248 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE- 



flood, and they were as active as if they had just swarmed therein. 

 I cannot tell from whence they came. But with these experiments 

 health is too much interfered with. The question with us is not 

 what extremes of heat, or what extremes of cold, bees can best en- 

 dure, but how can we best protect our bees by adiuinistering to 

 their wants that they may best serve ours. Heat may be produced 

 and conserved in various ways. A full stomach is as good as an 

 extra blanket. That man who has put up his bees for winter, and 

 has given them a sufficiency of food and a little over, has taken the 

 bull by the horns — the first and best step of producing and keep- 

 ing the required warmth in his hive during the winter months. The 

 hive itself should be free from open joints and cracks. Ventilation 

 in winter is as requisite as in summer, but not to the same extent ; 

 but then that ventilation must be systematic and judicious. The 

 bees, by their constant breathing, will keep the oxygen in circula- 

 tion. There must therefore be a means of escape of the heated air 

 so that the fresh invigorating air may take its place and so benefit 

 the inmates of the hive. 



The numerical strength of the colony is another important lac- 

 tor in producing and retaining the warmth of the stock. When 

 bees cluster closely together, they are in a condition to maintain 

 about 65 degrees of heat in winter, and if a closely fitting division 

 board has been inserted so as to keejD the bees and their supplies 

 handy and well together, the outer circle of bees will be as warm 

 as those in the centre of the cluster. On the other hand, if the 

 space they occupy be too large, there will be a greater amount of 

 mortality than if they have only sufficient room and no more. 

 Empty or unused combs should be most religiously removed. 

 These absorb heat, and that is so much taken from the inmates. 

 Even if they do not absorb the heat, they will absorb moisture, and 

 mildew, thus militating against the health of the colony. 



Paper is a first-class non-conductor of heat ; therefore, in our 

 coldest districts, if the hives are lined with cardboard, and sheets 

 of paper placed over the top bars, it would conduce greatly in re- 

 taining the natural heat of the bees. Further, outside protection 

 should by no means be neglected, but whatever material be tised 

 it must be impervious to rain. 



If the hives have flat tops, a sheet of well-trimmed bark half 

 as long and broad again as the hive may be used. It should be 

 well and evenly weighted down, or fastened, to prevent the wind 

 blowing it off. In exposed situations it would be well not to use 

 weights, but drive in a couple of stout pegs at each side of the hive, 



