230 



GLE.VXINGS IX J3EE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



churning' their faeces the moment they left It. 1 

 put them into warm quarters; such as were left in 

 the hive were quiet, and came out all right in the 

 spring-. Here is a case where they were cured of 

 what the cold had produced. 



"Food consumed by beasts generates heat, and 

 they take it generally in proportion to the severity 

 of the ^veather, to keep themselves warm. Bees 

 seem to act on the same principle, but being, prob- 

 ably, natives of a warm climate, their structure is 

 different from many animals. Being small, one 

 alone can not generate heat enough to keep in life 

 in a cold atmosphere. Only a compact cluster can 

 maintain it, and tiien not without an abundance of 

 food. Bees do not, when in a cold situation, seem 

 to digest, or burn, their food, in keeping up warmth, 

 as do the larger animals. It is exemplified when 

 they have worked in surplus-boxes till late in the 

 season. Takeoff these unfinished boxes some cool 

 morning before the bees have all gathered into the 

 hive, and mostof them will fill themselves with hon- 

 ey before they can begot out of the boxes. The re- 

 sult is, that the honey swallowed is not digested, 

 and warmth created, but is discharged as ffpces 

 from each as are scattered, before they regain their 

 warm hives. Whenbeesareveryquietinthehivein 

 very cold weather, some must be on the outside of the 

 cluster— I mean the cluster inside the hive between 

 the combs, and, of course, colder than those inside. 

 But when the weather continues cold for months, 

 as was the case for the last two winters, those out- 

 side bees, stiffened by cold, are unable to change 

 their position for a wai-morone; their food is not 

 digested, their bodies become swollen with fiieces, 

 and they must leave to discharge it. If the weath- 

 er continues cold, the colony continues to grow 

 smaller in proportion to the length of time and size 

 of colony. Some colonies maintain the proper 

 warmth by having the honey distributed so that 

 they can have empty cells near the center, into 

 which they can creep for mutual warmth, being 

 morn compact. Bees can exist but a short time in 

 cold weather, when between combs of sealed honey ; 

 but they will, when propei-ly clustered, endure any 

 degree of cold for a time. When made warmer, 

 don't think them saf j until they ai-j warm enough, 

 and remain so long erough to enable them to 

 change places with those on the inside; otherwise 

 the result is fatal. If this is correct, it will show 

 those who have housed their bees and lost them that 

 they were not warm enough even then. I am aware 

 that some will say that they have thus successfully 

 wintered bees many times, proving to themselves 

 beyond doubt that they were warm enough, not 

 considering that the place that was warm enough in 

 1870 was not so in 1871-"2, because of the steady cold. 

 This is proved still stronger by not finding a single 

 case in the past two winters where the bees came 

 out right, when only a few were housed together, 

 unless they had the advantage of artificial heat. 

 In discussing this subject before, I have said: 

 'Try the experiment of keeping them warm.' I 

 would now say, that just this has been tried, and 

 success has followed. M. Quinby. 



"St. Johnsville, N. Y." 



Dr. Joslin then cpmnicntg as follows: 



" V.'hile it is iShown that cold is the caupe of death, 

 the best temperatureis not mentioned. I will there- 

 fore quote from the ninth page of the same journal, 

 the suraminjf-up of the wintering of bocs, byS. T. 

 Wright, of Illinois. IIo snys: '1. A productive 



queen, with bees enough to rear brood; 2. Suitable 

 combs stored with wholesome food; 3. A pure at- 

 mosphere, of a suitable temperature, about 40° to 

 .50° above zero being best; 4. No disturbance; to- 

 tal darkness and stillness being best for keeping 

 bees quietly confined to their hives.' 



" This was 13 years ago, and the problem was 

 solved. I now come down to 1881, and quote from 

 the pen of Geo. Grimm, as recorded in Gleanings, 

 page 128, 1881. He says, ' Avoid late breeding in the 

 fall; also avoid winter breeding;' to do which he 

 keeps the temperature at 42°. Again, on page 329, 

 Gleanings for 1881, he says: 'I repeat, leave your 

 bees out as long as possible; they will thus consume 

 all unsealed honey they have, and you may be as- 

 sured that all brood will have hatched.' Another thing, 

 and one of more importance, is having bees so 

 chilled they will not again begin to breed till re- 

 moved from the cellar in the spring, if the temper- 

 ature is kept at 42°. Grimm's losses were 5 to 10 

 per cent, while H. R. Boardman's were nothinn, and 

 Boardman goes just the revei'se; viz., encourages 

 late breeding, also breeding in the cellar toward 

 spring, to do which he keeps the temperature at 4.5° 

 and upward. He says, if the temperature goes be- 

 low 45° they take on a bad condition; 42° is not 

 warm enough after they begin to breed, as, if lower 

 t lan that, the bees have to consume too much 

 food in keeping up the temperature. In deep wells 

 the oxygen rises, leaving the carbonic-acid gas to 

 settle, producing what is called 'damps,' which is 

 death to animal life. This principle applies to all 

 cellars or repositories where the air is undisturbed. 

 A two-inch (.ipe running from the stovepipe to 

 within two inches of the bottom of the cellar will 

 suck up the gas and change all the air in the cellar 

 in a few hours; but this does not regulate the tem- 

 ])erature. I prefer the Boardman plan (see Glean- 

 ings, 1S8;3, Oct. No.). It is good as far as it goes. I 

 would add sub-earth ventilation, with which the 

 temperature could be kept at about 40° until breed- 

 ing begins in February, then resort to artificial heat 

 to keep the temperature above 45°. If the weather 

 should be very warm, raising the temperature too 

 high, then resort to sub-earth ventilation to keep 

 down the heat, which would be much better than 

 cakes of ice or tubs of water. 



" Bees do not die in summer, fcfr they are warm 

 enough, and have pure air. These conditions are 

 all that is necessary to winter bees. All animal life 

 requires pure air, and bees are no exception. 

 When friend Hutchinson buried 57 colonies in one 

 pit, without ventilation, the bees consumed the 

 o.xygen, leaving onlj' carbonic-acid gas, which pro- 

 duced death. A little ventilation would have saved 

 them. 



" As for the pollen theory, bees never eat it when 

 kept warm enough, hence that theory vanishes 

 like dew before the morning sun. 



" Dr. C. M. Joslin. 



" Clio, Genesee Co., Mich. 



" P. S.— I should like to have spoken of the tem- 

 pei-ature of 60° to 90°, and the extra amount of 

 food eaten, the same as when too cold; of the break- 

 ing-up of the cluster to change about to eat; of the 

 medium between the two extremes producing quiet 

 and keeping the bees in the hive where they belong, 

 etc., JJHt I pause for this time. Dr. C. M. J." 



There is much la the above that I should like to 

 critlciso; but the article Is now too long, and I shall 



