GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



been lield, regular intervals of activity at 

 which the colony rouses itself to take food. 

 At no time is a colony kept at a room tem- 

 perature of 45° F. or less in a condition 

 which can be characterized as inactive. 

 Presumably the reported intervals of activ- 

 ity have occurred when the colony made a 

 noise due to disturbance by the beekeeper." 

 I have never noticed colonies entirely in- 

 active. That means a good deal; and I 

 never saw a colony in which there were no 

 hees moving. I never decided just how a 

 colony took its food during the season of 

 activity, but where the bees of a colonv 

 appeared constantly on the qui vive, and 

 ready to fly at the light the moment it 

 appeared, I decided it was wintering badly. 



LONG CONFINEMENT AND POOR FOOD. 



On the same page the authors state, 

 " Keeping these bees in a cellar protected 

 them from low outside temperature; but the 

 lack of opportunity for a normal ejection 

 of feces caused a condition more serious 

 than extremely cold weather." Again, "Poor 

 food is evidently a more serious handicap 

 than low temperature. We must remember 

 that in many sections bees, even if wintering 

 outside, owing to continuously low tempera- 

 ture, are unlikely to have a cleansing flight 

 during the entire winter. In my own section 

 of cou'nti-y (Brantford) they generally but 

 not always have a flight during midwinter 

 or early spring. 



FOR^IATION OF CLUSTER AND POSITION OF THE 

 INDIVIDUAL BEE. 



The formation of the cluster is then dealt 

 with. We find the following on page 14: 

 ■' The position with the heads inward is 

 typical, except when condensed moisture 

 drops on the cluster, as it often does in cool 

 weather, when the bees at the top turn so 

 that their heads are upward. The bees in 

 the outer shell are quiet except for an 

 occasional shifting of positions. Inside this 

 rather definite shell the bees between the 

 combs are not so close together, nor are they 

 headed in any one way. . . . When the 

 combs were separated the circle of bees in 

 the shell was clearly observable. When a 

 comb from the center of the cluster was 

 shaken, the active bees in the center of the 

 circle dropped off readily ; and those in the 

 outer shell, which were somewhat sluggish, 

 were removed with more diflficulty. After 

 this was done, those occupying empty cells 

 in the center of the sphere backed out of the 

 cells and were shaken off. Finally, those 

 occupying cells in the borders of the sphere 

 backed out, showing a well-marked circle on 

 the combs." 



Any obsei-\ang person who has i)ulled a 

 cluster of bees apai't in cold weather by 



removing the combs will readily understand 

 tlie above graphic description; and those 

 who have not done so will have to read 

 carefully several times before they can enter 

 into the degrees of activity in the various 

 parts of the cluster. 



No doubt the hair on the abdomen of the 

 bee makes such a cluster almost a non-con- 

 ductor of heat. To do away with the drop- 

 ping of moisture on the bees T am an advo- 

 cate of absorbent packing above the frames. 



VARIATIONS OF TEMPERATURE. 



In Bulletin No. 96, page 12, Dr. Gates 

 states: "During the period of most pro- 

 tracted cold, from Jan. 23 to Feb. 1, when 

 the outside air ranged from 0° C. (32° F.), 

 thermometer f followed the outside temper- 

 ature closely, and the course of the two 

 curves is practically the same. In some 

 cases, as, for instance, on Jan. 26, thermom- 

 eter f was slightly lower than the record of 

 the outside air, which may possibly be 

 explained by lack of ventilation, or stagna- 

 tion of the air of the hive." 



We must remember that these colonies 

 were not in what beekeepers call winter- 

 packed hives, and that, therfore, the air 

 changed more rapidly than with packed 

 hives; and with the more rapid circulation 

 of air there would be a greater variation 

 between the cluster temperature and the air 

 below the cluster. Again, a variation of 

 even only a few degrees, and that having to 

 be kept up for the entire winter, would 

 draw heavily upon the honey stores and 

 also upon the vitality of the bees which have 

 to generate the heat. 



A HUMMING NOISE. 



It has been a subject of controversy as to 

 whether bees wintering well make any noise 

 in the repository. I never entered my cellar 

 (containing sometimes as many as 500 colo- 

 nies) without hearing some noise; but I 

 tliought that perhaps it came from colonies 

 more aroused than others. The authors on 

 page 15. Bulletin 93, state : " That higher 

 temperature may be produced, gi'eatly in- 

 creased muscular activity is required; and 

 in colony C in cold weather, bees in the 

 center of the shell of insulating bees were 

 seen fanning vigorously, and executing other 

 movements, such as shaking and ti'a)nd 

 respiration. We thus have the paradoxical 

 condition that bees fan to heat the cluster 

 in winter as well as to cool the hive in 

 summer. Observations of this kind were 

 rejieated beyond number; and the theory of 

 tlie method of heat production is entirely 

 supported by the repeated observation of a 

 luunming noise from (he cluster during cold 

 weather." The difference in the two above 

 conditions is that in winter the heat is 



