Cold and dampness are the great winter enemies of bee life. A single
bee can withstand very little cold, but a good cluster, if all other
conditions are favorable, can defy the most rigorous winters of our
coldest States. But if not thoroughly dry, even a moderate degree of
cold is always injurious, if not absolutely fatal. Dampness in winter
is therefore the most dangerous element with which the bee keeper has
to contend. The matter would, of course, be quite simple if only that
dampness which might come from the outside were to be considered, but
when the air of the hive, somewhat warmed by the bees and more or
less charged with the moisture of respiration, comes in contact with
hive walls or comb surfaces made cold by outside air, condensation
takes place, and the moisture trickles over the cold surfaces and
cluster of bees, saturating the air about them or even drenching them,
unless by forming a very compact cluster they are able to prevent it
from penetrating, or by greater activity to raise the temperature
sufficiently to evaporate the surplus moisture, or at least that
portion near them. But this greater activity is, of course, at the
expense of muscular power and requires the consumption of nitrogenous
as well as carbonaceous food. Increased cold or its long continuance
greatly aggravates conditions.
Nature has provided that the accumulation of waste products in the body
of the bee during its winter confinement should be small under normal
conditions, but unusual consumption of food, especially of a highly
nitrogenous nature like pollen, necessitates a cleansing flight, or
diarrheal difficulties ensue, combs and hives are soiled, the air of
the hive becomes polluted, and at last the individual bees become too
weak to generate proper warmth or drive off the surplus moisture which
then invades the cluster and brings death to the colony; or, what is
more frequently the case, a cold snap destroys the last remnant of the
colony, which has been reduced by constant loss of bees impelled by
disease to leave the cluster or even to venture out for a cleansing
flight when snows and great cold prevail.
The problem then is: _To retain the warmth generated by the bees, which
is necessary to their well-being, and at the same time to prevent
the accumulation of moisture in the hive._ A simple opening at the
top of the hive would permit much of the moisture to pass off, but
of course heat would escape with it and a draft would be produced.
Absorbent material about the cluster creates, without free ventilation,
damp surroundings, and again the temperature is lowered. It is only
necessary, however, to surround the bees with sufficient material to
protect them fully against the greatest cold likely to occur, and
to take care also that this enveloping material is of such a nature
and so disposed as to permit the free passage of the moisture which
would otherwise collect in the interior of the hive, and to permit the
escape into the surrounding atmosphere of such moisture as enters this
material from within. This packing should also be fully protected from
outside moisture.
[Illustration: Fig. 17.--Double-walled hive adapted to outdoor
wintering as well as summer use below 40° north latitude in the United
States. Thickness of each wall, 3/8 inch, space between walls, 2
inches, packed with dry chaff or ground cork.]
South of Virginia, Kentucky, and Kansas single-walled hives may be
employed in most localities with good success in outdoor wintering.
On the approach of the cool or the rainy season a close-fitting quilt
should be laid over the frames and several folded newspapers pressed
down on this, or a cushion filled with dry chaff or some other soft
material may be used instead of paper. The cover or roof should be
absolutely rain-proof, yet between this cover and the cushion or
papers should be several inches of space with free circulation of air.
In order to permit this ventilation above the top packing, the cover
should not rest upon the cap or upper story all of the way around, or
if it does, an auger hole in each end, protected by wire-cloth against
the entrance of mice, should give free passage to the air. In the more
northern portion of the section referred to some further protection is
advisable (fig. 17), and is really necessary in the mountainous parts
of the same territory if the best results are to be obtained. Farther
north, and especially in the cold Northwest, much greater protection
becomes an absolute necessity. Quilts with newspapers or thin packing
above do not alone suffice. The side walls of the hive may be made of
pressed straw (fig. 18). These, with top packing, if kept dry outside,
are excellent for outdoor wintering, even in climates so cold that
ordinary wooden hives do not afford sufficient protection.
In the severest climates, however, still greater protection on all
sides of the colony is needed, and packing with chaff or other soft
material is decidedly the best plan. The thickness of this surrounding
packing should be from 2 inches to 8 or 10 inches for single colonies,
according to the severity of the climate, but if four or more colonies
are grouped for the winter, so as to make the natural warmth generated
mutually advantageous, somewhat less packing will be sufficient. A most
important point is to have the soft warmth-retaining packing come in
close contact with the edges of the combs, and above all _not to have a
hive wall, either thick or thin, between this material and the bees_. A
good plan is to construct an open framework or skeleton hive of laths,
cover it with sacking, or, preferably, some less fuzzy cloth which the
bees will not gnaw, and after placing it in an outer wooden case large
enough every way to admit of the necessary packing about the colony,
to fill in on all sides with some dry, porous material (fig. 19). If
the frames are shallow, like the Langstroth, it is better to construct
the inner case so as to place them on end, and thus give a deeper comb
for the winter. Layers of newspapers may come next outside the cloth
covering of the framework. Wheat chaff answers well to complete the
packing. Wool is to be preferred, but is of course too expensive unless
a waste product. Ground cork, waste flax, hemp, sawdust, etc., in fact,
any fine porous material, if thoroughly dry, may be used.
[Illustration: Fig. 18.--The American straw hive (Langstroth
principle) of Hayek Brothers.]
A board passageway 3 or 4 inches wide and three-eighths of an inch high
should connect this inner apartment and the flight hole of the outer
case, thus affording an exit for the bees whenever the weather may
permit them to fly. When these preparations have been completed, the
hive is ready for the combs, which, with adhering bees, are taken from
the summer hive and inserted in the winter hive. A quilt is then laid
on the frames and the top packing put on. This, for convenience, may
be held in a cloth-bottomed tray. It is quite important, as already
mentioned, that air be allowed to circulate freely above the packing.
The outside case must be quite rain-proof or else wholly protected from
the rain by a roof.
All other necessary conditions having been complied with shortly after
the gathering season closed, the combs may be lifted from the summer
hives and placed in these specially arranged winter cases before cold
weather wholly stops the bees from flying out. Thus prepared for the
winter the colonies will need but slight attention from October until
March, or, in the North, even later, and the losses will be limited to
the small percentage of cases due to failure of apparently good queens.
[Illustration: Fig. 19.--Colony of bees with newspapers packed
between inner and outer cases and brood frames on end for the winter.]