'^\}t p^^ l^^^p^rs' JR^^iri^to* 



Established in ISSS by the late 

 W. Z. Hutchinson 



OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE 



NATIONAL BEEKEEPERS* ASSOCIATION 



AND ITS AFFILIATED ASSOCIATIONS 



E. D. TOWNSEND, Managing Editor, Northstar, Michigan 



ASSOCIATE EDITORS 



WESLEY FOSTER. Boulder. Colo. PilOF. EDWIN G. BALDWIN, Deland, Fla. 



XT R^\^^^^^,^^, .second-class matter December 9 1913, at the postoffice at 

 Northstar. Michigan, under the Act of March 3, 1879. 



TERMS— $1.00 a year to subscribers in the United States, Canada, Cuba, 

 Mexico, Hawaiian Islands, Forto Rico, Philippine Islands, and Shanghai. China. 

 To all other countries' the rate is $1.24. b , ^ 



DISCONTINUANCES— Unless a request is received to the contrary, the 

 subscription will be discontinued at the expiration of the time paid for. At 

 the time a sub.scription expires a notice will be sent, and a subscriber wish- 

 ing the subscription continued who will renew later should send a request to 



Advertising rates on application. Forms close 20th of each month. 



VOL. XXVII NORTHSTAR, MICHIGAN, JULY 1, 1914 No. 7 



The Temperature of the Honey-Bee Cluster in Wint 



er 



By E. F. PHILLIPS, Ph. D., 



In Charge of Bee Culture Investiga- 

 tions, and George S. Demuth 

 Apicultural Assistant. 



The Influence of External Tem- 

 perature on Heat Production. 



(Continued from last month) 

 The colony (A) to be discussed 

 under this heading was wintered 

 out of doors (1912-13) on the roof, 

 where the bees were free to fly 

 whenever the weather permitted. 

 It was in a lO-frame Langstroth 

 hive, with the entrance reduced to 

 % inch deep and 8 inches wide, 

 and was not packed or given addi- 

 tional protection. This hive con- 

 tained 19 of the electrical ther- 

 mometers — 12 among the combs, 4 

 in the corners of the hive, and 3 

 on the bottom board. Readings 

 were made hourly from 9 a. m. to 



4 p. m. through the winter (Sept. 

 2 6 to Mar. 28), except Sundays 

 and holidays, and at intervals addi- 

 tional readings were made every 

 15 minutes (or sometimes every 

 30 minutes) during the night (5 

 p. m. to 8:45 a. m.) for periods of 

 several days each. In all 41,413 

 temperature records were made for 

 colony A. 



The reaction of the cluster in 

 heat production, as induced by 

 changes in external temperature 

 is well shown by the records made 

 from noon November 13 to 2 p. m., 

 November 15 (1912), w^hen read- 

 ings were made hourly from 9 a. m. 

 to 4 p. m. and every 15 minutes at 

 night. From noon on November 13 

 the outside temperature dropped 

 slowly until 6 a. m., November 15, 

 and the weather was cloudy, so 

 that the bees did not fly. It will 



