54 



FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



viding a sufficiently high surrounding 

 temperature. Honey-dew honey is es- 

 pecially injurious because ef the ra- 

 pidity with which feces accumulate. 



In mild climates, in which there are 

 frequent days when bees can fly and 

 rid themselves of feces, the injurious 

 effects of poor stores are less notice- 

 able, because the feces do not accu- 

 mulate sufficiently to cause abnormal 

 activity. The accumulation of feces 

 is to be considered as an irritant, caus- 

 ing responses similar to disturbance 

 by jarring or exposure to light. 



Influence of the Queen — In discus- 

 sions of W'intering it is usually stated 

 that to winter well a colony must have 

 a good queen. Obviously a good queen 

 will better prepare a colony for winter 

 by providing a strong colony of young 

 bees than will a poor one, while a 

 colony that is queenless in late sum- 

 mer and fall has little chance of liv- 

 ing until spring. A good queen will also 

 increase brood-rearing rapidly in the 

 spring, if the colony has good stores 

 and has been properly protected during 

 the winter. Aside from the important 

 influence on the population of the col- 

 ony, the queen probably plays no part 

 in wintering. 



Spring-dwindling. — If the individual 

 bees of a colony are reduced in vitality 

 by excessive heat-production, they may 

 live until spring, but are unable to do 

 the heavy work then needed to bring 

 the colony back to full strength. The 

 adult bees die more rapidly than they 

 are replaced by emerging bees, and the 

 population decreases. This condition, 

 which can be produced experimentally, 

 has longj been known among bee-keep- 

 ers as "spring-dwindling." If this con- 

 dition is observed, the bees may per- 

 haps be slightly relieved of further 

 unnecessary work by packing to con- 

 serve heat and by giving abundant 

 stores, but the proper treatment is to 

 prevent the condition by proper care 

 in the preceding fall and winter. 



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 necessity for heat-produc- 

 tion, the more necessary it becomes 

 for every colony to have an abundapce 

 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 suffi- 

 cient stores come to the hive from 

 natural sources. 



Comparison of the Colony with a 

 Furnace. 



Let us assume that we have a fur- 

 naca for heating a building, so con- 

 structed that ashes may be removed 

 only when the temperature of the 

 outer air is warm. If the house has 

 thin walls and many openings, the 

 furnace can not maintain a high 

 temperature in extreme cold weather, 

 the amount of fuel consiii^ed is in- 

 creased, the ashes accumulate rapidly 

 and clog the furnace, and in a des- 

 perate 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 flre will suffice, and 

 as a result there will be a minimum 

 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-production, 

 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 temper- 

 ■ ature of the outer air is high enough 

 for flight, the "furnace" is clogged. 

 The bees are "burned out" by the ex- 

 cessive heat-production, and, even 

 worse than in the case of the furnace, 

 the irritation resulting from the pres- 

 ence of feces causes still more heat- 

 production. On the other hand, if 

 abundantly insulated, the heat gene- 

 rated is conserved, the consumption of 

 stores and amount of feces are re- 

 duced, 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 ease. 



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. 



