1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



615 



wherein the mercury goes as high as and even 

 higher than that. If those figures were cor- 

 rect, then our bees could rear brood in April 

 and May, here in the North, to as good advan- 

 tage as they do now in July and August. Then 

 if the temperature of brood-rearing were only 

 80 to 85°, as our questioner seems to think, 

 should the temperature run higher than this 

 would it not be unbearable by the brood ? And 

 if this were true, what would the bees do when 

 the mercury stood about the " nineties " for 

 days in succession, as we frequently have it, 

 even in this locality. Would it be possible for 

 the bees, by fanning the air, to give a ltss de- 

 gree of heat than that very air contained ? 



Some years ago, having a desire to know for 

 a certainty of these things for myself, I began 

 to experiment as follows : I procured a self- 

 registering thermometer, and, placing it near 

 the fire till it showed 12o to 130° of heat, I set 

 the register wrapped it in some heated cloths, 

 and immediately placed it in the center of the 

 brood-nest of a medium sized colony. This 

 was on a very cool day, some time in the 

 month of May — about the middle, as nearly as 

 I can remember. That night water was frozen 

 so as to form ice nearly as thick as window- 

 glass, the time being selected on purpose. The 

 next day, about two o'clock, it had warmed up 

 enough so that the bees were flying freely, 

 when I took out the thermometer and found 

 that the coldest point reached in the brood- 

 nest during such a cold night was 92°. Since 

 then I have tried the same experiment on both 

 strong and weak colonies, although at no time 

 since did it freeze so hard as at the first trial ; 

 yet in no colony that was rearing brood suc- 

 cessfully did I ever obtain a less degree than 

 the one mentioned, while some of the stronger 

 colonies gave a temperature of 95° on very 

 cool nights — nights in which there was some 

 frost. 



Being satisfied that 92° is the lowest point 

 consistent with successful brood-rearing, I 

 next went about finding what is the highest 

 point the bees all<-w in their hive when the 

 mercury is playing in the " nineties" in the 

 shade. Accordingly, one very warm August 

 morning I placed the thermometer in the cen- 

 ter of a very strong colony. This day gave 

 promise of being a very warm one, it being 

 78° in the shade before the sun was two hours 

 high. At two o'clock that afternoon it was 

 too warm to work out in the sun without dan- 

 ger to health, as from 90 to 95° was the ran ye 

 of temperature between 12 and ?> p.m., while 

 the front of nearly every hive in the yard was 

 covered with bees, with hundreds plying their 

 wings at the entrance to keep the temperature 

 as low as possible inside the hive. At about 

 sunset the thermometer was lifted from the 

 hive, when I found that the highest point 

 reached was 98° during that extremely warm 

 afternoon. Since then I have tried similar ex- 

 periments, but have never been able to secure 

 quite as high a temperature, although on one 

 other occasion it came within less than half a 

 degree of 98. In this way I fourd that, to 

 rear brood successfully, the temperature of the 

 hive must reach a point somewhere between 

 92 and 98° ; and any arrangement of hives 



that would keep it as near those points as pos- 

 sible, with the least expenditure of effort by 

 the bees, would be the hive best suited to the 

 wants of the apiarist. To this end I am very 

 favorable to a chaff -packed hive, the same be- 

 ing painted a dark color, and covered with a 

 metal roof, the same being painted a dark col- 

 or also. The hive is allowed to stand in the 

 sun thus till warm weather arrives and the 

 bees become numerous, in order that the chaff 

 and hive may absorb the heat from the rays of 

 the sun during the day, and slowly give it off 

 at night, thus helping the bees immensely in 

 keeping up the desired temperature during 

 the night. When it becomes steady warm 

 weather, with the bees numerous, with pros- 

 pect of hot weather, then a shade-board is pro- 

 vided, the same being raised from an inch at 

 the front side of the hive to four inches at the 

 back, so that the air can circulate all over and 

 about the shaded hive during the day, while 

 from the chaff, taking in much ccolness dur- 

 ing the night, which it gives off during the 

 day, a uniform temperature is maintained, so 

 that the bees are seldom driven from the sec- 

 tions, either by the cold of night or the heat 

 of the day. 



These points are well worth looking after if 

 we would meet with the best success. 



W. H. II'., Mo. — If you make sugar syrup 

 as we describe in our catalog, one-half sugar 

 and one-half water by measure, and feed the 

 bees before the frosty weather comes in, you 

 will not need to trouble about the sugar gran- 

 ulating in the combs ; but if, on the other 

 hand, you make the syrup one-third water and 

 two-thirds sugar, and feed it during the cold 

 weather, you may find some granulation. 



E. L. B., Ohio.— The bees will probably 

 take care of the dead brood in the combs that 

 died as a result of overheating while moving 

 the bees. If they do not, better take the 

 combs out and melt them up. Such dead 

 brood is not likely to turn into foul brood, 

 even though it appears to be a favorable medi- 

 um for the growth of the germs of that disease 

 if they are already present in the hive. 



W. C. G., N. M. — There is a good deal of 

 powdered and pulverized sugar en the market 

 that contains quite a large percentage of com- 

 mon starch. This starch is not an adulterant, 

 for the simple reason that some people prefer 

 to have the starch because it makes a better 

 frosting for cakes, and this sugar, you know, 

 is used largely for this purpose. You proba- 

 bly have been using a sugar that has starch in 

 it. By sending to a wholesale grocer or to 

 your own grocer you can obtain a pulverized 

 sugar that is sugar and nothing else. This 

 will make you a bee-candy that will give you 

 good results every time. 



