IS'.fJ 



(;M':\XIN(iS IN liKE CULTURE. 



I '-^5 



plies M/ii.i/y.l/ 11, n tu the ll.)iu\ of I he \<rr iislnllif 

 i|ii;iils <if (lil t'OMMinu'd liyllu' l-'s(|iiiinaii. Accord- 

 iiijf 111 Dr. IImII, till' ln'il>ivln>y. in ;i Iciiipci-it iiii- v:i- 

 rxiii)..' fi-Diii foily-tlvc to llf(.\ tioKi»"i's, iiwiiltcs 

 In (Ml :i1 inlciMils of two of tlii'i'f iliix s. do- 

 ln'iidln.ir upon this slisflil ilillcicncc In tt-nipriii- 

 tmt'. 'riu> (loitiiouso. w liicli sonicl hncs hiliciiiiitcs 

 in lu'c - lii\ t>s. :i\v;iki'> (l:iil\ in nioilcrntr Icin- 

 p('i"iIiiros. Dr. Hci'NCS s!i\s. "Lower li'nipoi;it me 

 lie>rin> at the surface of the liody and >;r;nlinill.\ ap- 

 piomdie-. I lie (•enter." This central part, as Dr. 

 Hall, Spallan/i, and others haxc proven, remains 

 peiniaiienil\ at a hiaher tetnpeiiil mo. In hibeina- 

 lioii.as at other times, a swarm or cluster of bees 

 iniist he taken as a unit . Mealing this in mind, it 

 is. as we should e.vpect.that I he center of a hihei- 

 naiiiiy cliislei i> formed of a higher lemperaliire 

 than the oiii>ide, as Doolittle. Tinker. ;iiid others 

 have noted. Most bee-keepers lunc not iced, on sud- 

 denl.\(li\idni!.'- .a cluslci' of bees in cold we.il her, 

 that the outside bees are --omewhat let liarj;ie, while 

 those in^^idc .-ire livel.x' and apt to tl.v out and stiiis; 

 while if an.\ of t hes'e half-awaUc "oulsde bees ll.\ 

 t hcv appear not to haxc control of t heir movements, 

 and fall to the fiiound. 



The heat of reptiles is from four to tifleeu de- 

 jrrees F. above the heat of their medium, while the 

 heat of individual insects is from I wo to ten de- 

 irrees more Ihan that of tho air. Therefore it can 

 not he said that reptiles or solitary insects hilx'i- 

 iiate as w.-irm-blooded mammalia do. The same ma.\ 

 besaidofthe Individual bee. If is oid.\ when aji- 

 jrrejrated in clusters Ihal a hisrh Hiul independent 

 temperature is niiintainel. Hibernation must not 

 he c'lmt'ouiided wit h torpidity. The Amrrk-o)! E)t- 

 fj/ffiiycdirt sa\s: "The torpor produced by extreme 

 « old is ver.\' (lilferent from true hibernation." And 

 .•ifrain. In another edition. ■ Ext feme cold will arouse 

 a hibi'i-natinjr animal from its lethaifiy, and speed- 

 ily kill it." We all know that cold arouses bees. 

 These, then, appear to be some of the leadinji' chac- 

 :icteiistics of liibernation: An activit.v similar to 

 but less than in sleep, with diminished respiration, 

 but i'lcreased muscular irritaliilit y; lower temper- 

 ature, lowest at the surface of t he !> id.\, diminished 

 need of foo 1. and. when stored outside of the bod.\-. 

 partaken of only at inter\als of awakeninj;-. loss of 

 vohiiitary in ilioii. but continuance of involuntar.x' 

 motion. As bees p )ssess .so mai.vof the <'onditions 

 of liibernation. it seems i-easonable to cnaeliide that 

 they hibernate. * * * P. H. Elwcjod. 



[The artielo, shows mncli painstaking care in 

 its pi-ei)aration. and. wiiliout doiiht. thi' state- 

 mi'iils are correct, fiom a scieiiiKic point of 

 view. Hibernation — at least with the bce- 

 keepers on this side of tiie line — was pretty well 

 worn out yeai's ajro in discussion: but we, trust 

 there will be no objection on the part of our 

 readers to our jjiviii!^ wiiat is both iiiten>sting 

 and valuable. We pi'(>siiine Mr. Doolittle meant 

 the same thing, even if he did not state it (|uile 

 as scientifically.] 



THE WINTER PROBLEM IN BEE-KEEPING. 



MOHTAI.ITV OF BKKS FOH TlIK I. .VST FKW 



VKARS: WHO FIKST OHIGINATKI) TIIK IDK,\ 



OF \ SKALKD COVEK? .SI'ACK U.VDKI! 



FRAMKS IN WI.VTEKING; VAI,L'.\KI,K 



FACTS HY a. U. ITKRCK. THK 



AUTHOK OF Til?; NEW IJOOK 



O.N WINTEKING. 



Mr. E. R. Riiiit: — In your review of tlu' above 

 hook, page '.).'.-.'.( Jr. E.\N I N'<;s for IS'.d. you make 

 one criticism which I think iieinis n reply on my 

 part, which 1 do. not with the design of [irovok- 

 ing discussion, but simply to arrive, if possible. 

 Ht the actual facts of the case. The criticism 1 

 refer to is as follows: 



"Tlie author has evidently placed the per- 

 *;eiitage of loss beyond what itn^ally is. Twenty- 

 live per cent would be nearer correct: and. 

 among intelligent bee-keepers, ten jier cent." 



When I first commenced tin; study in a con- 

 secutive manner — of the stib.ject of bee-moitali- 

 ly in winter. I endeavored to learn something 



positive in i-egard to the aiiproximate average 

 loss among bee-keepers; but 1 soon found that 

 I he i|Uesiioii was a most, intricate one. ami thiit 

 no .solution could be reached wiiicli would al 

 once commend itself to the bee-keeping fra- 

 leriiity. The reason for iirriviiig at this con- 

 clusion may be formulated as follows: 



(/. 'I'here are no Stat istics. State or National, 

 in regard to the bee-kee|)ing industry worthy 

 of the name. 



/). lOveii the reports of bee-keei'ers, as given 

 in the periodicals(agriciiltiiral and apicultiiral), 

 w hen taken as a wiioie are found to lie utterly 

 \alueless when scriitini/ed closely and compar- 

 ed with pie\ious reports made by thi' same per- 

 son. In order to illustrate this assertion, let us 

 take a suppo.sed case, whicii may be verified by 

 any ow who wislit^s to lie informed on the sub- 

 ject in (lui'stion. IjCt us siiitpose tluit .Mr. ]{. is 

 an intclligeni bee-keei)er wlio has Kio colonies 

 whicli were placed in winter (|iiai'ters in good 

 condition. About the lirst or middle of Aiiril. 

 Mr. B. writes to (ii.E.vNiNiis, giving his experi- 

 ence during the winter, and saying that his 

 loss has been. say. only ."> per cent, which is un- 

 doubtedly true. liiit in tht; September and 

 October following. Mr. H. wi'ites again to 

 (;i,E.\NIN(iS. tells of the prosp(>ct of the honey 

 crop in his neighborhood, gives liis experi(Mic(> 

 and opinion in regard to .some of thi^ metliods or 

 diniccs used in honey production, and closes by 

 reporting his yield at. say, ;iO(X) lbs. from In col- 

 onies. xprUiij roinit. Now. Mr. B.'s two reports, 

 when takeii together, show that :.'0 colonies 

 have mysteriously disappeared. It may be that 

 Mr. B. is a breeder of queens, or that the :3() col- 

 onies were sold. I have no doubt that many of 

 tiie reports given could beexiilained in this way. 

 There is no iiiiestion. however, that v.-ry many 

 —in fact, the great majority, of the reports 

 given in the press are misleading in this partic- 

 ular regard— no figures being given of total loss 

 —only that which is apparent at the opening of 

 spring. 



Now, I do not wish to l)e understiiod as re- 

 llecting upon the honor of the men wlio from 

 time to time give their experience through the 

 press. I believe they aim to give the facts as 

 they understand them; but. owing to the i)rac- 

 tice of reporting losses as soon as tlu; bees com- 

 mence to fly, they virtually ignore the subject 

 of sprinij niorttility. and yet the loss during the 

 winter inonths is a mere bagatelle compared 

 with that occurring during the months of 

 March. Ajiril. and i)art of May if the latter 

 hapjieiis to l)e a cold month. It is only w hen 

 the sveather becomes settled, giving continuous- 

 ly warm days and nights, that the effects of de- 

 fective mc^thodsof wintering are fully apparent. 



Again, there is another reason why reports of 

 bee-keepers are. to a certain extent, unieliiible 

 as data upon which to base an opinion of the 

 percentage of loss. 



Bee-keepers have just about as much hiunan 

 nature in thidr comiiosition as any other class 

 of people. The " prominent bee-keeper" of a 

 community is looked upon as an oracle in all 

 matters relating to bees, and usually he does 

 not exert himself to lower this public estimate, 

 but. rather, enhances it by giving greattir [jrom- 

 inence to his success than to his failuivs. He; 

 may not do this intentionally, but the result is 

 thesaine nevertheless: he is judged to be u/ii- 

 fnnnhj successful — a conclusion whicli the 

 facts, if known, would not wanant. 



I have found it exceedingly difficult to get 

 figures from some bee-kt epers as to their aver- 

 age annual loss of colonies. Tliere is no difil- 

 dence in giving information in regard to yield 

 of honey, or incresise in colonies; but when the 

 subject" of loss is broached, there is a disposi- 

 tion to dispose of it as of no matter. 



