THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



337 



points as can be brought out by a 

 brief examination of the physical 

 phenomena involved. 



The subject of the effects of 

 humidity in wintering cannot be 

 exhausted without an enormous 

 amount of investigation under care- 

 fully controlled conditions, and da- 

 ta from such a source we do not 

 have. The whole complex subject of 

 wintering is now in a state of 

 chaos because of the extreme dif- 

 ficulty of obtaining direct informa- 

 tion concerning the activities and 

 needs of bees in winter quarters. 

 Before we are ready for investiga- 

 tion however we must clear the 

 way by determining and studying 

 the physical laws which affect the 

 problem. 



Source of Moisture in tlie Hive 

 Most beekeepers especially in 

 the North know that under some 

 conditions, especially in the cellar, 

 the atmosphere in the hives in 

 winter is so laden with moisture 

 that it cannot all remain in the 

 form of water vapor but condenses 

 on the hive and combs. It not in- 

 frequently happens that water runs 

 from the hive during the winter 

 confinement in the cellar. What is 

 the source of this moisture? Obvi- 

 ously it does not come from outside 

 the hive for this often occurs when 

 the cellar otherwise appears dry. 



Within the hive the only source 

 is the food consumed by the bees. 

 Honey contains about 20 per cent 

 water and when this is consumed 

 this water passes from the bees in 

 the form of water vapor. Honey 

 consists chiefly of a solution of 

 sugars, carbohydrates, and when 

 these are consumed and assimulat- 

 ed the final products of the chem- 

 ical changes that take place in 

 the body of the bee are carbon 

 dioxide and water. Honeys vary in 

 composition but one pound of an 

 average honey will, when consumed, 

 produce over two-thirds of a pound 

 of water. Since honey is about one 

 and a half times as heavy as water, 

 one gallon of honey when consumed 

 produces one gallon of water. If 

 now we calculate the water pro- 

 duced from the honey consumed 

 during the winter, it is obvious 

 that a well-stocked bee cellar has 

 produced in it a relatively large 

 amount of water. 



In an ordinary bee cellar, con- 

 taining say 216 colonies, the aver- 



age consi 

 purposes 



Qq 



f\ 



ption of stores may, for 

 calculation, be estimat- 

 ed at 10 pounds per 

 colony, or 2H;o 

 pounds in all. The 

 accuracy of this es- 

 timate is perhaps 

 open to question hut 

 it can at least be 

 stated that frequent- 

 ly in poor wintering 

 this amount is ex- 

 ceeded. The amount 

 of water produced by 

 the consumption of 

 this honey is at least 

 1440 pounds or 180 

 gallons, enough to 

 fill six 30 gallon bar- 

 rels. These figures 

 are calculated on the 

 minimum water pro- 

 duction and this es- 

 timate would probab- 

 ly be exceeded. Ac- 

 cording to these fig- 

 ures in a winter 

 confinement of four 

 months the changing 

 atmosphere in the 

 cellar must be able 

 to take up one and 

 one-half gallons of 

 water a day or con- 

 densation will occur. 



The Relation of Hu- 

 midity to Temper- 

 ature 



Before discussing 

 the phenomena of 

 the hive it may be 

 best to take up some 

 facts concerning the 

 moisture content of 

 the atmosphere as 

 influenced by tem- 

 perature and bar- 

 ometric pressure. * 

 It is of couilse well 

 known that if mois- 

 ture laden atmos- 

 phere is cooled, its 

 capacity for holding- 

 water vapor is de- 

 creased and what 

 cannot be held must 

 be dropped. For ex- 

 ample, the cool sur- 

 face of a glass of 

 ice water cools the 

 atmospherle immed- 

 iately adjoining it, 

 reduces its holding 



