• 88 A Modern Bee-Farm 



winter nest, but more especially those farthest from the 

 centre of the cluster, are very slow to awake to a conscious- 

 ness of any change in their surroundings. 



It may almost be said that the bees take turns in 

 hibernating, as the centre of the throng, like the pulsating 

 heart of a single being, maintains a blood-heat temperature, 

 without which the marginal units would soon become ex- 

 tinct. 



Hibernating is the Essence of Economy; 



economy in food — economy in vital force and energy 

 — a saving of life to the bees and of money to the owner,, 

 at a time when flights abroad would mean instant death 

 to the individual members of the community, which only 

 exists as a whole, through the combined heat of the 

 clustering, compact mass of units. 



Excitement 



on the other hand — even the simple excitement of 



muscular action — means the consumption of stores 



beyond normal requirements ; and consumption means a 



corresponding waste of energy, which in Autumn and 



Winter should be avoided as far as possible, because at 



that period there is no compensation — no profit to balance 



the waste. 



The Winter Season. 



On some cold morning just take a peep under the quilt 



at the bees of your strongest stock. Be as quiet as you 



can, dare hardly to breath, and jar nothing near the hive. 



Well if you have not made such an examination at any 



other period of cold, you will be almost startled into 



wondering where your bees have gone to. What a mere 



handful compared with the rousing populous colony you 



knew to be there when you left them snug and well stored 



for winter ! It seems hardly possible such a vast host can 



contract themselves that a gallon measure will more 



