GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1921 



their hives at temperatures which at other 

 times would cause them to fly freely, not 

 being tempted out every time the tempera- 

 ture rises to the point for safe flight. At 

 this time they are not sensitive to slight 

 disturbances, which at other times would 

 rouse the entire colony to activity, appar- 

 ently being comfortable and content to re- 

 main almost motionless day after day un- 

 less disturbed in some way. If the same 

 degree of quiescence could be maintained 

 until spring, the bees would then come out 

 as if having slept during a long night. 



Apparently the same degree of quiescence 

 is maintained as long as the temperature 

 within the hive ranges between 57° and 

 about 65°r., and the bees are comfortable 

 and not disturbed, but the trouble is these 

 conditions are seldom present thruout the 

 winter. As the winter progresses the bees 

 become more active and more sensitive to 

 slight disturbances until finally brood-rear- 

 ing is begun, the length of the broodless 

 period being determined by the length of 

 time the conditions are favorable for 

 quiescence. Strong colonies of young bees 

 will remain quiet and refrain from brood- 

 rearing for four or five months in the North 

 if well protected and supplied with good 

 stores; but colonies made up chiefly of old 

 bees, very weak colonies, unprotected colo- 

 nies subjected to great extremes of tempera- 

 tures, colonies having poor stores, or colo- 

 nies that are disturbed mechanically or by 

 feeding will become active and begin brood- 

 rearing after only a month or two of brood- 

 lessness. The quiescence of November and 

 December is an unstable thing that may be 

 easily upset by any one or more of many 

 factors which tend to upset it. 



How Quiescence is Disturbed in Warm 



Climates. 

 In the South, frequent warm days tempt 

 the bees out of their hives, and they waste 

 themselves in fruitless searching over bar- 

 ren fields or perhaps in defending their hives 

 against robbers or in taking part in robbing 

 other colonies. In some cases, in gatherin.^ 

 a meager supply of food late in the season, 

 they waste away so much that early in win- 

 ter the colonies are reduced to mere nuclei 

 that must begin to rear brood soon to save 

 the life of the colony. For this reason, colo- 

 nies are often much stronger at the begin- 

 ning of winter in the North than in the 

 ■ South. 



In the tropics the bees attempt to rest 

 during periods of dearth of nectar, but they 

 are almost constantly disturbed by the high 

 temperature,' by robbers, and in many other 

 ways. At its best the wintering of bees in 

 warm climates is a wasteful process, and it 

 is doubtful if any individual bees there ever 

 live as long as in the cases observed by 

 Doolittle in New York State. 



Perhaps some day, beekeepers in the 

 South will put their bees into cellars that are 

 deep enough underground to keep them quiet 

 and broodless until time to take them out 



in order that they may build up to full 

 strength for the honey flow, instead of per- 

 mitting them to waste themselves and their 

 stores in useless activity. Already bee- 

 keepers in some of the southern States are 

 packing their bees for winter in order to 

 keep them quiet, pointing out the fact that 

 it is just as important to prevent the tem- 

 perature going above that required for 

 quiescence as to prevent its falling below. 

 In other words, if winter packing in the 

 South will keep the temperature within the 

 hive between 57° and about 65°F., the bees 

 will live longer, consume less, refrain from 

 brood-rearing longer, and of course be in bet- 

 ter condition in the spring than if the hive 

 temperature fluctuates above and below 

 these limits. In the southwestern States some 

 beekeepers report better wintering and less 

 consumption of stores when the hives are 

 shaded during the winter and have entrances 

 toward the north. 



Two Great Disturbing Factors in Cold 

 Climates. 



In the northern portion of the United 

 States and in Canada, quiescence is often 

 upset by one or both of two great disturb- 

 ing agencies, viz., low temperatures and dis- 

 comfort from the retention of feces, but 

 both of these are within control of the bee- 

 keeper. The lower the outside temperature, 

 of course the more heat must be generated 

 to keep up the temperature within the clus- 

 ter. While the bees on the outside of the 

 cluster are apparently quiet when it is quite 

 cold outside, the active bees at work gen- 

 erating heat are within the cluster hidden 

 from view. If a comb is taken out from 

 the middle of the cluster in zero weather, 

 the bees on the inside of the cluster will be 

 found quite active, ready to fly out and at- 

 tempt to sting, while those on the outside 

 are not at all alert. Heat generation to 

 keep up the cluster temperature is not con- 

 fined to the North, but to a less degree is 

 necessary during cold weather thruout most 

 of the United States. 



Discomfort from Accumulated Feces Often 

 Most Destructive Factor. 



While in unprotected hives heat genera- 

 tion destroys the vitality of the bees rapid- 

 ly, the activity resulting from discomfort 

 from accumulated feces is often much more 

 destructive. In fact, if the bees are using 

 poor stores, a month of confinement with- 

 out a cleansing flight may cause them to 

 become so active because of the distress 

 that the cluster is broken and the whole 

 hive is warmed up almost to summer tem- 

 peratures. When this happens the bees, of 

 course, age very rapidly since they, no 

 doubt, generate much more heat than would 

 be necessary to maintain the proper clus- 

 ter temperature when the temperature out- 

 side is below zero. If the bees are not re- 

 lieved by a cleansing flight, this activity is 

 constantly increased until the entire clus- 

 ter becomes a seething mass that soon burns 



