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Frost And Ice Sometimes Smother Bees

Categories: WINTERING BEES.
Bee Keeping: Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained

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

ne
t 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?



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