1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



97 



WHY BEES BECOME UNEASY IN A CELLAR; DEAD 

 BEES ON THE CELLAR BOTTOM 



At this time of year the bees in the cellar, with 

 a temperature above 30, during warm spells are 

 liable to become very uneasy. If there are a 

 hundred or so colonies in a repository there may 

 be an inch or more of dead bees on the floor if 

 they have not been swept out. While this might 

 look as if all the bees in the cellar were dying, it 

 does not necessarily indicate poor wintering, al- 

 though the conditions can not be considered ideal 

 when so many bees are on the cellar floor. 



As the winter beging to wane, and spring is in 

 sight, it is very important to have sufficient ven- 

 tilation in all cellars where the temperature goes 

 above 50, especially where it goes from one ex- 

 treme to the other. Good wintering must not be 

 expected in a cellar with poor ventilation if the 

 temperature goes down to freezing and stays there 

 for a week at a time. Bees outdoors can stand 

 a temperature far below freezing without injury, 

 but bees in a cellar can not. The diflierence 

 is explainable partly on the ground of ventila- 

 tion — that is to say, the quality of the air the 

 bees have to breathe. Then the outdoor bees 

 may have an opportunity for a cleansing flight; 

 and this has much to do with keeping bees quiet 

 afterward. If they become very uneasy in the 

 cellar, and the weather should be warm enough 

 outdoors so they can fly, we would advise taking 

 every colony out, and giving them a flight, after 

 which putting them back. It is wonderful how 

 such a flight will quiet them. If, on the other 

 hand, the temperature be kept fairly uniform at 

 45, or if it ranges from 40 to 50, and there be 

 plenty of ventilation, there should be no uneasi- 

 ness and no occasion for a cleansing flight. 



Let the beginner fairly understand this, that 

 very little ventilation is required if a uniform 

 temperature in the cellar can be maintained. 

 But when that is not possible there must be a 

 large amount of fresh air given, at least every 

 night, but it would be better to supply it con- 

 tinuously throughout the 24 hours. In giving 

 air, care must be taken not to let in the light. 



Again, he should understand that it may be an 

 easy trick to winter a dozen colonies in a given 

 cellar; but it is quite another trick to bring 

 through 100 or more in the same place. The 

 problem is one of ventilation and regulation of 

 temperature. The more bees the greater the body 

 heat and the higher the cellar temperature; the 

 more bees, too, the fouler the air. With few 

 bees comparatively, both propositions are simple. 



WINTERING BEES OUrDOORS; CONDITIONS FAVOR- 

 ABLE AND UNFAVORABLE; WHAT KILLS 

 OUTDOOR-WINTERED COLONIES. 



The winter thus far in our locality, at least, 

 has been very favorable for outdoor wintering, 

 especially those colonies provided with plenty of 

 stores in double-walled hives or single hives with 

 suitable winter cases over them. The kind of 

 winter that is hard on bees is one that has pro- 

 tracted cold spells, the mercury playing around 

 the zero-mark for two or three weeks at a time 

 without a letup. 



Bees seldom freeze to death outdoors, in our 

 judgment; but they do starve after a protracted 



cold spell. Let us open up a hive when the 

 temperature is about 10 above zto. What do 

 we find.? We look down between the frames, 

 and every thing seems to be as still as death, with 

 no bees in sight. A more careful search, how- 

 ever, reveals that what appeared to be a fair-siz- 

 ed colony in the fall is now compressed down to 

 a small bunch of bees, not much larger than a 

 good sized snowball, located some two or three 

 inches from the top of the frames and toward the 

 front of the hive. We find them apparently 

 frozen st ff, save a few bees right in the center of 

 the cluster. The crust of bees on the outside are 

 apparently dead. If the cold spell lasts three 

 weeks or more this cluster will be unable to un- 

 fold; and the individual bees will not freeze to 

 death, but actually starve. During the follow- 

 ing spring we go back to that hive and find no 

 response. The stronger colonies that had larger 

 clusters during the winter will be showing life at 

 the entrances; but those with smaller or weaker 

 clusters show no life. We open up the ball of 

 one of them and find all the bees dead, beyond 

 doubt, for the atmosphere is warm enough for 

 them to unfold if they were alive. Within two 

 inches of the cluster we find all the stores gone. 

 It was too small to hold up the bodily heat; ami 

 not being able to break the cluster it was unable 

 to get at the stores, and starvation was the result. 

 If, on the other hand, the cold spell had not last- 

 ed more than ten days, and there came on warm 

 weather, the cluster would have unfolded, moved 

 over where there were fresh stores; and when the 

 cold spell came on they would have formed a 

 new cluster. It might be ever so cold; it might 

 go 10 below zero; but if the cold wave did not 

 last more than a week, and it warmed up so the 

 cluster could unfold, those bees would be as live- 

 ly as ever. 



It follows, then, that, for successful outdoor 

 wintering, the average winter of the locality must 

 be such that there will not be a protracted cold 

 spell of two or three weeks or more. But, even 

 then, very strong colonies will be able to stand 

 such cold while the weak ones will not. No one 

 should attempt to winter outdoors unless the 

 winters have warm days every two or three weeks 

 — or rather, we should say, the temperature 

 should rise so that the cluster can unfold. It is 

 not necessary to have fly days; but it is important 

 to have a sufficient warming-up so the clusters 

 can move, so to speak, to pastures new. 



WHEN TO WINTER OUTDOORS, AND WHEN IS 

 CELLARS. 



If the climate is very cold, and that cold con- 

 tinues, the colonies must either be very strong or 

 they should be wintered indoors. As a general 

 practice we would say, always winter indoors 

 when the temperature runs for weeks at a time 

 not warmer than 10 above zero. On the other 

 hand, in a climate where the temperature warms 

 up to 70, outside, every two or three weeks, so 

 the bees can fly, with no colder weather than ze- 

 ro, and generally not very much below frceziiig, 

 the outdoor plan will be much more sure of giv- 

 ing the better results. While the bees on their 

 summer stands will consume more stores they 

 will have more brood and more young blood in 

 the spring and early summer than stocks takei\ 

 from the cellar. 



