WINTERING 167 



of bees as a unit of heat production with 

 this furnace. If the bees are in a single 

 walled hive in a cold climate, the colony 

 must generate a great amount of heat, 

 must consume much more honey, and 

 feces will accumulate rapidly. As the 

 bees are unable to discharge their feces 

 until the temperature of the outer air is 

 high enough for flight, the 'furnace' is 

 clogged. The bees are 'burned out' by 

 excessive heat production, and, even worse 

 than in the ease of the furnace, the irri- 

 tation resulting from the presence of 

 feces causes still more heat production. 

 On the other hand, if abundantly insu- 

 lated, the heat generated is conserved, the 

 consumption of stores and the amount of 

 feces are reduced, and the bees can read- 

 ily retain the feces until a flight day, in 

 any place in which the bees can be kept. 

 The better the stores the less the amount 

 of feces in either case. We should not 

 expect much of a furnace in an open shed, 

 and we have no more right to expect good 



