Friend Novice:—While I freely endorse the most that is contained in the
article on, How to Conduct an Apiary, in the Dec. No. of GLEANINGS, I
will have to dissent from a few of your conclusions, even at the risk of
being accused of _heresy_ again.
For instance: that the position that keeping bees warm etc., will save
them, will have to be given up, and, since our wintering troubles, ****
nothing that has been done has amounted to a row of pins, [Beg pardon,
we meant toward curing sick ones.—Ed.] except fine weather etc. Now the
above may be true in the case of your bees, but I cannot think it will
apply to many. I have pretty strong evidence that keeping my bees warm
and quiet, _did_ save them, as most of those in this neighborhood that
were not wintered in warm depositories have perished with the bee
disease, during the last two or three winters. Keeping mine warm has, in
my opinion, amounted to a pretty long row of pins—a longer one in fact
than any one would need, unless they wished to start a notion store, and
even then they might be overstocked.
I do not think that I have ever claimed that cold was the _only_ but
merely the _main_ cause of the losses that have occurred. The want of
dryness and darkness in the winter depository has no doubt had
considerable to do, in some instances, with the loss of bees that were
housed, while disturbance, caused by taking a light in the room, looking
at the bees, admitting strong currents of air, by opening the door at
night, and introducing artificial heat has no doubt killed more bees
than anything else, except cold. A prominent bee-keeper remarked last
spring, that he regarded artificial heat as being indispensable in
wintering bees; right in the face of the fact that he had lost about
eight-ninths of his bees by its use, or at least, while using it. Rather
a poor argument in its favor, I think. But I may be too practical in my
views. Bees are very sensitive, and a slight jar, taking a light into
the room etc., will often excite them to an injurious activity. I have
frequently seen the advice given to open the door of the winter
depository at night to cool and purify the air, but if the ventilators
are arranged as they should be, I would much rather depend on them and
keep the door shut.
You remark on page 139 of Dec. GLEANINGS, that opening the door and
windows of your cellar only seemed to make the bees warmer. It no doubt
had just that effect, as the bees were stirred up by feeling a current
of air different from that in the room, [but what _should_ we have
done?—Ed.] and strong stocks, when disturbed, generate an immense amount
of heat. I had a pretty fair sample of what they can do in that line two
years ago when I put my bees in the house. We had a cold south-west wind
at the time. The thermometer stood at about zero in the open air, and at
34° in the house when I began carrying the bees in. By having the door
open it sunk to 20° in the house, by the time I had them in. I put in 88
swarms,—then shut the door for two hours,—when I went in again and they
had run the thermometer up to 45°, being 11° higher than it was before
the door was opened to put them in. It remained about the same all the
time out of doors. By letting them alone, they soon became quiet and the
temperature of the room fell to about 40°. Keeping bees _too warm_ will
excite them, and will have the same effect as keeping them too cold,
cause them to fill themselves with honey, and if the excitement is kept
up long, the result will be the same—they will be effected with the
dysentery.
The thermometer in my bee house stands at 42° at this date, Dec. 14th,
1874, and a person on entering the room would almost think there was not
a live bee in it, they are so still.
That the Editor, and all his readers, may succeed in carrying all their
bees safely through the present, and all subsequent winters, is the wish
of JAMES BOLIN.
West Lodi, Ohio.
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