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Most ViewedAn Experiment 2An Experiment Burying Bees Expense Of Renewing Combs Time Of Greatest Irritability Remedial Experiments Bee Pasturage Bees Do Not Increase If Full After The First Year In Same Hive One Like Common Hive Preferred Not Properly Understood Least ViewedAn Experiment 2An Experiment Burying Bees Expense Of Renewing Combs Time Of Greatest Irritability Remedial Experiments Bee Pasturage Bees Do Not Increase If Full After The First Year In Same Hive One Like Common Hive Preferred Not Properly Understood |
Frost And Ice Sometimes Smother BeesCategory: WINTERING 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? Next: Frost And Ice In A Hive Accounted For Previous: How A Small Family May All Freeze
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