128 Beekeeping 



others ; if there is but Uttle honey in the field the death rate 

 often is greater than if there were no nectar available or 

 than is the case when there is plenty of nectar. The work 

 necessary to get the nectar costs more than the nectar is 

 worth. Beekeepers often observe at the close of a severe 

 winter what is known as "spring dwindling." This is, to 

 the best of our knowledge, due to the fact that during cold 

 weather the bees have had to work vigorously to generate 

 heat and that, when the spring conies with its increased 

 activities incident to brood-rearing, the bees are worn out 

 and die rapidly. 



Work determines length of life. 



All of these facts and many others observed in the apiary 

 indicate a peculiar condition found in bees which may be 

 figuratively expressed in the following terms : a bee is bom 

 with a definite supply of energy and when this energy is 

 exhausted the bee dies. It may be likened to a storage 

 battery that continues to give out its stored energy until 

 it is exhausted, but unlike the storage battery the bee seem- 

 ingly cannot be "recharged." In our own experience, we 

 find that after exhausting exercise, rest and food enable us 

 to recover completely from the exhaustion, and we are prob- 

 ably better for the exercise. It must not be concluded 

 from what has been said that bees have no recuperative 

 power, but it is obvious from the various facts observed 

 that in some fundamental way their term of life is limited 

 by the amount of work they do. 



Practical applications. 



Success in practical beekeeping rests in a recognition of 

 this phenomenon of the wearing out of bees, but nowhere 

 is this more evident than in wintering. In order that the 

 bees may live over winter and still have energy to do the 

 work required of them, under the trying conditions of spring, 

 the bees should be kept vmder conditions which will require 

 of them the minimum exertion. This the northern beekeeper 



