The Relation of Food to the Wintering of Bees 



In the Southern States, and other places not blessed with a st:rn 

 winter, where bees can enjoy frequent flights, it matters little what the 

 food is, so long as it is not actually poisonous. By this is meant that 

 any kind of sweet like sugar, honey, or even honey-dew, v. ill answer 

 as food. In these mild climates, little or no protection is needed ; but 

 as higher latitudes are reached, chaff-packed hives, or their equivalent, 

 are needed, and there must be some care exercised in regard to food. 

 As we journey still further from the equator, it is only cellars and the 

 best of food that bring forth uniform results. 



It has been asserted that honey is the "natural" food of bees, and 

 that nothing can be gained by substituting something else. It must be 

 remembered that the "natural" home of the bee is that of a warm climate, 

 where there are no long spells of confinement caused by continued cold. 

 Honey is, of course, the "natural" food of bees, but this fact does not 

 prevent their dying sometimes 'as the result of its consumption, when a 

 diet of cane sugar would have saved their lives. 



In my opinion, food is the pivotal point upon which turns the 

 wintering of bees in our Northern States. Food is the fulcrum, and 

 temperature the long end of the lever. The whole question in a nut- 

 shell is just this: The loss of bees in winter, aside from that caused 

 by diarrhea, is not worth mentioning. It is diarrhea that kills our bees. 

 What causes it? An overloading of the intestines, with no opportunity 

 of emptying them. Cold confines the bees to their hives. The greater 

 the cold the larger are the quantities of food consumed to keep up the 

 animal heat. The more food there is consumed, the sooner are the 

 intestines overloaded. A moment's reflection will make it clear that 

 the character of the food consumed has an effect upon the accumulation 

 in the intestines. In the digestion of cane sugar there is scarcely any 

 residue. Honey is usually quite free from nitrogenous matter, being 

 well supplied with oxygen, and, when practically free from floating 

 grains of pollen, is generally a very good and safe winter food, although 

 not as good as properly prepared sugar syrup, which never contains 

 nitrogen, but possesses more oxygen. The excreta from diarrhetic bees 

 is almost wholly pollen grains in a digested or partly digested state, 

 with a slight mixture of organic matter. What overloads the intestines 



