282 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



available in this work, the colony 

 is not fully recompensed for this 

 expenditure of energy by an in- 

 crease in the strength of the colony 

 by bees thus reared. 



The colonies i to be discussed 

 under this heading (Nos. 1 and 

 3) were wintered in the constant- 

 temperature room in special 6- 

 frame hives (to economize space 

 and concentrate the colony so that 

 fewer thermometers would be re- 

 quired) with full entrances and 

 were not propolized or sealed at 

 the top. During the regular series 

 of readings the room was kept at 

 a temperature which rarely dropped 

 below 40° F. or went above 45° F., 

 and the average temperature from 

 October 14 to March 6 was 42.67° 

 F. This temperature was chosen as 

 being nearly the one usually con- 

 sidered best by beekeepers. The 

 foods given these colonies were 

 stored in the combs, just as 

 placed by the bees. There was some 

 pollen available in colony No. 1. 

 (Fig. 2.) 



According to what has been said 

 in the previous section, we should 

 expect bees at such a temperature 

 to maintain a compact cluster and 

 to generate some heat at all times. 

 This was actually the case, the 

 temperature of the interior of the 

 clusters dropping below 64" F. 

 only a few times in either colony. 



Colony No. 1, on honey stores, 

 was in the constant-temperature room 

 from October 12, 1912, to March 24, 

 1913, or 163 days.2 It was then re- 

 moved for a flight and put back 

 the same evening, where it re- 

 mained until March 28. From March 

 7 at 9 a. m. until March 2 8 at 4 

 p. m. readings were made on this 

 colony every 15 minutes night and 



1 In order that the young bees might 

 all get a flight before the winter con- 

 finement, the two colonies here dis- 

 cussed were placed in the constant 

 temperature room after the brood had 

 been removed. They were kept here 

 several days, removed for a flight, and 

 then returned to the room for the reg- 

 ular series. The significance of this 

 manipulation must be reserved for a 

 later discussion. This explanation is 

 made to show how it was possible to 

 put these colonies in the room so early 

 in a climate as mild as that at Phila- 

 delphia. Tne object was, of course, to 

 increase the time available for observa- 

 tion. Bees are usually not wintered in 

 cellars in climates as mild as that of 

 Philadelphia. 



2 In all, 24,077 temperature records 

 were made for this colony. 



day, with the exception of the 

 period between 9 a. m. and 7 p. m. 

 on the 24th, when it was out of 

 doors. During this period of three 

 weeks the temperature of the 

 room was changed slowly, being 

 raised as high as 64° F. and cool- 

 ed to 13° F. 



When this colony was first placed 

 in the room for the regular series 

 of readings, after a preliminary 

 confinement, October 12 (the read- 

 ings were begun Monday, Oct. 14), 

 it maintained a cluster temperature 

 which usually lay between 64° and 

 68° F., the daily average tempera- 

 ture departing from these rather 

 narrow limits only four times up 

 to November 22. The average tem- 

 perature is 66.5° F. During the first 

 five weeks the temperature of the 

 room was less regular than later 

 (due to faulty working of the reg- 

 ulating apparatus), and this doubt- 

 less accounts for some irregular- 

 ities in the cluster temperature. 

 At first the three thermometers in 

 the cluster (1, 2, and 5) gave tem- 

 perature readings quite close to- 

 gether, while thermometer 6, which 

 was near the cluster, gave readings 

 Intermediate between the three 

 thermometers of the cluster and 

 the four others in the hive, farther 

 from the cluster. After November 

 22 the records of the thermometers 

 in the cluster were more widely 

 separated and the temperature of 

 the center of the cluster (shown 

 on thermometer 5) tended to 

 rise gradually. It varied constantly 

 but by December 7 and from then 

 until the end of the month, it 

 averaged between 69° and 75° F. 

 On November 29 and December 12 

 the cluster temperature rose to 

 over 88° F. From the 1st of Janu- 

 ary until March 6, which ended 

 the regular series of readings, the 

 cluster temperature became more 

 and more irregular, and on Janu- 

 ary 20 the cluster moved (probably 

 to accommodate itself to the stores) 

 until thermometer .2 was nearer 

 the center and showed a higher 

 temperature than thermometer 5. 

 The size of the cluster was grad- 

 ually decreased by the death of 

 bees, and all the thermometers _ ex- 

 cept 2 and 6 show a gradual "de- 

 crease in temperature until finally, 

 from about February 25 to March 

 6, they are all low and of nearly 

 equal temperature. The two ther- 



