. Gleanings in bee culture . people on a coldwinters night require less bed clothing thanone person would in that same bed. Now,then, suppose that, instead of having thosetwo bed-fellows separated from each otherby only their night clothing, we have a slabof metal or even wood between them. Ifthey are compelled to place their warmbodies in contact with that cold surface theylose a great deal of their body heat becausethe cold surfaces carry away (that is, dissi-pate) the warmth. We have exactly that condition when weinsert combs of sealed honey into a bunchof bees. We compel them to divide up
. Gleanings in bee culture . people on a coldwinters night require less bed clothing thanone person would in that same bed. Now,then, suppose that, instead of having thosetwo bed-fellows separated from each otherby only their night clothing, we have a slabof metal or even wood between them. Ifthey are compelled to place their warmbodies in contact with that cold surface theylose a great deal of their body heat becausethe cold surfaces carry away (that is, dissi-pate) the warmth. We have exactly that condition when weinsert combs of sealed honey into a bunchof bees. We compel them to divide up intofour or five clusters. The result is, that col-onies tampered with in this manner perishor come out in the spring very weak becauseof their inability to maintain the requisitetemperature. Where outside bees becomestiff with cold they can not long endurethat condition. We show herewith two illustrations ofcombs showing an ideal winter nest whichbees under normal conditions will form if 20 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURP: .Ian. 1. FIG. -COMBS FOR MAKING UP A WINTER-NEST FOR A MODERATE-SIZED the center comb Is placed upside down. allowed to carry out their own sweet willwithout molestation from their well-mean-ing owner. In Fig. 1 note the hemispher-ical shape of the winter nest as the beesform it under ideal conditions. The combsnext opposite in the brood-nest will show asmaller half-circle, and those next to thema relatively smaller circle still, until there isjust a mere spot of perhaps an inch or twoin diameter in the outer comb. This makesup a complete hemisphere in the Langstrothbrood-nest or a perfect sphere in a cubicalbrood-nest. While one does not by anymeans always find this form of winter nestit is the ideal condition. If one lifts off the cover of a colony whenthe temperature is about 45 outside he oughtto find, if conditions have been favorable,the cluster of bees in a space about the shapeshown in the winter nest of the frames hereshown. On the next two com
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbees, bookyear1874
