THE AMERICAN BEE JUURNAL. 



031 



FOOD. 



This must answer to two demands : 

 First, healthfulness ; second, suffi- 

 ciency. To secure the first, if the 

 colonies are to be wintered on honey, 

 save S or 4 well-tilled and sealed combs 

 from the basswood or clover harvest, 

 from each colony in the apiary, or if 

 in number of pounds, we shall sup- 

 pose tliat lo or i!0 are held back. Now 

 place the frames containing the honey 

 in the centre of the brood-nest ; out- 

 side of them again, at each end. place 

 one of the ordinary frames of fall 

 honey aiul a frame of pollen, the last 

 to be on the outside of all ; the colony 

 will thus be crowded on 7 or 8 frames, 

 and will have an abundance of good 

 food, and sufficient pollen in the hive 

 to enable it to start brood-rearing in 

 the early spring. Thus every oppor- 

 tunity which thev have in nature, to 

 thrive, so far as food is concerned, 

 will have been supplied them by the 

 careful apiarist. 



If one be desirous to feed principally 

 syrup, remove 3 or 4 frames from the 

 centre of the brood-nest, and in their 

 place put the same number of frames 

 of nice, straight,empty worker-combs; 

 outside of these, at each end, leave a 

 frame of honey and pollen as before. 

 Now feed the colony 16 or IS pounds 

 of sugar syrup made from white or 

 coffee A sugar (1 pound of sugar to ^ 

 pint of water). The feeder may be 

 placed, after removing the frames 

 outside the division-board, in the body 

 of the hive, and the division-board 

 slightly raised to permit the passage 

 of the bees. 



In furnishing syrup for winter 

 stores it is advisable to feed it before 

 the cold vveather sets in, so as to give 

 the bees an opportunity to seal the 

 combs. The whole amount had better 

 be fed in one or two installments. 

 The reason we feed white honey or 

 syrup, almost exclusively, to the bees 

 for winter stores, and remove all of 

 the pollen but that in two frames, is 

 on account of deleterious substances 

 which are often gathered by the bees 

 in the fall after the regular honey- 

 flow ceases, and which are apt to 

 cause mischief if left in the hive. 

 This bad food consists of the refuse 

 from sugar and molasses barrels, 

 juice of fruits, cider-mill refuse, 

 honey-dew, etc. As regards pollen, 

 Mr. James Ileddon and others have 

 pretty satisfactorily proven that too 

 much of it is unadvisable for the 

 same reason. Bees, like all other 

 creatures, can only thrive on a proper 

 supply of healthful food. 



Our colonies are crowded on 7 or 8 

 frames in order to economize heat ; 

 and this brings us to the second sub- 

 ject on my list. 



HEAT. 



The hive which we employ, and 

 which we believe cannot be excelled 

 as a hive for wintering, has a double- 

 walled brood-chamber with one inch 

 of dead-air space between. This 

 brood-chamber rests on a single- 

 walled, enclosed stand, 14 inches deep, 

 and this in turn (in winter) rests on 

 the bottom-board. This stand has a 

 variety of highly important uses 



whicli we shall refer to under " venti- 

 lation," our next head. 



Now, in preparing the colony for 

 winter, we place against the two side- 

 walls of the stand, on the inside, two 

 boards, each 14x1.', inches, with one- 

 inch cleats nailed to each end, so that 

 when they rest in position against the 

 walls of the stand, a space of one 

 inch ^Yill exist between the boards 

 and walls of the stand. Between the 

 boards at each end, we place division- 

 boards, and cause them to come im- 

 mediately under the division-boards 

 at the ends of the brood-nest above. 

 The space outside the division-boards, 

 at eacli end of the liive, we next till 

 with chaff or forest leaves above and 

 below ; and then over all in the half- 

 story above the brood-chamber, we 

 place a o-inch chaff-cushion. This 

 completes our arrangements so far as 

 the interior of the hive is concerned. 



We now place against the outside 

 of the brood-chamber and stand, on 

 each side of the same, what we have 

 chosen to call "winter covers." These 

 are constructed of any kind of rough 

 lumber, and extend the whole length 

 of the stand and brood-chamber, and 

 as high as to protect the whole of the 

 sides' of the latter. At each end of 

 these covers are nailed cleats 4 inches 

 deep, so that when the covers are 

 placed in position against the hive, a 

 4-inch space will exist between them 

 and the sides of the hive and stand. 

 They are now secured firmly in j^lace 

 by a lath nailed to the cleats ot the 

 covers over each end of the hive, and 

 the 4-inch space of either side is 

 filled with chaff or forest leaves. Over 

 the top of the " winter covers," from 

 cleat to cleat, now place two strips of 

 wood about 5 inches wide, so that 

 when the rain falls on the cover of the 

 hives it will not run into the chaff 

 spaces on either side. The cover is 

 now placed on the hive proper, and 

 its edges made to lap over tlie strips 

 of wood on top of the " winter 

 covers." This completes our winter- 

 ing preparations, and we believe that 

 they are amply sufficient to safely 

 carry the colony through the most 

 rigid winter known to Ontario. 



VENTILATION. 



This and proper food, conjoined 

 with a good queen, we regard as the 

 grand centre of importance in winter- 

 ing bees successfully. Much has been 

 written on the merits of upper and 

 lower ventilation, and with some, it 

 still remains a vexed question. But 

 after reading and comparing the re- 

 ports of years past by, and with num- 

 bers of experiments with either 

 method. I am forced to give my ver- 

 dict in favor of lower ventilation ; and 

 even had we not so read and com- 

 pared, we should advise this plan, 

 simply on the ground that it i» in 

 accordance with tlie teachings of 

 nature. Good ventilation is the great 

 corrector of dampness in the hive, 

 and the remover of foul gases, such as 

 carbonic acid and nitrogen, which are 

 exhaled from the cluster above, or 

 sulphuretted hydrogen which may 

 arise from dead bees below ; besides 

 which, it is the means whereby the 

 bees are constantly supplied with 



good, pure air for breathing. How 

 important tlicu is it that it should be 

 duly attended to, and that its theory 

 be thoroughly understood ! 



Air-currents take place. according 

 to fixed principles; viz: when any 

 part of the atmosphere becomes 

 heated it ascends, and the cooler air 

 closing in on all sides, fills its place to 

 undergo the same operation, if the 

 source of lieat continues. It will thus 

 be seen that it acts in identically the 

 same manner as does water in the 

 process of boiling. In this case the 

 heat being applied to the bottom of the 

 vessel containing it, portions of the 

 water become converted into steam, 

 or is rarified, so to speak ; and this 

 being lighter than the water surround- 

 ing, it rushes upwards to the surface, 

 whilst other portions of water less 

 heated, take its place. Thus a cur- 

 rent is established in the vessel, and 

 continues to move so long as the 

 water lasts. 



Now, what is the source of heat in 

 the bee-hive V It proceeds from ex- 

 actly the same chemical process as we 

 see exhibited when a fire is kindled 

 in a stove, but merely without the 

 attendant phenomena of light pos- 

 sessed by the latter. In the case of 

 the combustion of wood, the oxygen 

 of the atmosphere enters into combi- 

 nation with the carbon of the wood, 

 forming carbonic-acid gas, and at- 

 tended with the development of heat 

 and light. In the case of our bees, 

 the air finding its way into the tubes 

 of their respiratory aparatus, part of 

 its oxygen combines with the car- 

 bonized particles in the blood, with 

 the formation of carbonic-acid gas, 

 which, with the nitrogen of the air is 

 exhaled, and being heavier than the 

 surrounding air, falls to the bottom of 

 the hive ; and this chemical action 

 carried on in the air-tubes of the bee. 

 is accompanied with the exhibition of 

 heat. , ^, 



Now, as we employ the same cloth 

 over our frames in winter (if it is un- 

 torn) as we made use of during the 

 previous summer and fall, it will be 

 seen that very shortly after our linal 

 fall-preparations of the colony for 

 wintering are concluded, everything 

 over the bees will be as air-tight as it 

 is possible for propohs to make it. 

 Taking this into consideration with 

 the fact of a .S-inch chaff-cushion 

 being placed over the cloth, it will be 

 found that nearly the whole of the 

 heat emanating from the cluster is 

 confined in the hive. Ascending from 

 the bees it reaches the cloth, and from 

 thence is deflected downwards on all 

 sides, and the cooler air from below 

 being absorbed at the base and sides 

 of the heated column, a circulation of 

 air in the hive is established, which 

 continues so long as the source of 

 heat remains constant, or until the. 

 heat of the whole interior of the hive 

 has become uniform with that momen- 

 tarily given off by the cluster. 



Knowing these facts, we recognize 

 their importance it we desire at all 

 times to maintain a circulation of 

 good, pure air in the hive, to provide 

 for a constant supply of cool air in 

 the lower part of the same, and this 

 we manage to secure in the following 



