82 



ADVANCED BEE-CUIvTURE. 



water will ascend the wicking and keep 

 the bulb constantly wet. There will, of 

 course, be evaporation from the wick sur- 

 rounding the bulb. Evaporation causes 

 a loss of heat; hence, the drier the air 

 the greater the evaporation, the greater 

 loss of heat, and the lower will go the 

 mercury in the wet-bulb thermometer. 

 The greater the difference in temperature 

 as shown between the wet and dry bulb 

 thermometers, the drier the air. In the 

 open air there is sometimes a difference 

 of 26°- 



Ventilation of cellars has been objected 

 to on the ground that it brought moisture 

 into the cellar, This may be true, but 

 not in freezing weather. Frozen air, if 

 the expression is allowable, has a very 

 low point of saturation. That is, it will 

 hold but very little moisture, and when 

 it is brought into the higher temperature 

 of the cellar, and becomes warmed, its 

 capacity for absorption is g-eatly increas- 

 ed — it is ready to receive water instead of 

 giving it out. When the outside air 

 comes into a cellar, and and deposits 

 moisture upon the objects therein, it is 

 evident that the incoming air is warm 

 and moisture-laden — warmer than the 

 cellar and its contents. 



Mould in bee repositories is usually 

 looked upon as something undesirable, 

 and I will admit that its appearance is 

 far from pleasant, but we must not for- 

 get that, in a certain sense, it is a plant — 

 the child of warmth and moisture — and 

 that the conditions necessary for its de- 



velopment.may not be injurious to the 

 bees — may be more beneficial than a con- 

 dition under which mould does not de- 

 velop, viz., one of moisture and cold. A 

 very damp cellar ought to be warm 

 enough for the development of mould. 

 But the cellar need not be damp. It can 

 be made both warm and dry. These 

 matters of temperature and moisture are 

 under our control. Either by fires or going 

 into the earth, preferably the latter, we 

 can secure the proper temperature; and 

 by the use of lime to absorb the moisture, 

 a dry atmosphere can be secured. Cer- 

 tainly it is not much trouble to keep un- 

 slacked lime in the cellar. A bushel of 

 lime absorbs twenty-eight pounds of 

 water in the process of slacking. 



While it is evident that moisture in 

 ordinary cellars is not injurious, provided 

 the temperature is high enough, it is a 

 great comfort to know that there is noth- 

 ing to fear from a dry atmosphere; that 

 we can indulge our fancy, if you choose 

 to call it that, for dry, sweet-smelling, 

 mouldless cellars, and know that the re- 

 sults will be harmless. 



Some bee-keepers have asserted that 

 cellars dug in clay or hardpan are more 

 difficult to keep dry than when dug in 

 sandy or gravelly soil. Mr. J. H. Mar- 

 tin, of New York, says that a cellar in 

 hardpan, or even in clay, can be much 

 improved by digging down two or three 

 feet and filling it with stones at first, then 

 with gravel, and finishing up with a cov- 

 ering of cement. 



Influence of Temperature in Wintering Bees. 



ROE. ATWATER says, in the 

 Century, that the amount of 

 heat produced in the body is so 

 ^-^ large that, if there were no way 



for it to escape, there would be enough 



body to the temperature of boiling water 

 in thirty-six hours. Thi.s heat is gradual- 

 ly passing off by radiation. To prevent 

 too rapid a radiation we cover our bodies 

 with clothing; and, for the same reason, 



in an average well-fed man to heat his we surround our bees in winter with 



