WINTER 59 



numbers of bees come out of the hive and fly 

 round for an airing. They never go far away, 

 but keep in a little cloud just over the hives or 

 before the entrance. 



These " cleansing flights," as bee-keepers call 

 them, are very necessary for the bees' health. 

 Honey is a very pure food, and there is compara- 

 tively little waste with it. Bees are very cleanly 

 insects, and never, when they are in health, soil 

 the insides of the hives with excreta, and if they 

 are confined for any time by bad weather, there 

 is a considerable accumulation of waste matter 

 in their bodies. Hence this opportunity is 

 taken to cleanse their organs. When bees are 

 artificially fed, as is necessary when the larger 

 portion of their stores is taken from them, it is 

 very important that only the purest cane sugar 

 is used, otherwise the waste matter will give the 

 bees dysentery, resulting in soiling of the hives 

 and the death of a large number. 



Even in the consumption of their stores, the 

 insects are very orderly. The outside combs are 

 commenced first, the food from them being 

 passed across to the centre. As the colony grows 

 smaller, so the outside combs become empty, 

 until by the end of the year the whole colony 

 occupies a spherical position in the middle of 

 the hive. 



In the depth of winter, when the snow is on the 

 ground, bees are perhaps as safe from the dangers 



