CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 31 



small things working in a single direction and having the same 

 ultimate goal, is great efficiency. But this is not as small as itj 

 appears to be. During the urge period, it conserves great quan- 

 tities of heat for the colony. The bees' instinct leads them to 

 give consideration to things that make for economy. If one 

 pound of water is evaporated in a hive, the water vapor into which 

 this volume of water has been converted, contains latent heat 

 enough to raise 1,000 pounds (about four barrels) one degree. 

 In" changing this back from a gaseous to a liquid state, the same 

 amount of heat is given off in the hive. By ventilation it is lost. 



HIVE WALL TEMPERATURE 



If a hive of bees be covered with heating-manure to keep itl 

 warm in spring the colony will dwindle and become [very Weak. 

 Hive walls are warmer than hive air and no condensation takes 

 place. For the same reason bees in a greenhouse dwindle. They 

 should be set where the hive walls can cool during the night. 



In some loclaities in spring, occurs a succession of days dur- 

 ing which the bees do not fly. They have young brood in the 

 hive and when they do not get condensed water from the walls 

 the increase is very slow. A colony of bees, small in proportion 

 to the hive, does not build up as fast as one that is strong for the 

 size of the hive. When bees are not able to heat the hive air 

 above the temperature of the walls, no condensation takes place, 

 and when the bees cannot fly no water is available for domestic 

 purposes. How many beekeepers have stopped to consider where 

 the bees got the water to rear brood before the first flight ? Dis- 

 tilation tells the story. 



Condensation tells many a story to explain bee behavior. Can 

 you wonder at the awe and amazement with which I approached 

 this phase of bee economy, when brought to a realization of the 

 wonderful instinct that led the bee into the realms of physics, to 

 select propolis, one of the best substances nature has, to bring 

 their work up to a high state of efficiency. This instinct tells 

 them that freer evaporation obtains when the water vapor is 

 being freely condensed on the inner walls of the hive. It tells 

 them that water can be evaporated in any air with a tempera- 



