HOW A SMALL FAMILY MAY ALL FREEZE.
Suppose a quart of bees were put in a box or hive where all the cells were filled and lengthened out with honey; the spaces between the combs would be about one-fourth of an inch—only room for one thickness of bees to spread through. The combs would perhaps be one and a half or two inches thick. All the warmth that could be generated then, would be by one course or layer of bees, an inch and a half apart. Although every bee would have food in abundance without changing its position, the first turn of severe weather would probably destroy the whole. This, it may be said, "is an unnatural situation." I will admit that it is; the case was only supposed for illustration. I know that their winter quarters are among the brood combs, where the hatching of the brood leaves most of the cells empty; and the space between the combs is half an inch; a wise and beautiful arrangement; as ten times the number of bees can pack themselves within a circle of six inches, as can in the other case; and in consequence the same number of bees can secure much more animal heat, and endure the cold much better; but a small family, even here, will often be found frozen, as well as starving.
FROST AND ICE SOMETIMES SMOTHER BEES.
Besides freezing, there are other facts to be observed in stocks which stand in the cold. If we examine the interior of a hive containing a medium-sized swarm, on the first severely cold morning, except in the immediate vicinity of the bees, we shall find the combs and sides of the hive covered with a white frost. In the middle of the day, or as soon as the temperature is slightly raised, this begins to melt,—first next to the bees, then at the sides. A succession of cold nights will prevent the evaporation of this moisture; and this process of freezing and thawing, at the end of a week or two, will form icicles sometimes as large as a man's finger, attached to the combs and the sides of the hive. When the bottom of the hive is close to the floor, it forms a sealing around the edges, perfectly air-tight, and your bees are smothered. I have frequently heard bee-keepers say in these cases, "The storm blew in, and formed ice all round the bottom, and froze my bees to death." Others that have had their bees in a cold room, finding them thus, "could not see how the water and ice could get there any way; were quite sure it was not there when carried in," &c. Probably they never dreamed of its being accounted for philosophically, and to analyze anything pertaining to bees would be rather small business. But what way can it be accounted for?
FROST AND ICE IN A HIVE ACCOUNTED FOR.
Physiologists tell us "that innumerable pores in the cuticle of the human body are continually throwing off waste or worn out matter; that every exhalation of air carries with it a portion of water from the system, in warm weather unperceived, but will be condensed into particles large enough to be seen in a cold atmosphere." Now, if analogy be allowed here, we will say the bee throws of waste matter and water in the same way. Its food being liquid, nearly all will be exhaled—in moderate weather it will pass off, but in the cold it is condensed—the particles lodge on the combs in form of frost, and accumulate as long as the weather is very severe, a portion melting in the day, and freezing again at night.
THE EFFECT OF ICE OR FROST ON BEES AND COMB.
When the bees are not smothered, this water in the hive is the source of other mischief. The combs are quite certain to mould. The water mould or dampness on the honey renders it thin, and unhealthy for the bees, causing dysentery, or the accumulation of fæces that they are unable to retain. When the hive contains a very large family, or a very small one, there will be less frost on the combs,—the animal heat of the first will drive it off; in the latter there will be but little exhaled.
FROST MAY CAUSE STARVATION.
This frost is frequently the cause of medium or small families starving in cold weather, even when there is plenty of honey in the hive. Suppose all the honey in the immediate vicinity of the cluster of bees is exhausted, and, the combs in every direction from them are covered with frost; if a bee should leave the mass and venture among them for a supply, its fate would be as certain as starvation. And without timely intervention of warmer weather, they must perish!