CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 27 



ference between outside and inside temperature to give a dew- 

 point on the inside surface of the hive. We do not observe any- 

 great amount of moisture on the inside walls of the hive, during 

 the urge period, because the bees, needing a good supply of water 

 to mix with the food they prepare, gather it as soon as deposited, 

 leaving the surface in better condition for more condensation. 

 This gives the bees nice distilled water for their use. 



Eecords of weights taken morning and evening, during the 

 honey flow, show but a slight loss in weight of the hive each 

 morning. This has puzzled many beekeepers, and some have 

 suggested that the bees got rid of the water of the nectar before 

 entering the hive. 



Let us look at this and apply the condensation theory. Tht 

 bees evaporate the water from the nectar, condense it on the 

 inside walls of the hive, then gather it as distilled water and mix 

 it with food for the brood. The water has been evaporated, but 

 the hive still retains it, and the hive weights have decreased but 

 little during the night. 



We have all "had some experience with dew and have ob- 

 served that all objects will not have dew on their surfaces in the 

 morning, after a night favorable to the deposit of dew. The 

 grass will be very wet, but the road is dry. A painted board is 

 wetter than an unpainted one. The grass and the road are in con- 

 tact with air containing the same amount of water vapor. Any 

 Natural Philosophy will explain this by the laws governing the 

 radiation of heat. The surfaces of objects on which the dew has 

 been deposited radiate more heat into space, and consequently 

 cool more than the ones that radiate less heat and have no dew 

 on th^em. The air which comes in contact with the colder surface, 

 and whose temperature is reduced to the dewpoint, is compelled 

 to give up some of its moisture. 



The law of the dewpoint operates in the hive the same as 

 outside. Air in the hive at a temperature of 90 degrees which 

 contains 8 grains of water vapor must, when it comes in contact 

 with the cool walls of the hive whose temperature is 60 degrees, 

 give up 3 grains of its water vapor. This condensation will go 



