150 



AMERICAN BEE JOUHiNAi^. 



the blood will become overloaded ; the 

 urinary tubes will carry the excess of 

 water to the lower bowel, and then we 

 shall have what has been well named 

 "abdominal distension." 



The saturated air in the hive conducts 

 the heat from the cluster much more 

 rapidly, causing a larger consumption 

 of honey to keep up the warmth, and 

 this in turn aggravates the evil by pro- 

 ducing more water, of which there is 

 already a greater quantity than the air 

 is capable of taking up. There are 

 other evils, such as the thinning of the 

 honey by absorbed moisture, causing it 

 to ferment, and the germs of fermenta- 

 tion have been found in the intestines of 

 diarrhetic bees, finding their way there, 

 doubtless, in the honey. 



Although the tendency is to cause the 

 bees to have a decidedly dropsical ap- 

 pearance. These efliects are not pro- 

 duced all at once. Under the most un- 

 favorable conditions signs of disease are 

 not noticed for some time after the bees 

 are put into the cellar ; but when the 

 above causes are acting continuously, 

 day in and day out, for months, it is not 

 to be wondered at that the bees become 

 diseased. 



The remedy is to allow the moist air 

 to pass out of the hive as fast as it is 

 produced, and to replace it with dry 

 warm air. I know that moist air may 

 be got rid of in a downward direction 

 by diffusion, but it will pass off at the 

 top of the hive much more readily, be- 

 cause the breathed air is warmer, and 

 therefore lighter, and because the 

 specific gravity of the vapor with which 

 it is saturated is only .6235. 



The usual objection to upward venti- 

 lation is that it carries off the heat too 

 rapidly, but there is no necessity for 

 keeping a cluster of bees enveloped in 

 their own breath to keep them warm. 

 When putting my bees into the cellar a 

 few weeks ago, I placed the bottom of 

 the upper hive over the uncovered 

 frames of the lower one, slipping it for- 

 ward so as to leave about a quarter of 

 an inch of the^ds of the frames bare, 

 to allow the vapor to pass out readily. 



Last winter we had steady cold 

 weather from start to finish. The best 

 wintered lot of bees in these parts were in 

 43 hives, each of which had an inch 

 auger hole in the end, half way between 

 the entrance and the upper edge. About 

 half the number were in single-walled 

 hives : these were placed in an ordinary 

 cellai*. The remainder were in chaff 

 hives, and were wintered on the summer 

 stands. On the 15th of June 41 out of 

 the 43 were alive, and 40 of these were 



in good condition for the harvest. I had 

 a chance to know, because I worked 

 them on shares. This is an old method, 

 but, I believe, one which has been gen- 

 erally successfully. For a covering to 

 place over the frames there is nothing 

 readily available which is better, as a 

 transmitter of moisture, and at the same 

 time a retainer of heat, than a good 

 quilt of sheep's wool. I have used this, 

 as well as other material, for years, and 

 I know whereof I speak. 



I shall not repeat what I said In the 

 Review as to the rapidity with which the 

 air in a cellar may become saturated 

 with the moisture thrown off by LOJ 

 colonies of bees, as it can be readily re- 

 ferred to if necessary. I wish to emphi- 

 size the fact that a Mason hygrometer is 

 necessary in order to know anything re- 

 liable about the condition of the air as 

 to moisture. In my own little cellar 

 containing 60 colonies, so far this win- 

 ter, the dry bulb has not gone below 

 43°, with the wet bulb a degree and a 

 half lower, indicating a relative humidity 

 of 88, which is too damp, I think. Ttie 

 air came in through the sub-earth pipe 

 at 42°, when the outside temperature 

 was 17° below. The incoming air will 

 be four or five degrees lower tovvards 

 spring, owing to the gradual cooling of 

 the ground around the pipe. 



The remedy for damp air in the cellar 

 is the same as for damp air in the hive, 

 namely, change t for dry warm air. 

 When writing myartice for the Review, 

 I had in mind a cellar beneath an ordi- 

 nary dwelling, to coQtain not more than 

 about 100 hives. Perhaps the greatest 

 defect in the ventilation of sucti cellars 

 is that the air is not drawn out fast 

 enough. When the number of hives 

 gets well up in the hundreds, such cel- 

 lars are out of the question, and for in- 

 door wintering a house should be built 

 specially for the purpose. One thousand 

 hives could probably be piled so as not 

 to occupy much over 2,000 cubic feet, 

 displacing not much over 1,500 cubic 

 feet of air, but if the apartment were 

 only just large enough to contain the 

 bees, I fear that in ventilating it prop- 

 erly, the bees would be injured by cur- 

 rents. To avoid this, the cubic capacity 

 of the apartment should be at least 

 three or four times as much as the space 

 occupied by the hives. 



To any one contemplating building 

 such a house, I would most strongly 

 recommend that he communicate With 

 Isaac D. Sraead & Co., of Toledo, 0. 

 They will furnish plans and speciflea- 

 tions for carrying out their method 6t 

 ventilation. I have lately had cori^es- 



