Shade for Bees. 



doit? 



HALL we shade our bees? If 

 so, why, when, how? Some 

 bee-keepers do not shade their 

 hives; others do. Why do they 

 Is it really necessary ? Do they 

 thereby secure more honej' ? These are 

 pertinent questions to which it . is diflScult 

 to give definite answers, but about which 

 it is advisable to know all that is known. 

 The temperature of a colony of bees in 

 the summer, when brood is being reared, 

 is nearly loo."' Until the temperature in 

 the sun, reaches this point, shade is no 

 benefit; rather is it an injury, as it de- 

 prives the bees of the warmth of the sun 

 at a time when it would be of some ben- 

 efit. When the temperature in the sun 

 goes above loo", and begins to climb up 

 to no", 120°, 130°, 140°, then the effort 

 upon the part of the bees is to lower in- 

 stead of raise the temperature in the 

 hive. Crowds of bees stand at the en- 

 trance of the hive, and with their wings 

 create strong ventilating currents of air. 

 It has been asserted that the bees leave 

 the combs of honey well-nigh forsaken 

 when the temperature is very high; the 

 reason given being that the combs can 

 be kept cooler when not covered with 

 bees. I have also read and been told, 

 that bees would "hang out," that is, 

 cluster upon the outside of the hive, in- 

 stead of working, if their hives were left 

 unshaded during a hot day; that they 

 were compelled to thus desert their hives 

 to save their combs from destruction. I 

 have always kept my hives shaded dur- 



ing the hot weather, hence cannot speak 

 from experience upon this point; but, if 

 it is true, then it would seem that shade, 

 in very hot weather, is both desirable 

 and profitable. This much I have no- 

 ticed, that weak colonies, nuclei, for in- 

 stance, seldom make any demonstration 

 of discomfort from heat, even when left 

 unshaded, while strong colonies are puff- 

 ing and blowing like the runner of a foot- 

 race. Why is this ? Isn't it because the 

 strong colony is suffering from the ac- 

 cumulation of its own heat — that genera- 

 ted by itself — that cannot escape fast 

 enough? If this be true, why isn't a 

 chaflE hive the most insufferably hot place 

 imaginable for a colony of bees in hot 

 weather ? Possibly the point is just here: 

 the bees in the chaff hive have to con- 

 tend with their own heat only, while 

 those in the single-wall hive have that 

 from the sun in addition to their own. 

 The thick walls act as a sort of absorbent 

 of heat; taking it up and retaining it dur- 

 ing the day and gradually giving it up 

 during the cool of night. Let this be as 

 it may, a colony can be kept the coolest 

 in a thin wall hive in the shade. How do 

 we keep cool in hot weather ? We wear 

 thin clothing and lie in the hammock in 

 the shade. A colony of bees is a living 

 heat-producing body, and can be kept 

 cool in the same manner that we keep 

 our bodies cool, viz., let its clothing (hive) 

 be thin, with a free circulation of air up- 

 on all sides, above and below, and protect 

 it from the sun's rays. 



