518 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



(honey and sugar) in the blood. It is 

 increased by exercise as in other ani- 

 mals. In winter confinement bees 

 raise tlie temperature of the cluster 

 when necessary by accelerating the 

 respiration, and in some instances it 

 seems probable that they flit their 

 wings and restlessly move over and 

 about each other. :^ow, the natural 

 respirations of the honey-bee at rest 

 on a warm day are about 200 per min- 

 ute. On the approach of cold they 

 begin to respire more slowly, and 

 necessarily develop less heat. Those 

 on the outside of tlie cluster in winter 

 do not breathe over 40 times a min- 

 ute, and many of them not over 20. 

 Inside of the cluster I have not been 

 able, of course, to count the respira- 

 tions, but they are certainly slower 

 than in summer time. 



In this connection I have a few 

 words to say about hibernation. To 

 this extent and to the extent so ably 

 set forth by the Rev. Wm. F. Clarke 

 bees hibernate, and the slow respira- 

 tions and lessened development of 

 heat are the evidences of it that are 

 indisputable. Say what we may, bees 

 do hibernate under good conditions. 



The following incident will illus- 

 trate a case of hibernation : On 

 March 26, 1885, about noon, all my 

 colonies were flying but 4 nuclei and 

 one flne Syrio-Albino colony in a 

 double-walled hive. With a steel 

 hook I raked the debris from the 

 bottom-board, and felt satisfled they 

 were alive. As none came out, I 

 hooked on to the frames and shook 

 them, but there was no stir. I then 

 pounded upon the hive, but all was 

 still Some friends standing near, 

 flnally said, "Doctor, it is no use; 

 that colony has gone up." I had be- 

 gan to think so mvself, but kept 

 pounding away and shaking the 

 frames with the hook, but it was fully 

 ten minutes before a bee appeared 

 It proved to be a very large and well- 

 wintered colony. They had not a 

 particle of upward ventilation (as was 

 the case with most of my hives), but a 

 very large entrance, into which the 

 cold winds had blown so hard at 

 times, that I had felt very anxious 

 about them. 



. Tlie accumulations of water in the 

 intestines of bees takes place when 

 they are required to consume a large 

 amount of food in order to sustain a 

 life-heat. When it becomes very cold 

 they are unable to maintain, in the 

 presence of counteracting agencies 

 tlie forced, prolonged and high rate 

 ot the respirations necessary to ex- 

 Iiell or rather exhale the largeamount 

 ot water produced in the oxygenation 

 ot so much food. Under the severe 

 physical strain their vitality is early 

 unpaired, and they become less and 

 less able to keep up a proper tempera- 

 ture of the cluster. They respire 

 slower and slower, and there is less 

 and less exhalation of water. :Mean- 

 time they are eating largely, they 

 have no kidneys, and accumulations 

 ot water must take place in the in- 

 testines. If about this time we see a 

 bee come out of the hive to die we 

 l)erceive that it breathes only 3 or 4 

 times a minute, drags itself along and 

 tells only too plainly the story of ex- 



hausted vitality. It has grown old in 

 undue physical exertion, and can do 

 no more. 



A very damp atmosphere and thin 

 honey are causes that favor the accu- 

 mulations ; the first by the prevention 

 of free evaporation of water from the 

 pulmonary surfaces, and the second 

 from the taking of water in the food 

 which must be carried off in the res- 

 pirations at a time and under condi- 

 tions when such exhalations are 

 greatly impeded. 



If we place an affected colony in 

 warm quarters, so that it can dry out, 

 it is immediately benefited, and with- 

 out a flight the bloated condition of 

 the bees is greatly relieved. On the 

 contrary, if bee-bread were the cause, 

 there would no benefit whatever 

 arise from the application of heat, 

 since " the cause " could not be re- 

 moved without a flight. On no other 

 hypothesis than the above can we 

 satisfactorily account for all the 

 phenomena. 



If the normal temperature of the 

 cluster can be readily maintained 

 above that of the surrounding me- 

 dium, free evaporation and the ex- 

 pulsion of the vapor from the imme- 

 diate vicinity of the bees is accom- 

 plished, and they will be kept dry and 

 healthy so long as a favorable tem- 

 perature can be easily maintained. If 

 now the bees are so ventilated that 

 they will not get over-heated, they 

 will hibernate. The principle in- 

 volved here is the same as in drying 

 out a damp, cool room. We place a 

 fire in it, warm it up, and the damp- 

 ness is expelled. In the same man- 

 ner if we so prepare the bees for win- 

 ter that they can maintain a tempera- 

 ture of 50^ just over the cluster, the 

 bees and combs and hive will keep 

 dry, and no diarrhea will result. Take 

 a colony on the summer stand with 

 the brood-chamber tight on top as 

 propolis can make it, and with the 

 cap filled with chaff ; thrust the hand 

 down on to the frames over the clus- 

 ter ; if it feels sensibly warm the tem- 

 perature is 50-', and the colony is win- 

 tering all right. But if cold, and it 

 remains so long, there is danger. 



We consider heat to be the only 

 true remedy for bee-diarrhea, as it is 

 the only reliable preventive. In my 

 first paper on wintering (see page 7 

 Vol. XVIII of the Bee Journal,) 

 occurs the following passage : "Heat 

 is life, or one of the essential condi- 

 tions of life, which the instinct of the 

 bees has taught them to carefully 

 conserve." In making this state- 

 ment I had reference both to the 

 protection and the system of ventila- 

 tion that should be given. I have 

 nothing to add to this now, but be- 

 lieve more firmly than ever that on 

 the conservation of the heatot a col- 

 ony of bees will depend much of the 

 success in the wintering of the future. 

 I submit the following conclusions : 



1. The use of pollen or bee-bread by 

 bees in winter confinement is not 

 detrimental to bees when they need 

 it, and like most of the other animate 

 beings, tliey need it, or its equivalent, 

 pretty often. We consider its pres- 

 ence in the hive indispensable to the 

 most successful wintering. 



-. Hibernating bees winter the best; 

 trequent flights are unnecessary. 



p- Bee-diarrhea in a properly-venti- 

 lated hive, having good natural stores, 

 does not occur unless the temperature 

 in the hive falls so low as to condense 

 the vapor. 



4. Upward ventilation is not only 

 against the instinct of the bees, but 

 mismanaged (as it usually is) in 

 allowing the ready escape of the heat 

 trom the cluster, has been a cause of 

 incalculable loss. 



5. Lower ventilation either out- 

 doors or in-doors is the natural and 

 proper method of ventilating bees in 

 winter confinement ; but it must be 

 free. 



ii-'^'^^^^^^'^^o* ^^ wintered here at 

 the North on the summer stands with 

 safety l)y any system of ventilation on 

 a full set of combs in single-walled 

 hives. 



7. A large, well packed donble- 

 walled hive is perfectly safe, it its 

 brood-chamber be contracted to 5 or 

 6 combs. It is safe in this locality on 

 10 to 12 combs. It gives the best re- 

 sults, but is more expensive than 

 cellar wintering-. 



New Philadelphia,©* Ohio. 



For tbe American Bee Journal* 



A Year of Disasters. 



S. I. FREEBORN. 



The season of 188.5 has been one of 

 extremes, the equilibrium seems to 

 have been destroyed by our excep- 

 tionally hard winter, and it has been 

 impossible to tell by to-day what to- 

 morrow would be— hail, rain, thunder, 

 lightning and embryo cyclones have 

 been of unusual frequency. More 

 damage has been done by wind and 

 hail in this county this season than 

 in any season for 30 years. 



Basswood, which' is usually our 

 corner-stone and the crowning glory 

 of bee-keeping, has come and gone. 

 In the war of elements onlv two days 

 were our bees allowed to work unin- 

 terruptedly during its two weeks of 

 bloom, though they wcu'ked some 

 portions of the other twelve days. 

 Considering the very unfavorable 

 weather, we are very thankful for 

 what honey we have obtained. Our 

 report up to date is as follows : From 

 ISO colonies we have an increase of 

 150 colonies, and obtained 9,500 pounds 

 of extracted honey, with a fair pros- 

 pect of getting a fall crop should the 

 rain cease, but at present it rains 

 every day. If this country is a fair 

 type of the rest of the world, honey 

 ought not to be "a drug in the mar- 

 ket " this year. 



I see Mr. Stewart is somewhat fear- 

 ful of cyclones, and speaks of a tight 

 board fence as being a protection. I 

 built one once on the west side of my 

 Sextonville bees. Last fall they were 

 chaff-i)acked. It answered we'll for a 

 protection, but proved to be too much 

 of an air-excluder in hot weather, 

 when the mercury was up among the 

 nineties. As for proving a protection 

 in the event of a cyclone, should a 

 genuine one strike us, it would be 

 about as good as chaff, and even Mr. 



