1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



19 



FIG. 1. — AN IDEAL COMB TO FOBM A WINTER NEST. 



be getting rich; but if they are not, it is be- 

 cause there are so many of them. Certain 

 it is that we all demand expensive contain- 

 ers, not only for our honey, but for most of 

 our different kinds of food. Recognizing 

 this, bee-keepers and honey-dealers can well 

 afford to select attractive containers, thus 

 furnishing what is demanded, but taking 

 care, always, to i^ractice no deception, for 

 deception sooner or later kills sales. — Ed.] 



THE WINTER NEST OF A COLONY, 



How the Bees will Form it if Not Disturbed by 

 their Owner. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



A year ago, it will be remembered, there 

 was some discussion as to whether bees ac- 

 tually form a winter nest. Our good friend, 

 the editor of the Canadian Bee Journal, 

 while not doubting the existence of such a 

 nest, yet like the Missourian of old wished 

 to be "shown." After we had presented 

 our proofs our contemporary very generous- 

 ly acknowledged that he was "almost con- 

 vinced." 



What do we mean by "winter nests " ? 

 We mean a space of empty brood-cells in 

 one or more combs, such space approximat- 

 ing the form of a hemisphere in ordinary 

 Langstroth brood-nests. These empty cells 

 surrounded by sealed stores constitute the 

 winter nest where the bees cluster when con- 

 ditions are ideal. As the stores are consum- 

 ed, the number of empty cells increases 

 either backward or forward, but always up- 

 ward. As a general thing we find the ball 

 of bees located near the front of the hive 

 and regularly over the entrance. As the 

 stores are consumed they move upward and 

 backward; but the cluster in no case extends 



over the sealed honey when the bees can 

 have their own sweet will. 



Very often a well-meaning ABC scholar 

 finds three or four combs in the center of 

 the hive, having a space of empty cells as 

 large as the hand spread out. He thinks 

 this is all wrong and will remove the combs 

 containing such spaces, and put in their 

 place solid cards of honey. What has he 

 done? He has compelled the bees to cluster 

 upon sealed honey. The cluster is broken 

 up into slabs approximately y?, inch thick, 

 each slab of bees separated by approximate- 

 ly an inch of solid honey, instead of hav- 

 ing one solid cluster separated by only the 

 midrib of the combs, he has made a series of 

 clusters, each within itself trying to main- 

 tain its own body heat but at a very great 

 disadvantage. 



Let us illustrate: Two people on a cold 

 winter's night require less bed clothing than 

 one person would in that same bed. Now, 

 then, suppose that, instead of having those 

 two bed-fellows separated from each other 

 by only their night clothing, we have a slab 

 of metal or even wood between them. If 

 they are compelled to place their warm 

 bodies in contact with that cold surface they 

 lose a great deal of their body heat because 

 the cold surfaces carry away (that is, dissi- 

 pate) the warmth. 



We have exactly that condition when we 

 insert combs of sealed honey into a bunch 

 of bees. We compel them to divide up into 

 four or five clusters. The result is, that col- 

 onies tampered with in this manner perish 

 or come out in the spring very weak because 

 of their inability to maintain the requisite 

 temperature. Where outside bees become 

 stiff with cold they can not long endure 

 that condition. 



We show herewith two illustrations of 

 combs showing an ideal winter nest which 

 bees under normal conditions will form if 



