. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 304 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL September ful colonies. The strongest one was facing south. But it is impossible to establish any conclusion from this, the colonies being in more or less favored locations. 3. Position of the combs in regard to the entrance. Combs 'below entrance 80 Combs with entrance in middle 10 Combs with entrance below 10 In most cases the position of the combs was a matter of chance, out- side of the bees' choice. No deduc- tion can be drawn from this. 4. Exposure to air and weather. It is difficult to establish a compari- son in this.
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. 304 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL September ful colonies. The strongest one was facing south. But it is impossible to establish any conclusion from this, the colonies being in more or less favored locations. 3. Position of the combs in regard to the entrance. Combs 'below entrance 80 Combs with entrance in middle 10 Combs with entrance below 10 In most cases the position of the combs was a matter of chance, out- side of the bees' choice. No deduc- tion can be drawn from this. 4. Exposure to air and weather. It is difficult to establish a compari- son in this. The most powerful colo- nies were the mosit exposed, having ample space and openings, but it seemed as if their harvest suffered from too great exposure, requiring more consumption to keep up the warmth of the brood-nest. Colo- nies that were exposed to drafts and rain, in the flues of chimneys, were in very good shape. Probably in a more rigorous climate ithey would have suflfered more. The top of their combs was woven together, black and dry, perhaps from occa- sional sun rays striking them. This created a felt-like condition of the top of the combs which made an ap- preciable shelter. 5. Direction of the combs as re- gards the entrance: Away from the entrance 90 Crosswise of it 10 As the bees have evidently the choice as to the direction of their combs, it is clear that they prefer that the passages between the combs face the emtrance. However, I found one colony in a wide-open wall with the rear combs crosswise of the opening, while the front combs were built the oold way. (In Europe, combs built crosswise of the entrance are called "warm combs" while those built at right angles to it are "cold ;'—Editor). This ap- peared to me raither incongruous. But my liking of the honeybee does not cause me to accept it as the mar- velous insect, with infallible fore- sight, celebrated by Maeterlinck. Perhaps one cannot be both a poet and a professional beek
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
