bksiiivi'iNo. 866 



Caiises ah increased demand for water; and when the thermom- 

 eter is as low as 450, bees may be seen carrying it in at noon, 

 even on windy days, although many are sure to perish from cold. 

 In these months, in ISofi, during a protracted period of unfavor- 

 able weather we gave all our bees water, anrf i)\£y remained ai home 

 in quiet, whilst those of other Apiaries were flying briskly in search 

 of water. At the beginning of May, our hives were crowded with 

 bees ; whilst the colonies of our neigbors were mostly weak. 



"The consumption of water in March and April, in a populous 

 colony, is very great, and in 1856, one hundred colonies required 

 eleven Berlin quarts per week, to keep on breeding uninterruptedly. 

 In Springs where the bees can fly safely almost every day, the 

 want of water will not be felt. 



" The loss of bees by water-deai-th, is the result of climate, and 

 no form of hive, or mode of wintering, can furnish an absolutely 

 efficient security against it." — (Translated from the German, by 

 S. Wagner.) 



That bees cannot raise much brood without water, unless 

 they have fresh-gathered honey, has been known from the 

 times of Aristotle. Buera of Athens (Cotton, p. 104), 

 aged 80 years, said in 1797 : 



"Bees daily supply the worms with water; should the state of 

 the weather be such as to prevent the bees from fetching water 

 for a few days, the worms would perish. These dead bees are 

 removed out of the hive by the working-bees if they are healthy 

 and strong ; otherwise, the stock perishes from their putrid ex- 

 halations." 



In any movable-frame hives, water can be given to the 

 bees, by pouring it into the empty cells of a comb.. 



Desertikg. 



663. We have shown (407) that bees sometimes desert 

 their hives, when the colony is too weak, or short of stores, 

 or suffering from dampness, mouldy combs, etc., etc. 

 This desertion, which differs from natural swarming in 



