.Taniakv, 19'. 



GLEANINGS IN 15 K l'". GUI. T V U P. 



11 



tivity, are to Imvc viprorous young queens in 

 the late suniiiior and leave an abundance of 

 honey — more than enough. 



The temptation to take away too mueli 

 honey is even greater here than in the 

 North, because the beekeeper expects his 

 bees to gather a little during the winter. 

 Those beekeepers who have learned to 

 "wrap their bees in lots of honey" for win- 

 ter, as one man expressed it, are the ones 

 who are securing crops of orange blossom 

 honey; while those who expect their bees to 

 rustle for a living after extracting time and 

 during the winter, as too many still do, 

 count on obtaining but little surplus from 

 orange blossoms, the bees building up on 

 the orange honey flow ready to be moved to 

 the sage whieh comes on later. Many of 

 the most progressive beekeepers here now 

 winter their colonies in two stories, w^ith 

 the u]iper story two-thirds full of honey. 

 C M . — » o ^ a n — t o 



BEEKEEPERS have long- associated wet 

 and mouldy combs with poor wintering. In 



fact, the con- 

 Condensation of 

 Moisture in Hives 

 in Winter. 



d e n s a tion of 

 moisture within 

 the hive is often 

 looked upon as 

 the cause of poor wintering, and many 

 methods have been worked out for the re- 

 moval of moisture from the hive in winter 

 in order to bring about better wintering. 



Before the invention of movable-frame 

 hives some beekeepers had learned to turn 

 the box hives upside down in cellar-winter- 

 ing in order to permit the moisture more 

 readily to escape from the hives. Even to- 

 day some who winter their bees in the cel- 

 lar raise the hive cover slightly or remove 

 it entirely and spread a piece of cloth over 

 the hive for winter to keep the ift-erior of 

 the hives dry. In outdoor wintering some 

 provide for the escape of moisture-laden air 

 Ihru openings in the upper part of the hive 

 or thru a porous covering such as burlap, 

 canvas or pieces of old carpet. 



These methods, of course, are effective in 

 removing the moisture; but the same draft 

 of air that carries out the moisture also car- 

 ries with it the precious lieat which the 

 bees, having no other means of warming 

 their hives in winter, are compelled to gen- 

 erate by muscular activity, which, in turn, 

 creates more moisture. In order to prevent 

 much upward draft of air and at the same 

 time keep the hives dry, packing material 

 is usually placed above when upward venti- 

 lation is provided for by using burlap or 

 cloth over the frames instead of the regu- 

 lar hive cover. 



More or less moisture is being given off 

 by a colony of bees all of the time, the 

 amount given off being directly in propor- 

 tion to the amount of honey they consume, 

 which, in turn, depends upon the amount 

 of activity of the bees. During the summer 

 when the bees are most active they give off' 



large quantities of water vapor, but in the 

 winter when they are broodless and quies- 

 eent they give off but little moisture, tho it 

 is only during cool or cold weather that 

 any of this moisture condenses in tlie hives. 

 As long as the inner walls of the hive re- 

 main warm enough there is, of course, no 

 condensation of moisture within the hives. 

 In this case the moisture passes out the en- 

 trance in the form of water vapor. But as 

 soon as the walls of the hive or the combs 

 that arc outside the cluster are chilled be- 

 low the dew point, which varies according 

 to the amount of moisture being given off 

 by the bees, condensation of moisture will 

 take place upon these cold surfaces. If the 

 moisture given off by the bees is decreased, 

 the inner walls of the hive must become 

 colder before condensation takes place; and 

 if the moisture inside the hive is increased, 

 condensation takes place at a higher tem- 

 perature of the hive walls. W:hen colonies 

 of bees become quite active during the win- 

 ter because they are using poor stores while 

 confined without a cleansing flight or be- 

 cause the hives are too cold, they give off 

 more moisture than when they are quiet and 

 wintering well. If any colonies begin brood- 

 rearing in winter, they will, of course, give 

 off more moisture than if they remain brood - 

 less. In such cases there will be wet and 

 mouldy combs if the hive becomes cold 

 enough on the inside to cause condensation. 

 Thus it is the active colonies that become 

 wet ,while the quiet ones may remain dry. 

 To remove the moisture by excessive venti- 

 lation in such cases is to remove a symptom 

 while the cause remains. 



No doubt wet and mouldy combs are in- 

 jurious to the colony, but to a large extent 

 at least they should be looked upon as a re- 

 sult of poor wintering instead of the cause. 

 Condensation of moisture within the hives 

 in the cellar usually indicates either that 

 the cellar temperature is too low or that the 

 bees are using poor winter stores, which 

 cause undue activity. In outdoor wintering 

 it is more difficult to keep the walls of the 

 hive warm enough to prevent condensation 

 within the hive during severe weather, but 

 condensation is greatly reduced by provid- 

 ing good winter stores and giving ample 

 winter protection. 



In the far North where the inner walls 

 of the hives may get too cold even when 

 well packed, some beekeepers provide for a 

 slight amount of upward ventilation thru 

 the packing at the top, but this is not neces- 

 sary, except where winters are quite severe, 

 when the hives are well pacl<:ed. Sealed 

 covers are usually preferable for cellar-win- 

 tering, if the stores are good and the tem- 

 perature of the cellar is kept high enough. 

 Sealed covers can also be used for outdoor 

 wintering if the stores are good and the 

 hives well protected, except in the far 

 North where the packing may not keep the 

 inner hive walls above the dew point. 



