WINTERING. 329 
triangular bar (819) was the guide. principally used, and 
the combs of some of these swarms-were ‘joined together in 
away that rendered the frames immovable. In the Fall, 
we extracted (751) from ‘the brood-chamber of nearly 
every colony, as was then our practice, leaving only seven 
Quinby frames on an average—for Winter. The colonies, 
that had crooked combs, were left with all their stores—ten 
frames,—because we could not disturb them without break- 
ing combs, and causing leakage and robbing, and it was not 
the proper season to transfer (574) them. These colonies 
did not have to be fed, the following: Spring, became very 
strong, and yielded the largest crop. This untried-for 
result caused us to make further experiments, which proved 
that there ts a profit in leaving, to strong colonies, a large 
quantity of honey, so that they will not limit their Spring 
breeding. 
626. The quality of the bee-food is an important matter 
in wintering bees. ‘Protracted cold weather compels them 
to eat large quantities of honey, filling their: intestines 
with fecal matter which they cannot void, for bees never 
discharge their feces in the hive (78), unless they are 
confined too long, or greatly disturbed. 
Unhealthy food in prolonged confinement, sooner or later 
causes diarrhea (784), not only in wintering out of doors, 
but in cellar wintering (646), and in shipping bees long 
distances (587). 
Diarrhea, or as some call it, dysentery, in bees, is not 
properly a disease, since it is only caused by the retaining 
in the abdomen, of a large amount of excrements, which in 
ordinary circumstances would be voided regularly.* These 
excrements or feces, from a reddish yellow to a muddy 
black in color, according to the quality of the food eaten, 
® Whenever bees have been confined for two weeks or more, they discharge 
In flight excrements which soil everything about the Apiary. The house- 
keeper avoids hanging clothes out to dry on such days. 
