THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



87 



it is a difficult thing to supply it then, 

 without risk. The proper time to feed 

 is just before the beginning of' cold 

 weather. 



Aside from the loss of those bees that 

 leave the cluster and cannot return, the 

 disturbing of hives in cold weather has 

 another objection. Whenever they are 

 di.sturbed, if the disturbance is continued 

 for a certain length of time, for instance, 

 in transporting a hive from one place to 

 another, the bees become frightened and 

 load themselves with honey. When the 

 disturbance ceases they again unload it, 

 into the cells; but this excitement has 

 caused them to consume more of the hon- 

 ey than they would have needed, and 

 there is consequenth' greater amount of 

 dejections produced. As they can not 

 discharge these in the hive without in- 

 jnring the health of the colony, tliey be- 

 come restive and are more prone to suc- 

 cumb. 



Tli?re is, however, a time, in winter, 

 when it may prove very advisable to dis- 

 turb a colony of bees. It is, when a warm 

 day comes, and for some rea.son they have 

 not become aware of it, either because 

 their hive is in a shady spot, or because 

 it is too thick, and the heat has not had 

 time to pierce its walls. Chaff hi\es are 

 often guilty of this inconvenience and that 

 is the main reason why they are not more 

 popular. It takes a longtime for a chaff 

 hive to become cold, it takes too long to 

 warm it up. We have used some 80 hives 

 with thick double walls filled with chaff 

 or saw dust, and we have often had to 

 wake up the bees on a warm day when 

 all the other hives were having a good 

 clean.sing flight. The single, one-inch 

 walls are quickly warmed by the rays of 

 the sun, and unless the bees are shut in 

 by the dead bodies piled at the entrance, 

 or the hive is too well sheltered, they are 

 very prompt to take advantage of a mild 

 day. 



ikit if from one of these causes they 

 remain quiet they shoidd be disturbed. 

 The bees that have the greatest number 

 of winter flights in cold, hard winters, 

 are those that come out in the best shape. 

 It is for this reason that we object to a 

 Northern exposure, when wintering on 

 summer stands, and for the same cause, 

 we do not think the shade of an evergreen 

 is advisable. 



The topic taken up for special discus- 

 sion in the very first issue of the Review 

 was that of " Disturbance of Bees in Win- 

 ter," and, almost without exception, such 

 men as R. J^. Taylor, James Heddou, F. 



Boomhower, Eugene Secor, and others, 

 expressed doubts as to the injur)- arising 

 from disturbance. Many instances were 

 given where bees had been repeatedly 

 disturbed during the wdnter, where the}' 

 had been moved from one part of the 

 coimtr\' to another localit}-, hives were 

 opened in the cellar, bees fed, etc. and no 

 harm resulted. Some admitted that if 

 the food were bad, or there were other 

 unfavorable circumstances, disturbance 

 might aggravate these troubles. I think 

 that I will reproduce Mr. R. h. Taylor's 

 article as one that covers the ground 

 in the most comprehensive manner. He 

 said: 



We bee-keei)ers are prone to draw hastv 

 and consequently erroneous conclu.sions; 

 ])erhaps we are not more likely to do so 

 than other classes, though it often .seems 

 so. 



In the paper I read before the N. .\. B. 

 K. convention at Chicago I argued that 

 the successful wintering of bees turned 

 principally upon their being supplied 

 with stores of a good quality, and used 

 some facts gathered from my experience 

 in feeding bees sugar syrup, solely to aid 

 in establishing that point, but many pres- 

 ent rushed to the conclusion that I was 

 advising the using of sugar stores for win- 

 tering, a matter upon which I had not so 

 nuich as touched. Xow, if anything I 

 shall say in this article should seem to 

 .show that the disturbing of bees in win- 

 ter does no harm, 1 protest in advance 

 against the assumption that I advise such 

 disturbance. 



,So also it seems a matter wortliy of 

 consideration whether it is not a hasty 

 conclusion we have so generally held that 

 this disturbance of bees in winter is in- 

 jurious. 



We know that bees not wintering well 

 are in a disturbed state generally; are we, 

 therefore, warranted in holding that the 

 result of a disturbed state is ill wintering? 

 Can we legitimately say that ill wintering 

 is the cause of the disturbance, and that 

 the disturbance is the cause of ill winter- 

 ing? May each condition properl}- be 

 said to be the cause of the other? 



It may plausably be argued that dis- 

 turbance cau.ses the bees to consume 

 greater quantities of food and induces the 

 rearing of brood, and there are some facts 

 that seems to warrant such a \new, 

 nevertheless, though such may be the re- 

 sult during their season of activity may we 



