172 ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 



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N the Southern States, and other places not blessed with a stern 

 winter, where bees can enjoy frequent flights, it matters little 

 what the food is, so long as it is not actually poisonous. By 

 this is meant that any kind of sweet like sugar, honey, or even 

 honey dew, will answer as food. In these mild climates, little or no 

 protection is needed; but, as higher latitudes are reached, chaff- 

 packed hives, or their equivalent, are needed, and there must be some 

 care exercised in regard to food. As we journey still further from 

 the equator, it is only cellars and the best of food that bring forth 

 uniform results. 



It has been asserted that honey is the "natural" food of bees, 

 and that nothing can be gained by substituting something else. It 

 must be remembered that the "natural" home of the bee is that of a 

 warm climate, where there are no long spells of confinemenj, caused 

 by continued cold. Honey is, of course, the "natural" food of bees, 

 but this fact does not prevent their dying sometimes as the result 

 of its consumption, when a diet of cane sugar would have saved their 

 lives. 



In my opinion, food is the pivotal point upon which turns the 

 wintering of bees in our Northern States. Food is the fulcrum, and 

 temperature the long end of the lever. The whole question in a nut 

 shell is just this: The loss of bees in winter, aside from that caused 

 by diarrhea, is not worth mentioning. It is diarrhea that kills our 

 bees. What causes it? An overloading of the intestines, with no 

 opportunity of emptying them. Cold confines the bees to their hives. 

 The greater the cold the larger are the quantities of food consumed 



