1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



351 



packed them as before stated, except they are 

 packed in moss. We have moss that is three 

 inches thick, and we cut out our cushions with 

 the hay-knife to tit the upper stories; also to go 

 in between the hives. Please say how you 

 think moss will do as packing. I know the 

 bees are well packed, but I also know they are 

 in single-walled hives; and I know that, on the 

 morning of Feb. 6lh, the thermometer stood 10° 

 below zero; and on the 7th, 33° below; and on 

 the 8th. 20° below. 



Now, friend Miller, I know this is quite 

 lengthy, but I hope you will give it your atten- 

 tion, and oblige. Jas. Pratt. 



Bartlett, Wheeler Co., Neb. 



[Dr. Miller replies:] 



Friend Pratt: — I must confess that your 

 question is a little too much for me. I've asked 

 that question myself more than once, and never 

 got an answer entirely satisfactory. When 

 bees are in the cellar, if the thermometer goes 

 down to 38° we are told it has reached the dan- 

 ger-point. But if they are outdoors, and the 

 thermometer goes down to 15 or 30, or even if it 

 occasionally reaches zero, we think it's all right. 

 It is so generally conceded that there is a big 

 difference whether the bees are out or in, that 

 you wisely refrain from disputing it, and I sup- 

 pose it must be true; but then comes your 

 troublesome question, "Why?" I may as well 

 say at once "I don t know," and be done with it; 

 but really it's such an important matter that it 

 seems we ought to be able to get some light on 

 it. For if we knew why bees can't stand the 

 cold in the cellar that they can outdoors, then 

 we might possibly be able to supply the condi- 

 tions in the cellar that will enable us to winter 

 the same as outdoors. 



In the hope, then, that, by a discussion of the 

 matter, some light may be drawn out from some 

 quarter, "I'll mention some of the things that 

 have at one time or another been thought to 

 have a bearing. Perhaps the majority who 

 have any opinion at all on the subject would 

 say something like this: "The trouble with the 

 cellar is the long confinement. Bees outdoors 

 have an occasional fly, while at such times bees 

 in the cellar must remain in the hives." It 

 seems there ought to be some truth in that, for 

 we know very well tfiat in the spring a colony 

 standing outdoors affected with diarrhea will 

 often succumb if the spring is long and cold, 

 giving the bees no chance whatever to fly; 

 whereas, if a single warm day comes, giving 

 them a good cleansing flight, they're then ready 

 for another long pull. 



If that's the right view, then, in few words, 

 bees have a chance for flights outdoors that 

 bees in the cellar don't have. How shall we 

 meet this difficulty? It seems quite plain — 

 carry out the bees for a flight every time those 

 outdoors fly, and then carry them into the cellar 

 again. Other things being equal, the cellared 



bees ought to come out best in the spring if they 

 are thus carried out, for they have a milder win- 

 ter; and I think we all know that, the milder 

 the winter, the better for the bees. 



Just at this point, a friend at my elbow says, 

 "Yes, that would be a lovely job, to carry the 

 bees out and in every day they can fly! " 



"Nevermind the lovely job," I said; "if we 

 can make them winter perfectly in that way it 

 might pay." 



" But they wouldn't winter well that way. It 

 would stir them up every time they had a fly, 

 making them uneasy, and they wouldn't be con- 

 tented to stay in after they had been out. I 

 don't believe it would be a good way at all." 



And she spoke with such earnestness that I 

 think she had some fear lest I should contem- 

 plate carrying out bees every mild day, as part 

 of the regular program. 



" But," I said, " the bees outdoors fly without 

 disastrous consequences, and we don't try to 

 keep them in the hives for fear they become un- 

 easy; why isn't it the same in one case as the 

 other?" 



"They're not shut up — they're not shut in — 

 they can fly when they want to." 



" Why, they're shut up just as much in one 

 case as in the other. Indeed, if there's any dif- 

 ference it's in favor of the cellar bees; for, on 

 the whole, they're the warmer, and the cellar 

 bees can fly when they want to just as much as 

 the others, if we carry them out every time it's 

 warm enough." 



Silence was the only reply to this for some 

 time; and then, woman-like, she turned on me 

 with the remark, " Well, if that's the best way, 

 why don't you make a practice of carrying 

 them out and in ? I don't think it is a good 

 way." 



I think it is generally agreed that it is not a 

 good plan to carry bees out of the cellar until 

 they are ready to stay out, and I think the idea 

 is correct; but I confess I'd like to know why. 

 Who can tell? 



If, then, it's true that, by letting them have 

 the same flights that they would haveoutdoors, 

 they still can not stand the same cold, we come 

 back to the old, question, " Why?" Is it an oc- 

 casional warming-up that they get outdoors, 

 not enough for a fly, but still warmer than in 

 the cellar? G. W. Demaree advocates occa- 

 sional raising of the temperature in the cellar, 

 and the plan looks reasonable; but after trying 

 it one winter, I have less faith in it. Possibly it 

 may be all right in Kentucky. 



The only thing I can think of as a possible ex- 

 planation is the difference in the air. Mind you, 

 I don't know about it, but I'm searching for a 

 clew that seems to give a little promise. I know 

 we are told that bees don't need air; that you 

 can get plenty for their use through a stone 

 wall, and all that sort of thing. I don't believe 

 a word of it. I feel sure they need some air, 

 and I believe they're better off to have plenty 



