370 SPRING DWINDLING. 



warm and raise brood. The space must again be enlarged 

 gradually, when the colony begins to recruit. 



We consider this contraction of the hive as altogether in- 

 dispensable when using large hives. Let us suppose that, in 

 early Spring, we have a colony whose population is so much 

 reduced that it cannot warm, to the degree needed for breed- 

 ing, more than 500 cubic inches of space. If we leave the 

 brood-chamber without contraction, as its surface, in a 10- 

 frame Langstroth hive, will be about 270 square inches, the 

 cubic space heated will have about two inches in thickness at 

 the top, since heat always rises. If, on the contrary, we have 

 reduced the number of frames to three, the depth of the space 

 warmed at the top will amount to more than three times as 

 much, or to more than six inches. Thus, the bees will not 

 only be more healthy, but the laying of the queen, not being 

 delayed by the cold, and the number of the bees increasing 

 faster, they will be able to repay the bee-keeper for the care 

 bestowed, instead of dwindling, or remaining worthless for 

 the Spring crop. 



3d. The heat should be concentrated in the brood apart- 

 ment, by all means, and not allowed to escape above. The 

 entrance also must remain reduced. 



In instances of this kind, the cloister (638) or some other 

 method of confining the bees without light, might prove use- 

 ful, provided the colonies were supplied with pollen and water 

 so that they might breed without having to seek for the neces- 

 saries. 



662. Apiarists in general, do not attach enough import- 

 ance to the necessity of furnishing water (Syi) to bees in 

 cold Springs, in order that they may stay at home in quiet. 

 Although Berlepsch laid too much stress on the question of 

 water, the lack of which he even said was the cause of dys- 

 entery, yet he was right in calling our attention to the need 

 of it for breeding: 



"The Creator has given the bee an instinct to store up honey 

 and pollen, which are not always to be procured, but not water. 



