THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



safely, therefore, conclude that the same 

 result follows during their season of rest ? 



From the time I began to keep bees I 

 have fallen in more or less with the popu- 

 lar notion, though with ever increasing 

 doubt, for, as the interest I took in know- 

 ing their condition in winter well nigh 

 overpowered any fear I had of doing them 

 injury, I have always handled them more 

 or less during the winter without as yet 

 any ill effects. 



The first winter after I had learned any- 

 thing about bees, I had fifteen colonies 

 wintering out of doors. Like a child 

 with a new toy, I was intensely interest- 

 ed in them, and was anxious both to 

 know how they were doing and to learn 

 more about them, and so examined them 

 frequently and in all kinds of weather, 

 and not only could I see no harm come 

 of it, but I know that none did, for all 

 wintered perfectly and so drowsy were 

 some of them in April that it seemed 

 necessary to arouse them to begin the 

 season's operations. 



My faith in the doctrine concerning the 

 ill effects of winter disturbance suffered, 

 and since that time I have felt no com- 

 punction in examining a colony whenever 

 I felt inclined. 



Having had bees in my cellar for the 

 last six winters it has been my custom to 

 visit them two or three times a week with 

 a lamp, lifting covers freely, and not in- 

 frequently examining the combs. This 

 disturbance was generally confined to 

 certain hives convenient for the purpose, 

 and in the spring I could never see that 

 thev had wintered better or worse than 

 those not treated. I have now and then 

 fed a colony or two in the winter with no 

 indication that such feeding was neces- 

 sarily injurious. 



In two cases I have gone throtigh all the 

 hives in the cellar moving and opening 

 them and adding or exchanging combs. 

 In one case the bees came out in the 

 spring in as good condition as could be 

 desired, in the other they did not winter 

 well, but that they would not was fjuite 

 evident before the manipulation, and in 

 neither case could I discover that hand- 

 ling did in any way affect their welfare. 



Again, having been troubled consider- 

 ably two winters with mice, I have seen 

 several colonies that wintered admirably 

 with mice living in nests on the top of the 

 frames and in the combs at the side of the 

 cluster, and I do not now remember of 

 seeing one thus trespassed upon that did 

 not winter well. 



However, I would not jump to the con- 

 clusion that bees will in no case be injur- 

 ed bv disturbance in the winter, though 



I feel certain that colonies with perfectly 

 sound stores would endure without injury 

 almost any degree and almost any kind of 

 it with full daylight added. But in the 

 case of bees with unsound stores I am 

 not .so certain. It seems reasonable, and 

 itma3'be the case, that disturbance has- 

 tens the effects of bad food, but this is a 

 point very difficult to determine. 



There is one more point in friend Da- 

 dant's article to which I wish to call 

 attention; that of disturbing bees to cause 

 them to fly when the temperature is such 

 that they nia}^ do so with safety. This 

 is one of those points upon which I do 

 not feel sure. I think that Wm. F. Clarke, 

 of Canada, was nearer right than some of 

 us thought when he advanced his "hi- 

 bernation "' theorj' a few year ago. Of 

 course, bees do not hibernate as in the 

 case of the woodchuck, but they do sink 

 into a quiet state where they exercise but 

 little and consume only a little food ; and 

 when they have succssfully reached this 

 state, and food and other conditions are all 

 right, they seen to be able to hold it for 

 months with no discomfort — this is what 

 might be called perfect wintering. When 

 bees are in this condition, I doubt the 

 necessity of .stirring them up and 

 breaking the spell, even for the .sake of 

 giving them a flight. This very point 

 was once under discussion in the Review, 

 viz., that bees well protected by thick 

 packing were not aroused in time to take 

 a winter's flight, while those in thin hives 

 would be roused in time, and Mr. Bing- 

 ham, I think it was, said " I know that 

 bees so protected don't fly at such times, 

 ])ut ihey (foil' ^ /laz'i' /o." It is possible 

 that bees that are not wintering perfectly 

 would be so much benefited by a flight 

 that it might be advisable to go to some 

 pains to induce them to fly if the temper- 

 ature is high enough. Just a word here 

 about packing. A populous colony will 

 generate sufficient heat to make itself 

 comfortable, provided that heat is re- 

 Uiined by means of some non-conductor. 

 In this case, thick packing is all right; 

 but in the case of a weak colony there is 

 not sufficient heat generated, and the 

 thick packing .shuts off that from the sun 



