. The Bee-keepers' review. Bee culture. 314 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. while two or three are better. A board or cloth may be used overhead next the bees, but leave a vent somewhere to pass off mois- ture. If the climate is such that a damp cold prevails with extreme low temperature and long continued, winter in the cellar with plenty of ventilation, and a temperature not too low, say 45° or over. The more damp the cellar the higher must be the temper- ature. In the spring, when brood-rearing is want- ed, is the time to economize heat. Last year, brooding stopped early. In January a warm spell s
. The Bee-keepers' review. Bee culture. 314 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. while two or three are better. A board or cloth may be used overhead next the bees, but leave a vent somewhere to pass off mois- ture. If the climate is such that a damp cold prevails with extreme low temperature and long continued, winter in the cellar with plenty of ventilation, and a temperature not too low, say 45° or over. The more damp the cellar the higher must be the temper- ature. In the spring, when brood-rearing is want- ed, is the time to economize heat. Last year, brooding stopped early. In January a warm spell set some colonies to brood-rear- ing. A few matured their brood, and the young had cleansing flights. Such colonies were the easiest to spring. Others that had very old bees, and did no breeding until the last of February and first of March, had hard work to pull through. Some were so much weakened by the death of the old workers that they could not well rear brood, and so just eked out an existence trying to brood but failed. Right here is where packing shows its value more than anywhere else. If these weak and dwindling colonies are hid away so deep as to exclude the solar heat, they are almost as surely doomed as if exposed to the extreme of heat and cold. But if the pack- ing is only two or three inches thick, and so arranged as to receive the heat of the sun and be warmed through and through, it not only helps the colony during the day time, but also preserves a more even temperature by night. A little close observation will show that of two colonies of equal strength, the one packed, and one not, the former will cover the most brood, the latter being com- pelled to contract or compactly cluster. A large apiary in this county has been packed in chaff now for four or five winters. About three to five inches of chaff are above in a hive body, and the cover left partly open to allow moisture to escape. The past two winters have been colder than usual, and when the covers were
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbeecult, bookyear1888
