216 THE HONEY-BEE. 



facts, everything which stirs the bees to activity, 

 such as supplying fresh food, or disturbing the 

 hives for any other purpose, means an increased con- 

 sumption of nutriment, proportional to the activity 

 aroused. 



Fourthly, any general excitement in cold weather, 

 leading to the wandering of individuals from the 

 cluster, entails the risk of their being chilled, and 

 rendered so inactive as not to be able to return 

 to the warmest part of the hive, and consequently 

 perishing. 



These facts further suggest the importance of 

 taking measures to prevent, as far as possible, the 

 escape of warmth from the hive. Various precau- 

 tions are adopted for this purpose. The straw skep 

 is, in itself, a bad conductor of heat, and if made 

 thick and strong, will usually enable the bees to 

 maintain a sufficiently high temperature. Still, in 

 excessively cold seasons, it is advisable to wrap 

 straw hives round with matting, sacking, or some 

 other material, in order still further to guard against 

 chilling. 



With bar-frame hives several points should be 

 attended to. In the first place, it is a great advan- 

 tage to have their walls double, with an air-space 

 between them. It is even better to fill this space 

 with cork-dust, saw-dust, bran, or chaff, to prevent any 

 circulation of air between the outer and inner walls. 



Then, it is important to remove empty combs at 

 the beginning of the cold season, and to confine the 

 bees in as small a space as possible, so that their 

 number, constantly diminishing in winter, may suffice 

 to keep up the necessary temperature. 



