Influcucc of Temperature in IVinteriiig Bees. 185 



condition of the bees as to numbers, tlie warmth and ventilation of the hive, 

 the character of the hives, and the state of the repository as to moisture, have 

 each to be considered in deciding upon temperature. 



Of course, the bee-keeper cares nothing about the temperature itself; what 

 he is interested in is in knowing what the condition is in which the bees pass 

 the winter with the least loss of vitality. In what manner temperature affects 

 this condition is really a subsidiary question. If we could agree upon the 

 primary question, I think there would be little difficulty in solving the sub- 

 sidiary one. 



What are the distinguishing marks of the condition most desirable for the 

 well being of the bees? 



We know that, at the beginning of their season of rest, bees cluster 

 closely ; and we know that, so strong is this instinct, that this state, late in 

 the fall, continues in a temperature that at another season of the year would 

 cause extreme activity. There Is no doubt that this is the state best suited 

 to the preservation of the physical powers of the bees. Labor, activity, anxiety, 

 are wearing to mortal flesh. To live long, one must live slowly. We wish our 

 bees to have the same degree of physical vigor in April which they possess in 

 November. I would emphasize the adverb in the phrase "cluster closely," in 

 using it as an earmark of the condition desired. The quietness sought should 

 be a quietness to the eye and not to the ear alone. The right cluster is knit 

 together, and the individual bees thereof only aroused to full consciousness 

 by positive disturbance. Bees in a loose cluster, or spread through the hive, 

 often make little sound when wearing themselves out by premature brood- 

 rearing or by over-feeding. How does temperature affect the desired condition? 

 Most bee-keepers know that temperature below a certain point causes 

 activity among the bees on account of the necessity they feel of keeping up the 

 warmth of the cluster by exercise, in order to prevent themselves sinking into 

 such a degree of chilliness that they shall no longer have the power to resusci- 

 tate themselves; and all know that, as the period of rest lengthens, the bees be- 

 come more and more susceptible to a high temperature, and are very likely to 

 be pushed by it into unseasonable activity. Again, the temperature may be so 

 low and so long continued, that, notwithstanding their efforts, they perish 

 either of cold or starvation. 



Of course, the temperature that determines the welfare of a colony is 

 that within its own hive, so it becomes very important in fixing the tem- 

 perature to consider the strength of the colonies, and size, warmth, and ven- 

 tilation of the hives. A temperature that would enable a weak colony to 

 winter safely would almost surely greatly injure a strong colony in a hive of 

 like size and condition unless its stores were of good quality, and vice versa. 

 Weak colonies should be protected by contraction; and a closer hive — the 

 stronger — given more ventilation. A moist atmosphere conveys away animal 

 heat much more rapidly than a dry one, so that the best temperature in one 

 cellar might vary many degrees from that which would be best in another. 



I need scarcely add anything more upon this part of the subject, and 

 shall only say further, that, in my own cellars, where the air is neither very 

 moist nor very dry, and where there are no drafts, I consider a temperature 

 of 40 to 44 degrees the best for good colonies in hives from which the bottom- 

 boards are entirely removed. If the bottom-boards are not removed I think 

 that five degrees lower would be about equivalent. 



