74 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CtJLTUuE 



February, 1921. 



honey." Beekeej^ers in the South, as well as 

 in the North, who have tried leaving more 

 honey in the hives than they think necessary 

 are reaping rich rewards for doing so. 



THE EXACT temperature best for the bee 

 cellar depends upon so many things that to 

 attempt to establish 

 Cellar a standard tempera- 



Temperatures ture for all cellars 

 Again. under all conditions 



would be absurd. It 

 should be high enough so that the bees 

 will not need to generate much heat to keep 

 the cluster warm, yet low enough to cause 

 the bees to form a cluster and remain quiet 

 within the hives. The important thing in 

 keeping the bees most nearly quiet is the 

 temperature of the air within the hive. If 

 heat escapes from some hives more rapidly 

 than from others a higher cellar tempera- 

 ture becomes necessary to maintain the best 

 temperature of the air surrounding the clus- 

 ter. The style of the hive, the size of the 

 entrance, the size of the cluster, and the 

 character of the stores may make consider- 

 able difference in the relation of the tem- 

 perature of the air within the hive and that 

 outside the hive. If the cellar temperature 

 runs too low, and can not be raised by clos- 

 ing the ventilators or by packing exposed 

 doors and windows, the entrances to the 

 hives can be reduced, which should raise the 

 temperature within. Strong colonies may be 

 given large entrances and weak colonies 

 small entrances, so that both may have the 

 same temperature within the hives. The 

 best temperature for the cellar is that which 

 results in the greatest degree of quiescence 

 on the part of the bees whetlier it be 40 de- 

 grees or 50 degrees. 



IN THE fall and early winter when the 

 bees are not active the generation of heat 

 within the clus- 

 Heat Generation ter is only that 

 in Late Winter. required to 

 maintain a tem- 

 perature not lower than 57 degrees F. in the 

 outer margin. As the temperature outside 

 rises and approaches 57 degrees F., the gen- 

 eration of heat within the cluster is de- 

 creased accordingly; and, as the outside tem- 

 perature goes lower, the generation of heat 

 must, of course, be increased sufficiently to 

 keep the margin of the cluster at about 57 

 degrees F. When the temperature outside 

 rises to 65 degrees F. or more the cluster is 

 broken and the bees become more active. 



As the winter advances the extreme re- 

 pose of November and December is not 

 maintained, especially if the winter stores 

 are not of the best; and the bees begin to 

 generate heat, not for the purpose of main- 

 taining a delicately balanced temperature 

 within the cluster, but because of restless- 

 ness. If the stores are poor and the bees are 

 denied a cleansing flight, the heat generated 



from this cause may be many times that 

 needed for the maintenance of the proper 

 cluster temperature, and the earlier re- 

 sponses to changing outside temperatures 

 may be completely discontinued, a much- 

 higher cluster temperature being now main- 

 tained. When this happens, of course more 

 stores are used, and the vitality of the bees 

 is wasted rapidly. 



Even with good winter stores, a higher 

 cluster temperature is maintained during the 

 latter part of winter, and if the bees are in 

 the cellar they become more and more sus- 

 ceptible" to a higher cellar temperature. To 

 compensate for this extra generation of heat 

 within the hives it is sometimes necessary 

 to lower the temperature of the cellar as 

 spring approaches. 



AFTEE A SEASON'S experience with our 



guaranteed advertising policy we have to 



announce s e v e ral 



Plain Talk on a 



Troublesome 



Matter. 



new conditions, 



both for queen and 



bee rearers and 



for their patrons. 



As a journal we are pioneering in this field 



of guaranteed advertising, and have to "live 



and learn. ' ' 



Entrance to our advertising columns by 

 newcomers in the field of queen and bee 

 rearing will be made stricter than before — 

 and some of the advertisers of the past sea- 

 son will not be found in our columns again. 

 These will be excluded, not on the ground 

 of dishonesty, but because of lax business 

 methods, failure to answer correspondence 

 promptly, ai>d proneness to promise too 

 much in advance. We mean to exclude from 

 our columns not only the dishonest and un- 

 reliable advertiser but also the careless and 

 negligent advertiser. 



All new advertisers will have to furnish 

 us the best of character and financial ref- 

 erences before entering our columns as here- 

 tofore, also satisfy us that they have colonies 

 enough and of the right kind to make good 

 their advertisements, and any advertiser 

 against whom any justifiable complaint is 

 made by one of our subscribers must ex- 

 pect to be excluded from our columns at 

 least until such complaint or complaints are 

 satisfied. 



Now, a word to our subscribers about their 

 relations to our advertisers. Some of them 

 are quite unfair to the advertisers. Some 

 few of them are not above the suspicion of 

 misrepresenting to secure an advantage 

 over the advertiser. Some of them write 

 to us and complain of an advertiser without 

 fir?t complaining to the advertiser himself 

 and giving him a chance to explain or make 

 good — an utterly unfair thing to do. Some 

 write us complaining bitterly of some deal 

 with an advertiser, and then write apolo- 

 gizing for having done the advertiser an 

 injustice. Some write expecting us to serve 

 both as attorney-at-law for them and court 

 of justice, asking immediate decision, altho 



