GIvEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



85 



T^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ 



ANSWERS TO 



SEASONABLE 



QUESTIONS 



1 ife <^ 1^ 1^ 1@>^^ 0L^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



WINTERING BEES. 



Question. — Having read what you have to 

 say on cellar wintering, found in the January 

 1st Gleanings, I should like to have you tell 

 us something more about wintering bees in 

 general, not confining your remarks exclu- 

 sively to cellar wintering, as very many of us 

 winter our bees out on their summer stands. 

 Give us something practical on general winter- 

 ing as soon as possible. From a beginner. 



Answer.- — If the writer of the above question 

 will turn to page 19 of January 1st GLEAN- 

 INGS, he will find the editor saying, near the 

 middle of the second column : " Say as nn^ch 

 as we like, cold is the principal agent that 

 causes dysentery," and dysentery, or "bee 

 diarrhea," as it is generally termed, is the 

 hief cause of our winter losses. Then we find 

 the editor saying that "an apiary badly at- 

 tacked with dysentery will be cured just as 

 soon as warm weather sets in." Now, while 

 I do not just agree with this last statement, it 

 is not my object to attack that statement here ; 

 but by putting the "cold" and the "warm" 

 together, say that the w/iy '^ cold is the prin- 

 cipal agent," comes from the fact that the cold 

 confines the bees to their hives ; and where this 

 cold (therefore confinement) is long con- 

 tinued, the result is bee diarrhea ; and I go on 

 record as saying that no colony of bees could 

 ever live to breed up again where cold in vary- 

 ing degrees continues long enough to keep the 

 bees fully confined to their hives for eight suc- 

 cessive months, no matter how good the food, 

 how dry the air, nor how nearly perfect might 

 be all other conditions. 



But now more nearly to the question of our 

 correspondent. And to best tell him what he 

 wishes to know, I will give, as nearly as I can, 

 a conversation which passed between a neigh- 

 boring bee-keeper and myself a short time ago. 

 After passing the usual salutations, and re- 

 marking about the weather, etc., as nearly all 

 do when meeting, he asked, "About how much 

 honey does a colony of bees consume during 

 the winter? " 



I replied, as nearly as I can remember : 

 "When bees remain in that quiescent state 

 which is required for safe wintering, a pound 

 of honey a month sulfices the whole colony ; and 

 in this state a colony would pass from four to six 

 months with ease, according to their surround- 

 ings ; but if the colony becomes uneasy from 

 any cause, the bees will eat from five to seven 

 pounds a month, and soil their hives and 

 themselves so as to cause their loss in from six 

 weeks to two months from the time they com- 

 mence to eat so voraciously." 



"But is there no way to prevent their eat- 

 ing so much ? " 



" To help to control this appetite, cellar win- 

 tering has proven about the best plan in cold 

 climates, because, from the even temperature 

 maintained, the bees need but little food to 



keep up the necessary warmth they require 

 during this period of partial inactivity which 

 our northern winters compel them to pass 

 through. As but little food is required, the 

 body of the bee easily contains said food after 

 digestion, and thus all goes well." 



" But must all winter in the cellar? " 



" No. Next to the cellar comes chaff -pack- 

 ed hives, because, as the bees are surrounded 

 by porous walls, which take off the moisture 

 passing from the bees' bodies, also retaining 

 the warmth generated by themselves, they are 

 kept at a more uniform temperature than they 

 would be without chaflF packing. This lessens 

 the consumption of honey, and enables them 

 better to throw off a part of the moisture con- 

 tained in their food, and to contain the rest 

 till the weather shall be sufficiently warm for 

 them to fly." 



" By thus allowing the bees to fly occasion- 

 ally, is not this better than cellar wintering?" 



"This mode has a seeming advantage over 

 cellar wintering, in that it allows the bees to 

 fly if an opportunity permits, during the win- 

 ter ; but it is offset by a more uniform temper- 

 ature in the cellar, and consequent decrease in 

 the consumption of stores." 



" Are there not other plans? " 



' ' These two plans are about the only feasi- 

 ble ones, and are those used by our most 

 practical apiarists." 



" Is there any thing which helps or hinders 

 these plans being a success? " 



"Yes, there are other causes which help 

 these plans to be a success or failure ? " 



" What about those looking toward a fail- 

 ure ? ' ' 



' ' Those which look toward a failure are 

 these : First, poor honey, such as honey-dew ; 

 the juice from decayed fruit, soured and un- 

 sealed stores, etc., because the bees have to 

 take into their bodies an excess of that which 

 is not real food to them to sustain their exist- 

 ence, thereby extending their bodies ; atid un- 

 less a chance to fly presents itself often, they 

 must die." 



" Any thing else looking toward a failure?" 



"Yes, all causes which disturb them in their 

 winter repose ; because, as soon as they are dis- 

 turbed, they take into their bodies mo. e food 

 than is required for their existence, thus plac- 

 ing them (with the best of food) in the same 

 condition, or nearly so, they would be with 

 poor honey." 



"Then quietness is one requisite?" 



"Yes ; all should know how important it is 

 that bees should have perfect quiet, that no 

 mice or rats be allowed in or on the hives, and 

 in cellar wintering that the temperature does 

 not get so high or low that it makes them 

 uneasy." 



" Is that all looking toward a failure ? " 



"No; but few bees, or mostly old ones, 

 tends greatly to failure, because, if but few 

 bees, they can not keep up the desired warmth 

 without consuming an undue quantity of food, 

 thus thwarting the object we are seeking after ; 

 and if old bees, they will die of old age before 

 the young ones in sufficient numbers hatch the 

 next spring, thus causing what is known as 

 spring dwindling." 



