DO BEES HIBERNATE? 
927 
the quietest. It all depends on what is 
meant by that term. But there are some 
interesting facts showing that bees can for 
a short time stand low temperatures, and 
revive like ants and flies that are true hi- 
bernators. In the discussion which follows, 
however, one must not be misled. Yet it is 
evident that nature has provided means by 
which bees can stand the temperature of 
freezing, or below, for a short time. In 
order that the reader may understand what 
hibernation really is, a few facts should 
be presented. 
Hibernation of bees was exploited nearly 
50 years ago, when it was generally decided, 
and rightly too, that bees do not hibernate 
in the ordinary sense of the term (see 
American Bee Journal for 1885). But 
they do enter a quiescent state when the 
temperature has been lowered; and this 
state is somewhat analogous to the torpor 
experienced by some animals in a state of 
true hibernation, during which no food is 
taken, and respiration is considerably re¬ 
duced. Dr. Marshall Hall has stated that 
“respiration is inversely as the degree of 
irritability of the muscular fiber.” If the 
respiration is reduced without this irrita¬ 
bility being increased, death results from 
asphyxia. Hibernation is usually induced 
by cold, and the animal under its influence 
attains nearly the temperature of the sur¬ 
rounding atmosphere, yet can not resist 
any amount of cold, altho its capacity for 
doing so varies according to the animal. 
Some animals bury themselves in holes, 
like snakes and frogs; others, like the bear, 
crawl under a pile of leaves and brush 
where they are still further covered with 
snow. Thus buried they will go all winter 
without food or water; but there is a waste 
of tissue. Fish may be incased in ice and 
still live. A lively frog may be dropped 
into a pail of water, four or five inches 
deep, and exposed to a freezing tempera¬ 
ture. Indeed, there may be a thin coating 
of ice formed over the animal. The next 
morning, that frog, tho stiff and cold, 
can be warmed up into activity, but to 
freeze solid will kill the creature. 
Flies, as is well known, will secrete them¬ 
selves in window-frames and other hiding- 
places, subject to cold atmosphere, for 
weeks at a time, and yet revive on ex¬ 
posure to warmth. As is well known, also, 
ants have been repeatedly dug out of logs, 
frozen solid—in fact, fairly enveloped in 
frost; yet on exposure to warmth they will 
revive. Some hibemators can endure a 
freezing temperature, while others, like the 
bear, woodchuck, and the like, can not. 
Other very interesting incidents may be’ 
taken from natural history; but the pur¬ 
pose of this article is to consider whether 
bees go into a quiescent state that ap¬ 
proaches hibernation, in which there is low 
respiration and a small consumption of 
stores. 
Two or three years ago the author put 
a number of cages of bees with some queens 
(laying the cages down on cakes of ice) in 
a refrigerator. The bees were chilled to 
absolute stiffness. Every day a cage was 
taken out and each time the bees would 
revive, including the queen. This plan was 
continued for several days, and yet the 
bees would “come to” each time. 
The strange part of it was, that the 
queens went on laying normally when put 
back in the hives, instead of laying drone 
eggs as expected. Just what was the tem¬ 
perature to which these bees were sub¬ 
jected can not be told, but probably 
below 40° and above 35°, for the doors of 
the refrigerators were frequently opened, 
and the ice was constantly melting. 
During one winter, when a very cold 
snap came on—the temperature going down 
to zero — the author put out some cages of 
bees, exposing them to the cold wind, which 
was then blowing a good gale, when the 
temperature was 5 above zero. It was ex¬ 
pected that the bees possibly might be able 
to survive the shock for a number of hours, 
and yet revive; but 20 minutes of zero 
freezing was sufficient to kill them outright. 
If the bees had been gradually acclimatized 
to the cold, first being subjected to 40°, 
then to 35°, and gradually down to the 
zero point, they would possibly have with¬ 
stood the shock for a longer time. 
When the weather warmed up a little 
several cages of bees were taken and buried 
in the snow, with a thermometer so that 
the absolute temperature might be known. 
A cage of bees was taken about every two 
or three hours, and it was found that they 
could be revived without difficulty; but 
at the end of 24 hours the bees, when they 
“came to,” seemed somewhat the worse for 
