3()2 



glea:nings in bee cuLTUlii:. 



Aptt. 



tie's conclusion, the first day be drew the thermom- 

 eter out from that cluster; for, notice, he left it in 

 from 4 p. M. until the next morning'; and in taking- 

 it out the act was so quick that the temperature did 

 not rise from the disturbance caused at the moment 

 of opening; the heat could not rise and affect the 

 thermometer in the short time it would take him to 

 reach in and pull it out. The bees surely had set- 

 tled into their natural quiet state during the inter- 

 val between 4 p. M. and the following morning. 



In the second experiment, when five days inter- 

 vened, in which the cluster would surely assume its 

 wonted quietness (and Mr. Doolittle would not tar- 

 ry when pulling out the thermometer, but he no 

 doubt reached in and lifted it out immediately, and 

 cast his eye as soon as possible on the instrument, 

 before a moment's time could lower the tempera- 

 ture), would the bees have time, I should like to 

 know, in the moment of time consumed, to aS'ect 

 the thermometer? I can not sec it. Then, again, 

 his thermometer gave the coldest point reached in 

 the cluster during the five days, which was 63°. 

 They were not disturbed while registering the 

 above 63°. Why not, for that size of colony, in his 

 make of hive, put the normal temperature at 6>j°? 

 How can it be otherwise, when they had five daj s 

 to cluster around the graduated part of the ther- 

 mometer (which Mr. Doolittle inserted), and regis- 

 ter undisturhcd? The G'.°, I claim, was the normal 

 femperature of the cluster; for uf'ler the Lees 

 cooled down after inserting the thermometer, the 

 cluster entered into a normal state, and the tem- 

 perature would naturally be the lowest— i. e., e,'.", 

 during the cluster's five days of guiot. 



About four years ago I spread my brcod-ne.st in 

 the center, giving about IVz or 3 inches space be- 

 tween the two central combs for clustering. One 

 day, when Vt degree above zero outside, I inserted 

 a thermometer quickly in the space above men- 

 tioned—not among the bees, as the cluster was at 

 one end of the hive, and I hung the thermometer at 

 the other, where a few scattering bees were, taking- 

 it out when but a little time had expired (a few 

 hours). The temperature had raised to 8l-° (summer 

 heat). The hive was my Climatic, as described 

 further back. 



Two days ago, in same make of hive, I placed the 

 thermometer (which hung outside, and registered 

 2' below zero) under the cushion, in the clustering- 

 space under the Hill device, allowing the lower end 

 of the thermometer to just touch the clustei- and 

 extend " out in the cold." I left it m only about 15 

 minutes, and it registered 40°. Two hives treated 

 this way registered the same. In the first experi- 

 ment I think I took the thermometer out too soon; 

 the rise in temperature was caused, no doubt, by 

 what little I disturbed the bees. The second I did 

 not give enough time for the thermometer to regis- 

 ter even the abnormal heat. 



1 am only an ABC, and have doubtless been pre- 

 sumptuous in the foregoing; but 1 wish some veter- 

 an would presume to prove me mistaken. School 

 is open at all hours, and we are willing to learn. 

 We little ones will throw stones now and then, but 

 we will take the conscciuenccs, and probably learn 

 something. Wm. M. Young. 



Nevada, Ohio, Feb., Um. 



Friend Y., I can not see that your experi- 

 ment particularly«touches tlie question of 

 the weight of damp air or dry air. Tlie 

 moist air ascended and dampened the cliaff 



in your hives, because the air was cold out- 

 side and warmer inside, which always pro- 

 duces an ascending current. In regard to 

 the temperature of the brood-nest, see the 

 following article. 



WINTER TEMPERATURE OF BEES. 



FURTHER EXPERIMENTS IN THE SAME DIRECTION. 



N Mr. Clarke's article, p. 01, in reply to Mr. Doo- 

 little, he endcavoi"s to substantiate his hiberna- 

 tion theory. It seems presumptuous for me to 

 cope with such able writers as Mr. Clarke and 

 Doolittle; but, according to my observations, 

 they are both somewhat in error in some of their 

 conclusions; and I think that, by the time I am 

 through, I can unsettle Mr. Clarke's hibernation 

 theory considerably. 



1 infer, from Mr. Doolittle's article, that his exper- 

 iments were conducted in the latter part of January 

 and the first part of February; and he also had the 

 benefit of colder weather than I did. But accoi'ding 

 to my experiments, a fall in the outside temperature 

 does not alwaj s produce a corresponding lower tem- 

 perature in a cluster of bees that is undisturbed, 

 but, rather, the contrarj-, especially when taken at 

 ditterent times on the same day, as the following 

 tables will show. 



I am inclined to think that Mr. Doolittle's figures 

 are too low, though ditterent localities and different 

 circumstances may cause a diiference in tempera- 

 ture. If 15° of change in outside temperature, as 

 Mr. Doolittle says, make one degree in the cluster, 

 an outside temperature of 75° would give only 69^ in 

 cluster, which I think much too low. Is it not pos- 

 sible, Mr. D., if j'our thermometer is as long as the 

 average one, that, when it was suspended between 

 the frames, the bulb was situated almost at the low- 

 er extremity of the cluster ? A common thermom- 

 eter is about 7 inches long; and, if suspended the en- 

 tire length below the cushions, would extend within 

 two inches of the bottom of the frames; and as the 

 temperature certainly decreases from the center of 

 the cluster to the outside, is it not probable that 

 your figures are too low ? 



The following series of experiments were all taken 

 from one hive, though partially verified by experi- 

 ments with other hives. The hive selected was one 

 of my best hives, with the usual chaff cushion, and 

 situated in a row of hives which stand about 8 inch- 

 es apart. The spaces between, and about 6 inches 

 at the back, are packed with straw, and over all is 

 a temporary roof. I used a common thermometer 

 by slipping the graduated scale, with the tube, out 

 of the case. I then cut a slit in the mats (two of 

 which were used, as one was gnawed full of holes), 

 just large enough to admit the thermometer and 

 hold it in its place when slipped up or down. It 

 was then placed in the slit (without disturbing the 

 frames), with the upper end extending about 3 inches 

 above the frames, over which an inverted tumbler 

 was placed, and the cushion over all. By raising 

 the tube '2 to 1 in., the temperature could be seen 

 at any time, and disturb the bees but little. The 

 observations were taken about sunrise, unless oth- 

 erwise designated; at noon, when it was possible 

 for me to be at home at noon ; and at night. I placed 

 the thermometer in the cluster Feb. 9, and have the 

 following results: 



