260 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



The next thiug that came up, Dr. Miller 

 began to insist that it was foul atmosphere 

 in the cellar that made bees noisy and roar. 



When Mr. Barber gave his method we all 

 supposed that with so high a temperature if 

 we should enter tlio rei)Ository with a light 

 the bees would all leave the hives and come 

 for it. By testing Dr. Miller's pure air theory 

 it was found that a high temperature would 

 not cause them to fly out. 



In experimenting with upward ventilation 

 I went so far as to remove ll."> colonies en- 

 tirely from their hives and hang them u{)on 

 racks in the celler as we hang store - combs 

 on racks in the honey house — no covers, no 

 sides, no bottoms. I visited this repository 

 twice and sometimes three times a day all 

 winter ; that was in northern Iowa. I no- 

 ticed that sometimes the cluster would be 

 disturbed and sometimes not and wondered 

 why this difference, and tiually ol<served 

 that it varied more or less according to the 

 temperature out of the doors. A low temper- 

 ature outside caused a hasty change of air 

 in the cellar even if it was obliged to make 

 the change through the cracks. When it was 

 warm outside the air remained close and 

 stagnated. On the first day I began to put 

 these clusters of bees in hives and carry 

 them out onto the summer stands, it was re- 

 quired to keep the cellar darkened and even 

 then there was a great commotion. The 

 following night the doors were opened wide 

 in order to cool the cellar. The next morn- 

 ing these bees could be handled easily with 

 doors all open and I thought it was the cool 

 air but when I continued to manipulate their 

 combs until the day got warm and the sun 

 shining right into the cellar, I began to be 

 amazed. Sometimes a person will come to 

 the conclusion that he is becoming magical 

 and can do anything he undertakes. Then 

 again he finds out that all his attempts fail. 

 It may all be caused by some small hidden 

 condition. 



I read and weighed Mr. Barber's high 

 temperature method, but Miller's pure air 

 requirement I did not know of. When I 

 came to test Miller's pure air I had forgot- 

 ten Barber's high temperature. 



Now it is quite an undertaking to keep 

 both a high temperature and pure atmos- 

 phere through a long cold winter. 



You may study the bee journals and you 

 will find that the majority of bees that win- 

 ter well are kept in a temperature of ^.'"i to 

 .""•O" with some ventilation. Those wlio do 



this seldom have reason to complain of loss. 



If the temperature is higher than this the 

 bees get restless simply because the air is 

 impure. 



If the temperature is lower than this, say 

 as low as freezing, the bees remain nice and 

 quiet, but, eventually the coml)s are covered 

 with sweat whicli causes them to mould, the 

 honey sours, the bees finally befoul the hive 

 and it turns out a most wretched affair. 



Forty- five to fifty degrees then is the zero 

 point between pure atmosphere and temper- 

 ature, ('. e. between quiet and moisture. 



When my bees used to be so noisy in the 

 cellar and affected by every little light or 

 rise of temperature, I often wondered why 

 they remained so quietly in their hives dur- 

 ing the night in summer. 



Individual colonies are often known to be 

 set out of the cellar and it takes several 

 hours for them to begin to fly from their 

 hive though the warmth of the day and sun 

 are the most enticing ; then when they do 

 fly there seems to be little excuse for it be- 

 yond a little joyful play spell and many 

 limes colonies were so slow to get out that I 

 made examinations to sea if they were dead 

 or out of food. 



The lower the temperature of the cellar is 

 the earlier in the winter will the combs be 

 covered with moisture and the nearer the 

 moisture will locate to the cluster of the 

 bees. Moisture will accumulate wherever 

 there is a difference of temperature between 

 the cluster and the surrounding atmosphere, 

 and where there is any thing for the moist- 

 ure to attach itself to. When the temper- 

 ature is ;5.5 to 40 it shows itself in about a 

 month. Forty-five to fifty degrees, 2% 

 months, more or less. 



Often the bees seem to winter well and 

 come out populous the middle of April, but 

 by the 1st or 10th of May we get very anxious 

 for the little patches of cai)ped brood to 

 hatch out to rei)lcni8h the swiftly disappear- 

 ing forces of workers. There seems to be 

 something amiss in such management when 

 at other times the old workers " hang on " 

 until late in June or July, and it is my opin- 

 ion that there is not so much for the salva- 

 tion of the bees in the food they eat as in 

 the air they breath. 



The requisite probably is p re food and 

 pure air. Cold air is detrimental only by 

 its effect through the agsncy of moisture. 



A high temperature will dispel the moist- 

 ure but to maintain a high temperature and 



