1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



431 



but sure to bring disaster when the right 

 combination of conditions arises. 



All observers are well united in decrying 

 moisture, whether in cellar or in outdoor 

 wintering; and most methods which can be 

 expect,ed to give good results are planned, 

 in a greater or less degree, to minimize 

 moisture. That there are apiarists who are 

 too indifferent to the presence of humid air 

 about the bees in winter is abundantly testi- 

 fied to in the numerous articles which appear 

 on this subject. That one can not be too 

 zealous in his efforts to reduce the evil ef- 

 fects of moisture is the stand I take; and I 

 hope, in what I have yet to say, to show that 

 I am on solid ground. 



Why is there moisture present about bees? 

 and why is this moisture harmful, if persist- 

 ent? are two questions which first engage 

 our attention. 



The winter food of bees is a mixture of 

 carbohydrates— substances made up of car- 

 bon, hydrogen, and oxygen. In its decom- 

 position and oxidation within the body of the 

 bee there result two products— carbon diox- 

 ide and pure water. These products nor- 

 mally will both leave the body of the bee as 

 gases— the dioxide diffusing into the air, the 

 water vapor entering the air just as water 

 leaves wet clothes and lets them become dry. 

 It is thus evident that the air in and about 

 a cluster of bees in winter is bound to be- 

 come humid; and, if the circulation of the 

 air is sluggish, the moisture will increase to 

 the extent that combs, hive-walls, and, in 

 the case of cellars, all surrounding objects 

 will receive water by condensation. Thus, 

 briefly, is the first question asked above ans- 

 wered. 



The second question can not be so briefly 

 answered, for we must first consider how 

 the bee eliminates the water which results 

 from the digestion of honey. The normal 

 exit for this water is the spiracles (or breath- 

 ing-pores) of the respiratory system of the 

 bee. These spiracles open into bronchial 

 tubes which ramify through the body of the 

 bee, and through the delicate walls of these 

 tiny branches the blood of the bee discharges 

 surplus water and carbon dioxide exactly as 

 the blocd in our own bodies throws these 

 substances into our lungs to be breathed out 

 at the nose. 



It would be indeed (Jifficult to enter minute- 

 ly into the phenomenon described above, and 

 to state the laws which govern osmosis, dif- 

 fusion, and kindred molecular activities of 

 liquids and gases. Let it suffice to say that 

 there exits a balance or level with these 

 forces; and just as water will come to a level 

 in different intercommunicating vessels, so 

 will fluids come to a level on the two sides 

 of an osmotic membrane. When this level 

 is reached, the interchange, or the flow in 

 either direction, will cease. 



From the statements in the preceding par- 

 agraph we begin to see the harmfulness of 

 moist air about the bees. If the air in the 

 hive is humid the escape of moisture from 

 the spiracles becomes lessened, and may cease 

 altogether. Failing elimination through the 



spiracles the water must be taken care of by 

 the intestines of the bee, reaching them by 

 way of the urinary organs. Such work put 

 upon the urinary organs and the intestines 

 is of small moment if bees can take frequent 

 flights, and thus relieve the resulting dis- 

 comfort. 



Let it be understood that, under favorable 

 conditions, the amount of waste matter in 

 honey or other sugars used as food is insig- 

 nificant. If all the water escapes with the- 

 carbon dioxide through the spiracles the re- 

 sidual fecal matter is astonishingly small in 

 amount, and bees can let it accumulate for 

 months without serious discomfort. If, 

 however, a small drop of water is forced in- 

 to the intestine of the bee, after a few weeks 

 of confinement, the result is immediate un- 

 easiness and restlessness. The desire to 

 leave the hive causes much moving about, 

 increased consumption of stores, and aggra- 

 vated discomfort. 



Thus is the second of the questions. Why 

 is this moisture harmful? answered. In a 

 few words the answer is, because it causes 

 congested intestines and desire for flight, 

 and results in an evil which becomes aggra- 

 vated in increasing ratio. 



A third question naturally arises at this 

 point: How can we dispose of this moisture 

 emanating from the bee's body so that it can 

 not cause harm? 



The methods in general can be brought 

 under two heads: Either we can dispose of 

 the water by the use of absorbent materials, 

 or we can have it carried off by ventilation. 

 In the case of outdoor wintering the absorb- 

 ent in the shape of finely divided material 

 above the brood-nest, with a slow upward 

 movement of air, appears to be rather popu- 

 lar. In spite of its popularity, it is unsafe 

 because the upward ventilation is regulated 

 with such difficulty. If the movement of 

 air through the porous cushion becomes stop- 

 ped in any way, the upper strata of air in 

 the hive become excessively humid, and 

 death of the colony often results (that 

 form of death with plenty of stores in the 

 combs, the mysterious death which is made 

 the subject of so many questions in the ques- 

 tions-and-answers department of our bee- 

 periodicals). To help out the evil, there 

 goes with this method of wintering bees the 

 small entrance. That small-entrance fetish 

 has too many devotees, and I fear that only 

 dire calamitjr some one of these years will 

 shatter that idol. 



Absorbents are, so far as I know, never 

 used in the cellar. That such could be used 

 to advantage, such, for instance, as some 

 deliquescent substance like calcium chloride, 

 appears to me quite probable. In the course 

 of another winter I hope to experiment along 

 that line, but as yet I can give no definite 

 statement. 



Ventilation is the common resource of 

 those apiarists who winter their bees in the 

 cellar or repository; and let me say here 

 that it is, for outdoor wintering, the ne plus 

 ultra. The large entrance, not less than 

 the equivalent of five square inches (I use 



