156 BEEKEEPING 



other time in the winter. When the tem- 

 perature falls to fifty-seven degrees, how- 

 ever, they begin to bunch up and form the 

 "winter cluster," 



The outside bees on the cluster act sim- 

 ply as an insulating layer which helps to 

 retain the heat generated by the bees in 

 the center of the cluster. As the outer 

 layer becomes chilled and stiff with cold, 

 other bees crawl out from inside the ball 

 and take their places — they in turn being 

 relieved when they become cold. 



The interior of this mass of bees repre- 

 sents ceaseless activity, ceaseless muscu- 

 lar exertion, and this exertion must have 

 food on which to subsist. Consequently 

 the bees inside the cluster must eat and 

 they eat in proportion to the amount of 

 work they are doing. The lower the tem- 

 perature, the greater the activity and the 

 more rapid the consumption of stores. 

 Also the greater the cold, the more closely 

 do insulating bees crowd together to pro- 

 tect heat generators inside the cluster. 



