208 LIFE AND SPORT IN HAMPSHIRE 



which looks robuster than the butterfly, is chilled 

 to death by exposure to a few hours of moderate 

 cold. It is common to find shrivelled dead bees on 

 the combs of the hive in winter. They have been 

 chilled or starved to death within a few inches of 

 plenty and warmth, for between the next two combs, 

 at the centre of the hive, are not their fellows basking 

 in heat and honey ? 



What is the heat of the hive at this cluster of bees 

 by the centre? A temperature of 90 is often 

 mentioned, and, putting my hand immediately over 

 the cluster beneath the felt one day, I was struck 

 by the warmth of the air. If a thermometer could 

 be put in the midst of the cluster, and kept there 

 a while, it would register a higher temperature than 

 if laid between the top of the combs just above. A 

 bee-master of long experience gave me some figures, 

 about the heat of his hives in autumn and winter. 

 The stronger the stock the higher will the tempera- 

 ture tend to be; a very weak stock, I imagine, 

 would not be able to keep up enough heat for life 

 in a severe winter. The highest temperatures of 

 a strong stock recorded by my friend are : October 

 1905, 7 P.M., 83-5; November, 7 P.M., 83; December, 

 7 P.M., 74; January 1906, 8.45 P.M., 86. He says 

 that, no matter what the thermometer outside may 

 register, the night temperature at the cluster is 

 from 3 to 10 higher than that of the day. The 

 lowest temperature he has recorded was at 8 A.M. ; 



