WINTERING 155 



The modern single walled hive offers 

 but poor protection to the colony in very- 

 cold weather. The loss of heat must be 

 rapid and as a result the bees must be 

 more active and must consume more food 

 in order to replace the heat that goes out 

 through the hive walls. This winter ac- 

 tivity of the hive is an interesting thing 

 and should have a more detailed de- 

 scription. 



In bee literature many references will 

 be found to the "winter cluster" and the 

 impression has been that this winter clus- 

 ter is a more or less immobile ball of 

 bees formed for the protection of the in- 

 dividuals against cold. As a matter of 

 fact it is far from being immobile, but 

 instead represents the greatest activity. 

 The cluster is not formed unless the tem- 

 perature of the hive falls below fifty- 

 seven degrees. At higher temperatures 

 than this the bees remain distributed over 

 the combs in a very inactive state — prob- 

 ably more nearly "dormant" than at any 



