Winter Management
The management of bees in the winter season is probably that which is less understood than any other department of the apiary, and various have been the modes urged for ensuring safety through its various dangers. It seems, however, to be pretty generally admitted that it is better to allow the hives to remain in their usual position throughout the year; and our care therefore should be directed to ward off the casualties now to be guarded against. Ignorant attention, nevertheless, is sometimes worse even than neglect; and having once made the needful winter arrangements, there ought to be as little subsequent disturbance as possible. The great points to be observed are, adequate exterior covering and complete protection from the effects of wind, wet, and sudden changes of weather; a sufficiency of food to last till the spring; and preservation from damp in the hive, with its attendant evils. As regards the store of honey, we have already said that this is a matter to be clearly ascertained and supplied in autumn. When, therefore, as the cold weather sets in, and the bees have collected and clustered together, there must be no more attempts at feeding. The mouth of the hive should gradually be contracted, as the winter advances, though never entirely closed. After every fall of snow, let it be cleared away from the hives, and about the stand or house, to prevent the chance of reflection, which always injuriously arouses the bees, and for the better security from moist exhalation on thawing.
Winter position.—It is extremely desirable in winter to keep off the influence of the sun from the front of the hives. Some persons recommend moving them from their summer position to a north aspect, or turning them round on their stands. But this shifting of quarters involves the necessity of shutting up the bees close prisoners till the spring; for all that casually left the hive would fly back to the original familiar spot, never more to revisit home. I entirely agree with those who assert that bees are never healthy where confinement has been long continued. “Who shuts up the wild bees in the forests of Lithuania, where they thrive so well?” asks Gelieu. Surely in this, as in other parts of our practice, we cannot do better than follow the guidance of nature. On a fine day, with the thermometer at or not much below 50° (and these are not of unfrequent occurrence in winter), the bees avail themselves of it, sallying forth in evident delight, with certain advantage to health and cleanliness; for they void nothing in the hive, unless compelled by long necessity. This is the point at which disease commences: indeed the retention of their fæces sometimes occasions death. Their impatience of confinement is excessive, and increases as the season advances, so that they will leave the hive at a lower temperature after Christmas than before. But in thus advocating the principle of liberty, I am not insensible to the evil it may bring with it, if not guarded against. The most disastrous consequences follow the flight of bees on a frosty day, when the gleams and deceitful warmth of a winter sun reach their domicile, particularly with snow on the ground, the glare of which allures them out to destruction, for they soon fall down to rise no more. The remedy for this is the screening of the hive in some way from its effects; and it should be done as soon as winter actually sets in. At the same time it is important that no obstruction to the free passage of air is presented, or dysentery among the bees would be the certain consequence. Where the hives stand singly, I have always seen the advantage of fixing before each a wooden screen, nailed to a post, sunk in the ground, and large enough to throw the whole front into shade. This does not interfere with the coming forth of the bees at a proper temperature; and it supersedes any necessity for shutting them up when snow is on the ground. The screen should be fixed a foot or two in advance, and so as to intercept the sun’s rays, which will be chiefly in winter towards the west side. Other plans have been tried for effecting the same object, such as blocks placed at the mouth of the hive; but these answer no good end, as the rays of light penetrate underneath and around them. In a bee-house, entirely enclosed at the front, the hives and their boards may sometimes at this season be advantageously shifted a little sideways of the exterior entrance way; with hollowed blocks (see page 96), shaped in accordance, to intercept the light, but not the air.
A screen of the kind we have described has the further tendency to promote the security of the bees, where other enemies than wind, frost, snow, or sun might sometimes endanger them. One of these, at this time, is the blue Titmouse, to which we have before alluded. Old Purchas says, “She will eat ten or twelve bees at a time, and by-and-by be ready for more. When she cometh to the hive and findeth none, she knocketh with her bill at the door, and as soon as the bees come out to inquire the cause, she catcheth first one and then another, until her belly be full.” At page 117 we have described a mode of dealing with these marauders.
Damp in Hives.—Perhaps there is nothing more prejudicial than the moisture often engendered in exposed hives at this time, particularly after frost, and in certain states of the atmosphere. It accumulates on the top and sides, moulding and rendering offensive the combs, and producing disease amongst the bees. For this reason, hives with flat roofs have sometimes been objected to; and perhaps justly, where no provision is made for ventilation. Gelieu obviated the evil by placing caps or small hives (cemented down) over the stocks; the moisture ascending, evaporated through the opening, “as by a chimney,” I have tried different experiments, and have found nothing better than the practice of condensing the vapour of the hive as much as possible, and conveying it away. At the beginning of winter, over the hole on the top, a piece of perforated zinc or wood is placed. Upon this let one of the common feeding troughs, already described, be put, from which the glass cover, and, if you please, the perforated bottom, are previously removed; the hole in the pan being placed over the one below. This may be covered with a bell-glass, standing within the pan. As the exhalation rises from the bees below, it is condensed on the glass, and received, often in considerable quantity, in the pan. The hole at the top of the glass may be stopped, opening it occasionally on a fine day, to allow the escape of vitiated air. The change of air in a hive, in mild, dry weather, is always conducive to health, till the early spring breeding begins, when caution against chill to the bees is needed. In the absence of a bell-glass, the glass cover to the trough may be kept in its place as a substitute. We have already recommended the giving to all hives or boxes a slight inclination forwards, as being useful in conveying away the moisture.
Where there is no feeding pan, a bell-glass may be put within a circular leaden or zinc trough, having the centre open, and placed over the hole below.
Temperature.—With good protection from cutting winds, from wet without, and from damp within, the effects of cold alone, unless of extreme severity, need not be apprehended, for the bees of a strong stock will generate sufficient warmth; and a dry season is often better sustained than a mild, moist one. It is of importance to guard against sudden changes of temperature, often occurring in winter; and experienced bee-keepers have recommended covering each hive with a mat, or something of the kind, as a regulator.
It is certain that less food is consumed at a low than a high temperature, and that the bees are often healthy in proportion. I have known the thermometer down to 32° in a box, with no bad effect to the bees when clustered together; but they would become torpid if exposed singly to this, or to a much less degree of cold, especially towards the close of winter; and could then only be recovered by artificial warmth.W The action of very severe frost, moreover, has an injurious effect upon the honey, which becomes candied at the extremities of the combs, and sometimes throughout. It is thenceforth useless as food for the bees.X
A thermometer is not always a criterion of the state of the hive at this season, as I have often found; for the temperature varies as the bees recede from it, and they frequently shift their quarters, moving in a mass to preserve the warmth. When congregated immediately about the thermometer, I have known it rise as much as 30° on a frosty day; and an increase of temperature always follows any commotion, from whatever cause, or partial activity in the dwelling, resulting in an increased consumption of food.
Dysentery.—Care should be taken to clear away any dead bees at the mouth of the hive, for these give great offence, besides endangering the safety of the family, by preventing the passage of air. Whilst the bees are in activity, they carefully remove every dead body from the hive; but in winter this service should be occasionally performed for them. In particular it should be attended to if signs of dysentery appear, which may be known by the dark-coloured evacuations, offensive smell in the hive, and frequent deaths. This malady often attacks the strongest hives, too much closed at the mouth, particularly at the latter part of winter or in early spring, the most critical time for bees; and no doubt it is attributable to unnaturally retained fæces in a damp impure atmosphere, with deficient covering and ventilation. It has been thought that the want of water predisposes the bees to dysentery. As soon as the disease is apparent, no time should be lost in lifting the hive from its board, expelling the vitiated air, and scraping and washing away all impurity; repeating the same process, if requisite, on some fine subsequent day. But the board should be dried before the hive is replaced on it; or a fresh one may be at once substituted for it, with less loss of time and annoyance to the bees. I have restored a stock to perfect health by thoroughly cleaning and ventilating it, after a third of the inhabitants had fallen a sacrifice. All remedies, as they are called, by feeding with various prescriptions, do more harm than good. “Bees,” says Gelieu, “have no real disease: dysentery, about which so much noise has been made, and for which so many remedies have been prescribed, never attacks the bees of a well-stocked hive that is left open at all seasons, but only those that are too long and too closely confined. They are always in good health as long as they are at liberty; when they are warm enough and have plenty of food. All their pretended diseases are the result of cold, hunger, or the infection produced by a too close and long confinement during the winter.”
Notes
W It is frequently the case in winter that a number of bees may be found, apparently dead, about a hive, particularly after sudden disturbance. The greater part of these are merely paralysed on coming out into a lower temperature, and may be recovered by taking them to the fire. But this should be done with caution; for, if placed too near, the bees are not so likely permanently to recover, as when the restoration is gradual. The best way is to put the bees into a large basin, spreading over it a piece of muslin to confine them till they are restored to the hive.
X In two stocks which I had an opportunity of examining, at the end of February, 1838, after a very severe winter, I found cells filled with honey in a granulated state, and perfectly white. This was untouched by the bees, though distressed for food. Notwithstanding the unusual severity of the season, there was brood in various stages of progression.