NOVKMBER, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



in most states and for interstate shipment. 

 All that is re(iuire(l by the Federal Pure 

 Food Law and tiie various state pure food 

 laws in regard to labeling is tliat the label 

 shall tell the truth. Beekeepers who prac- 

 tice buying honey from others to sell after 

 they have sold their own crop should not 

 have on their labels the words "Produced 

 by" or "From the apiary of." Where 

 a beekeeper has built up a local market by 

 supplying only a good grade of honey neat- 

 ly put up, these words can be omitted from 

 the label without loss of sales. 



IN his excellent article, "Wintering in the 

 Northwest," in the October issue of the 

 American Bee Jour- 

 Moisture Given 

 Off by. Bees 

 During Winter, 



nal, our venerable 

 correspondent, J. E. 

 Crane, discussing 

 the source of mois- 

 ture within the hive during the winter, es- 

 timates that there will be about three pints 

 of water exhaled by a normal colony of bees 

 between November 1 and April 1, assuming 

 that the colony consumed 17 pounds of hon- 

 ey in that time. In arriving at these fig- 

 ures evidently Mr. Crane took into consid- 

 eration only the water content of the hon- 

 ey, which is usually about 20 per cent. In 

 17 pounds of honey this would be 3.4 pounds, 

 or a little over three pints, assuming the 

 water content of the honey to be 20 per 

 cent. 



This is not the only source of water when 

 honey is consumed by the bees, for the re- 

 maining 80 per cent representing tlie sugar 

 content of the honey is broken up or changed 

 chemically into water vapor and carbon di- 

 oxide. Assuming the sugar content of the 

 17 pounds of honey mentioned above to be 

 1.3.6 pounds (this being 80 per cent of the 

 total weight of the honey), this 13.6 pounds 

 when decomposed by the bees results in a 

 little over 8.6 pounds of water. This added 

 to the 3.4 pounds of water which was not 

 chemicallv combined in the honey gives a 

 total of 12 pounds of water resulting from 

 the consumption of 17 pounds of honey. In 

 other words, the bees in consuming 17 pounds 

 of honey must give off almost a gallon and 

 a half of water. 



Perhaps an easier way to remember this is 

 to take 12 pounds of honey as a basis, this 

 being approximately one gallon. When one 

 gallon of honey is consumed by the bees they 

 must give off approximately one gallon of 

 Avater, which is given off in the form of 

 water vapor. Of this one gallon of water 

 about 2.4 pints represents the water content 

 of the honey and the remaining 5.6 pints 

 represents that which is produced by the 

 decomposition of the sugar content of the 

 honey. 



Assuming tliat a colony of bees consumes 

 17 pounds of honey between November 1 

 and April 1, lol days, this would mean 



about 1/12 pint of water as the daily 

 average given off by a colony of bees dur-" 

 ing this period. This water vapor appar- 

 ently does no harm inside the hive unless 

 it condenses on the combs or on the walls 

 of the hive, causing the combs to mold 

 and in some cases causing the honey to 

 become thin and sour. If the tempera- 

 ture of the inner walls of the hive can be 

 kept above the dew-point (the temperature 

 at which condensation takes place) the water 

 will pass out of the hive tlirougti the en- 

 trance still in the form of water vapor. If 

 the walls of the hive become too cold so that 

 the air coming in contact with it is chilled 

 below the dew-point, the water vapor is 

 condensed and may finally run out at the 

 entrance of the hive. 



If the walls of the hive are thin and the 

 cover is sealed down so that the moisture- 

 laden air cannot escape at the top of the 

 hive, most of the moisture will be con- 

 densed inside the hive. In this case frost 

 and ice would be found on the inside of the 

 Iiive during very severe weather. On the 

 other hand, if the walls are well packed 

 the water vapor will pass out through the 

 entrance by diffusion unless there is some 

 spot in the hive which is cold enough to 

 chill the air sufficiently to cause condensa- 

 tion. In severe climates where the inner 

 walls of even well-packed hives are some 

 times chilled enough to cause condensation, 

 many beekeepers provide for a slight amount 

 of upward ventilation through the packing. 

 In doing this a small opening is left in the 

 cover (the bee-escape hole in the inner 

 cover will do), this opening being covered 

 over by a cloth, and over this is placed the 

 packing. Such an arrangement will permit 

 the escape of some of the moisture through 

 the packing and yet retain most of the heat. 

 Some remove the cover entirely and put in 

 its place a piece of burlap, then over this 

 the packing. In doing this there is danger 

 of permitting the escape of too much of 

 the heat of the cluster through the packing 

 by air currents unless the packing is very 

 dense and thick. 



Since the amount of moisture exhaled by 

 a colony of bees depends upon the amount 

 of honey they consume, protection of the 

 hive reduces condensation in two ways: (1) 

 by raising the temperature of the inner 

 walls, and (2) by reducing the amount of 

 honey consumed because of reducing the 

 necessity of heat generation by the bees. 

 For the same reason colonies which have 

 good stores (hence consuming less) are trou- 

 bled less by condensation. Thus the factors 

 tliat bring about better wintering result in 

 less condensation, while those that bring 

 about poor wintering increase condensation 

 of moisture in the hives. Beekeepers have 

 long associated wet and moldy combs with 

 poor wintering, usually thinking of it as the 

 cause, but it should be looked upon as the 

 result rather than the cause of poor win- 

 tering. 



