A MONTHLY JOURNAL 

 Devoted to the Interests of Honey Producers. 



$L00 A YEAR. 

 w. z. auTCBiNSfiN, Ediior M Proprieioi 



VOL. XVIJI. FLINT, MICHIGAN, NOV.l6rT905yNOnY 



Tl^© FlhislogopSny ©f FtpotecMiig Bees 

 Wi^li Tariredl Fapero 



A. G. MILLER. 



TTjFCAR Bro. Editor: -Your letttr re- 

 ^-^ questing- an article on tarred paper 

 as a winter protection for bee hives 

 calls for 1113' careful consideration. As 

 you may know, I have been preaching- 

 the tarred paper method to readers of 

 the American Bee-Keeper for a long- 

 time. You may also know we boast 

 tliat the s:ood things in bee-keeping- 

 appear there first, but we are also 

 quite willing to help you serve your 

 readers with them. 



Before discussing when and how to 

 put on the paper it will be well to con- 

 sider the conditions within a bee-hive 

 during- the cooler months. At such 

 times the bees are gathered into a 

 fairly compact cluster, many of them 

 in cells, and the food supply entering 

 only the outer layer of this sphere. 

 Within this cluster the temperature is 

 not far from 76 degrees F., varying up 

 and down with the activity of the bees, 

 the activity being governed by the tem- 

 perature of the air surrounding the 

 bees, by the comforter discomfort of 

 the bees, and by the amount of food 

 held in their honey sacs. 



T/ie air zvithin the hive and surround- 

 ing the cluster is very little higher than 

 that outside the hive. This should be 

 borne in mind. Now when the bees feel 

 the need of more food they begin to 

 raise the temperature, move about and 

 feed. Perhaps we should say they be- 

 gin to move about and feed and thus 

 raise the temperature. As soon as 

 their needs are satisfied they relapse 

 into their former quiet state. With the 

 feeding activity there is more or less 

 fanning or ventilating. This releases 

 some of the warm and moisture-charged 

 air of the cluster, and slightly raises 

 the temperature of the surrounding 

 air. 



If the cluster thus described is en- 

 closed in a hive through the walls of 

 which the heat of the sun easily passes, 

 then when the sun shines, the air con- 

 tained in the hive is warmed and the 

 bees aroused. This warming up of 

 the hive is beneficial, in that it drives 

 out the moisture condensed from the 

 breath of the bees and enables the bees 

 to move and feed at a minimum of wear 

 and tear to themselves. But if the heat- 



