ADVANCED BEE-CULTURE. 



83 



chaff or some other non-conductor of 

 heat; but there is no way in which the 

 radiation of heat can be so complete- 

 ly controlled as by surrounding the 

 heat-producing body with an atmos- 

 phere of the proper temperature. There 

 is no method by which the most desirable 

 temperature for wintering bees can be so 

 completely secured as by placing the 

 hives in a cellar or special repository. 



R. I/. Taylor, in an article in the Feb. 

 Review for 1888, so completely covered 

 the subject of temperature as it effects 

 the winterinc; of bees in cellars, that I 

 cannot do better than to make copious 

 extracts from said article. He says: "I 

 think, it is a truth that should not be 

 forgotten that no one can determine, ex- 

 cept approximately, the best temperature 

 for bees in another's winter repository. 

 The condition of bees as to numbers, the 

 warmth and ventilation of the hive, the 

 character of their hives, and the state of 

 the repository as to moisture, have each 

 to be considered in deciding upon tem- 

 perature. 



Of course the bee-keeper cares nothing 

 about the temperature in itself; what he 

 is interested in is in knowing what the 

 condition is in which the bees pass the 

 winter with the least loss of vitality. In 

 what manner temperature affects this 

 condition is really a subsidiary question. 

 If we could agree upon the primary 

 question, I think there would be little 

 difficulty in solving the subsidiary one. 



What are the distinguishing marks of 

 the condition most desirable for the well 

 being of the bees ? 



We know that at the beginning of their 

 season of rest, bees cluster closely and 

 assume a state of extreme repose, and we 

 know that so strong is this instinct that 

 this state, late in the fall, continues in a 

 temperature that at another season of the 

 year would cause extreme activity. 

 There is no doubt that this is the state 

 best suited to the preservation of the 

 physical powers of the bee. Labor, 

 activity, anxiety, are wearing to mortal 

 flesh. To live long, onS must live slowly. 



We wish our bees to have the same de- 

 gree of physical vigor in April which 

 they possess in November. I would em- 

 phasize the adverb in the phrase 'cluster 

 dosHy' in using it as an earmark of the 

 condition desired. The quietness sought 

 should be a quietness to the eye and not 

 to the ear only. The right cluster is 

 knit together, and the individual bees 

 thereof only aroused to full conscious- 

 ness by positive disturbance. Bees in a 

 loose cluster, or spread through the hive, 

 often make little sound while they are 

 wearing themselves out by premature 

 brood-rearing or by over feeding. How 

 does temperature affect the desired con- 

 dition ? 



Most bee-keepers know that tempera- 

 ture below a certain point causes activity 

 among the bees on account of the neces- 

 sity they feel of keeping up the warmth 

 of the cluster by exercise, in order to 

 prevent themselves sinking into such a 

 degree of chilliness that they shall no 

 longer have the power to resuscitate 

 themselves; and all know that as the peri- 

 od of rest lengthens, the bees become 

 more and more susceptible to a high 

 temperature, and are very likely to be 

 pushed by it into unseasonable activity. 

 Again, the temperature may be so low 

 and so long continued that, notwithstand- 

 ing their efforts, they perish of either 

 cold or starvation. 



Of course the temperature that deter- 

 mines the welfare of a colony is that 

 within its own hive, so it becomes very 

 important in fixing the temperature to 

 consider the strength of the colonies, 

 and the size, wartpth and ventilation of 

 the hives. A temperature that would 

 enable a weak colony to winter safely 

 would almost surely greatly injure a 

 strong colony in a hive of like size and 

 condition, unless its stores were of good 

 quality, and vice versa. Weak colonies 

 should be protected by contraction and 

 a closer hive, the stronger should be giv- 

 en more ventilation. A moist atmosphere 

 conveys away animal heat much more 

 rapidly than a dry one, so that the best 



