6 FARMERS” BULLETIN 695. 
LACK OF STORES. 
A common cause of the death of colonies in winter is starvation, 
which is more certainly due to carelessness on the part of the bee- 
keeper than is unnecessary heat-production. The greater the neces- 
sity for heat-production, the more necessary it becomes for every 
colony to have an abundance of stores of good quality. The amount 
required varies with the length of the winter, and also with the 
amount of heat which is generated. It is, of course, necessary also 
to provide or leave stores enough for brood-rearing in late winter 
or spring, before sufficient stores come to the hive from natural 
sources. 
COMPARISON OF THE COLONY WITH A FURNACE. 
Let us assume that we have a furnace for heating a building so 
constructed that ashes may be removed only when the temperature 
of the outer air is warm. If the house has thin walls and many open- 
ings, the furnace can not maintain a high temperature in extreme 
cold weather, the amount of fuel consumed is increased, the ashes 
accumulate rapidly and clog the furnace, and in a desperate effort 
to raise the house temperature we should probably burn out the 
furnace. On the other hand, if the house is well built and heavily 
insulated, a low fire will suffice, and as a result there will be a mini- 
mum amount of ashes. The better the fuel, the less the amount of 
ashes in either case. 
It is permissible to compare a colony of bees as a unit of heat-pro- 
duction with this furnace. If the bees are in a single-walled hive 
in a cold climate, the colony must generate a great amount of heat, 
must consume much more honey, and feces will accumulate rapidly. 
As the bees are unable to discharge their feces until the temperature 
of the outer air is high enough for flight, the “furnace” is clogged. 
The bees are “burned out” by the excessive heat-production, and, 
even worse than in the case of the furnace, the irritation resulting 
from the presence of feces causes still more heat-production. On 
the other hand, if abundantly insulated, the heat generated is con- 
served, the consumption of stores and amount of feces are reduced, 
and the bees can readily retain the feces until a flight day, in any 
place in which bees can be kept. The better the stores the less the 
amount of feces in either case. 
We should not expect much of a furnace in an open shed, and 
we have no more right to expect good results from a colony wintered 
in a thin-walled hive in a cold climate, or even in a better hive placed 
in a windy location. 
