the bear, woodchuck, 

 and the like, can not. Other very interest- < 

 ing incidents maybe taken from natnral his 

 lory; but the puri)ose of this article is to 

 consider whether bees go into a quiescent 

 state that approaches hibernation, in which ' 

 there is low respiration and a small con- 

 sumption of stores. 



Two or three years ago we put a number 

 of cages of bees with some queens (laying 

 the cages down on cakes of ice) in a re- 

 frigerator. The bees were chilled to abso- 

 lute stiffness. Every day we would take out 

 a cage, and each time the bees would revive, 

 including the queen. This thing was con- 

 tinued for several days, and yet the bees 

 would " come to " each time. 



The strange part of it was, that the queens 

 went on laying normally when put back in 

 the hives, instead of laying drone eggs as 

 we expected. Just what the temperature 

 to which these bees were subjected was we 

 can not say — probably something below 40 

 and something above 85, for the doors of the 

 refrigerator were frequently opened, and tlie 

 ice was constantly melting. 



During one winter, when a very cold snap 

 came on— the temperature going down to 

 zero— we put out some cages of bees, expos- 

 ing them to the cold wind, which was then 

 blowing a pretty good gale, when the tem- 

 perature was 5 above zero. We had expected 

 that the bees possibly might be able to sur- 

 vive the shock for a number of hours, and 

 yet revive ; but 20 minutes of zero freezing 

 was sufficient to kill them outright. If we 

 had taken the bees and gradually acclimatiz- 

 ed them to the cold, first subjecting them to 

 40, then to 35, and gradually down to the 

 zero point, they would possibly have with- 

 stood the shock. 



When the weather warmed up a little we 

 took several cages of bees and buried them 

 in the snow, leaving with them a thermom- 

 eter so that we might know the absolute 

 temperature. We went out and got a cage 

 of bees about every two or three hours, and 

 we found that we could revive them without 

 difficulty; but at the end of 24 hours the 

 bees, when they "came to," seemed some- 



.500 WINTERING. 



what the worse for the expeiience. The 

 temperature in the snow played aroinid tlie 

 32 mark. But the experiments conducted 

 during the summer would seem to show that 

 bees might stand a temperature of 38 for a 

 number of days. 



We know it to be a fact tliat the bees on 

 the outside of the ball or cluster, in an out- 

 do(U"-wintered colony, will often be chilled 

 stiff while those inside have almost a blood 

 temperature. It has occurred to us that, 

 during very severe weather, the outside bees 

 may be gradually replaced by those within 

 the cluster; for we know the bees are in con- 

 stant movement. Experiments show that a 

 starved bee will not stand as much cold as 

 one that is well filled. Bee-keepers who have 

 had any experience in wintering outdoors 

 know how repeatedly thay have taken clus- 

 ters of bees that seemed to be frozen stiff, 

 yet when warmed up before a good fire would 

 revive and appear as lively as ever. 



In view of the experiments we have thus 

 far conducted, it would appear that bees 

 might be able to stand a temperature of 40, 

 or slightly below that, for a number of days; 

 but if a warm spell does not come within a 

 week, or less, those bees in their chilled con- 

 dition may starve to death. But if it warms 

 up, the cluster will unfold and the bees take 

 food, and so be ready for another " freeze." 

 The authors have repeatedly seen clusters of 

 bees, after a zero spell, lasting a couple of 

 weeks, that were stone dead; but the honey 

 had been eaten from all around them wilhin 

 a radius of an inch or more. If a zero spell 

 of weather continues more than a week or 

 ten days, we always find some of the weaker 

 colonies frozen to death in the spring. 



There are some interesting phenomena in 

 connection with chilled bees — their quiescent 

 sleep, their low respiration, their light con- 

 sumption of stores— that simulates a condi- 

 tion of semi hibernation. The bee in a 

 chilled condition can go only a few days 

 without food, while a bear, a true hiberna- 

 tnr, may go all winter. When the tempera- 

 ture of a bee-cellar goes up to 60 or 60 the 

 bees are active. Their respiration is normal. 

 They must have ventilation, or die in large 

 numbers. If we can maintain a tempera- 

 ture down to 45, with slight variation, there 

 is a gtate of sleep where the respiration is 

 ver low, food consumption slight, and con- 

 sequently fresh air is not needed, or not more 

 than what will percolate through the walls 

 of the repository. 



There is a i)ractical side to this matter; 

 for if we can induce semi-hibernation or 



