May, I'.llS 



American IBee Journal 



».^^ #> I 



combined with the best interest of the 

 bees, are both considered. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Ventilation of the Hive 



BV 1). M. MAC DONALll. 



All bee-keepers are agreed that there 

 is need of some system of ventilation 

 in the bee-hive, but all do not agree 

 about the best way of securing this 

 desideratum, so that the process may 

 be carried ciut by the bees with a maxi- 

 mum of success at a minimum of cost. 

 Hence we have the crown or sealed- 

 cover men ; and the //i,'A/ porous quill 

 disciples. The steadfast faith of these 

 separate opponents, in their own sys- 

 tem, proves that both serve the purpose 

 with at least a marked degree of effi- 

 ciency. 



One set maintains that, following 

 Nature, bees are best covered over 

 during winter in such a way that there 

 will be not only no escape of heat, but 

 that there will be no upward ventila- 

 tion whatever. They reason that bees 

 in a state of Nature, when making their 

 domicile in a " cleft of the rock," or in 

 a " hollow oak," are hermetically sealed 

 above the cluster, and so they adopt 

 the "sealed cover." Through a long 

 period of years I have found bees in 

 hollow trees, in churches, and similar 

 buildings below the slate roof, in out- 

 houses between outer and inner walls, 

 and many similar situations. In every 

 case under the last two heads there was 

 not only ample ventilation, but I would 

 conclude a superfluity of this necessary 

 to their well-being. The hollow tree 

 has been instanced times without num- 

 ber as a model sealed cover — why I 

 can not conceive — and I can only con- 

 clude that arm-chairapiarists have been 

 reasoning the matter out from their 

 inner consciousness without regard to 

 actual facts. 



In the very nature of the case, there 

 must be i/icoy in the interior of the 

 tree before it can have become hollow. 

 Out of the large number I have ex- 

 amined, and adding to this very many 

 more correspondents have informed 

 me of, nol one was what in any sense 

 could be described as hermetically 

 sealed above. In most instances there 

 was an immense reserve of unoccupied 

 space generally both above and below, 

 and frequently at both sides, atTording 

 ample means of ventilation. In all 

 cases soft, pulpy matter, both dry and 

 porous, ran up and down, often sev- 

 eral feet above and below the point 

 where (he bees presciently selected 

 their base of operation. Such trees 

 almost invariably are possessed of large 

 knot-holes in their gnarled trunks; 

 while very frequently the internal weak- 

 ness aids the winds of heaven in mak- 

 ing " shakes " and cracks in the timber 

 of the tree, each of these serving the 

 purpose of a ventilation excellently 

 well. 



Old straw skeps are pointed to as be- 

 ing so well propolized that they afford 

 no means of upward ventilation. This 

 is rank nonsense. Gas, carbonic-acid 

 gas, is an elastic aeriform fluid which 

 penetrates upward through far more 

 dense substances than either a straw- 

 skep crown or by means of apertures 



in the presumed hermetically sealed 

 crown board of any ordinary hive. 



Bees are living creatures, and even 

 tlie closest cluster in under zero cold 

 is never an inanimate mass. Each bee 

 is a living, sensate being, and to live 

 they must breathe. Thus animate, they 

 are constantly charging the air in the 

 hive with noxious gases, which, if re- 

 tained in the interior, would vitiate 

 the air and thus cause the inmates vexa- 

 tious worry and ill-health. The air of 

 our schools, churches, theaters, and 

 every similar place where large num- 

 bers of humanity are wont to assemble 

 become charged with poisonous gases, 

 producing headaches, nausea, and often 

 consequent ill-health, and if people 

 were to continue long in such a viti- 

 ated atmosphere, even death might fol- 

 low. Wisely, most elaborate systems 

 of ventilation are provided in all such 



or gas into the outer atmosphere. Loss 

 of heat is equivalent to loss of honey; 

 therefore, the wrappings overhead must 

 conserve the internal heat, yet they can 

 be of such a nature as will serve to 

 afford the necessary ventilation and 

 keep the hive dry. 



Honey contains a large proportion of 

 water, even when in its densest condi- 

 tion, and it may be taken as correct 

 that the consumption by the bees of 24 

 ounces of honey will produce no less 

 than W ounces of water! This is given 

 off by the bees in the form of vapor. 

 Warm air, such as is found in the hive 

 interior when overcharged, deposits 

 the water it can no longer contain, in 

 the form of a dew. If this moisture 

 can penetrate upward while in the form 

 of vapor we have a dry hive; if it is 

 confined to the brood body, it is 

 cooled t y the chill of the incoming air. 



BoNKSET \F.upatorium prrloliatiiiii\. Leaves anu Fi.oweks.— (See page 137.) 



gathering centers. Our dwelling houses, 

 too, are carefully ventilated. Similar 

 provision is an utter necessity in a bee- 

 hive if we are to have healthy bees and 

 strong, rousing colonies in the spring. 

 In cellars and in colonies wintered on 

 the summer stands, some system must 

 be adopted to secure ventilation so 

 necessary for the bees' comfort and 

 health. 



Bees in winter have to eat to live, 

 and, as a consequence, they breathe 

 through the spiracles found in both the 

 thorax and abdomen, every movement 

 produces this consequence. Hence, is 

 generated the carlionic-acid gas noted 

 above, and another important consti- 

 tuent is water. Now both of these 

 must be gotten rid of in some shape or 

 other, and bee-keepers generally agree 

 that the best means for attaining this 

 desirable end is by securing upward 

 ventilation through porous coverings, 

 and then ultimately evaporate the water 



or by the cooler layer of air which per- 

 sists near the sides of the hive away 

 from the cluster, and hence we have a 

 heavy deposit of moisture on the hive- 

 walls, which gradually turns into small, 

 trickling rills, and then these find their 

 way out of the entrance, perhaps. If 

 not, the moisture may even be formed 

 into ice in the interior, thus chilling 

 the brood-nest more than is good for 

 it. Unless in the cluster, or a space 

 near it, under improper ventilation, the 

 air becomes supercharged with mois- 

 ture, thus ruining the combs, and de- 

 teriorating lioth honey and bee-bread 

 where these become char.ged with the 

 dewy, damp deposit. 



One result of bad ventilation is that 

 the bees are incommoded, and are 

 therefore roused from their state of 

 semi - hibernation. The consumption 

 of honey to get up more heat is a 

 minor evil. They have also to renew 

 the tissue being worn down cons>' 



