WINTERING BEES.

There is almost as much diversity of opinion with respect to wintering bees as in the construction of hives, and about as difficult to reconcile.

DIFFERENT METHODS HAVE BEEN ADOPTED

One will tell you to keep them warm, another to keep them cold; to keep them in the sun, out of the sun, bury them in the ground, put them in the cellar, the chamber, wood-house, and other places, and no places at all; that is, to let them remain as they are, without any attention. Here are plans enough to drive the inexperienced into despair. Yet I have no doubt but that bees have been sometimes successfully wintered by all these contradictory methods. That some of these methods are superior to others, needs no argument to illustrate. But what method is best, is our province to inquire. Let us endeavor to examine the subject without prejudice to bias our judgment.

THE IDEA OF BEES NOT FREEZING HAS LED TO ERRORS IN PRACTICE

By close observation we shall probably discover that the assertion so often repeated, that bees have never frozen except when without honey, has led to an erroneous practice.

APPEARANCE OF BEES IN COLD WEATHER

We will first endeavor to examine the condition of a stock left to nature, without any care, and see if it affords any hints for our guidance, when to assist and protect with artificial means.

Warmth being the first requisite, a family of bees at the approach of cold weather crowd together in a globular form, into a compass corresponding to the degree of cold; when at zero it is much less than at thirty above. Those on the outside of this cluster are somewhat stiffened with cold; while those inside are as brisk and lively as in summer. In severe weather every possible space within their circle is occupied; even each cell not containing pollen or honey will hold a bee. Suppose this cluster is sufficiently compact for mutual warmth, with the mercury at 40, and a sudden change brings it down to zero, in a few hours, this body of bees, like most other things, speedily contracts by the cold. The bees on the outside, being already chilled, a portion of them that does not keep up with the shrinking mass, is left exposed at a distance from their fellows, and receive but little benefit of the warmth generated there; they part with their vitality, and are lost.

HOW PART OF THE SWARM IS FROZEN

A good family will form a ball or circle about eight inches in diameter, generally about equal every way, and must occupy the spaces between four or five combs. As combs must separate them into divisions, the two outer ones are smallest, and most exposed of any; these are often found frozen to death in severe weather. Should evidence be wanting from other sources to show that bees will freeze to death, the above would seem to furnish it. It is said, “that in Poland bees are wintered in a semi-torpid state, in consequence of the extreme cold.” We must either doubt the correctness of this relation, or suppose the bee of that country a different insect from ours a kind of semi-wasp, that will live through the winter, and eat little or nothing. The reader can have no difficulty in deciding which is the most probable, whether bees are bees throughout the world, endowed with the same faculties and instincts, or that the facts as they are, are not precisely given, especially when we see what our own apiarians tell us about their never freezing.

Here I might use strong language in contradiction; but as I am aware that such a course is not always the most convincing, I prefer the test of close observation. If bees will freeze, it is important to know it, and in what circumstances.

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 faeces 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!

OTHER DIFFICULTIES

Should they escape starving, there is another difficulty often attending them in continued cold weather. I said that small families exhaled but little. Let us see if we can explain the effect.

There is not sufficient animal heat generated to exhale the aqueous portion of their food. The philosophy that explains why a man in warm blood and in profuse perspiration would throw off or exhale more moisture than in a quiet state, will illustrate this. The bees in these circumstances must retain the water with the excrementitious part, which soon distends their bodies to the utmost, rendering them unable to endure it long. Their cleanly habits, that ordinarily save the combs from being soiled, is not a sure protection now, and they are compelled to leave the mass very often in the severest weather, to expel this unnatural accumulation of faeces. It is frequently discharged even before leaving the comb, but most of it at the entrance; also some scattered on the front side of the hive, and a short distance from it. In a moderately warm day, more bees will issue from a hive in this condition than from others; it appears that a part of them are unable to discharge their burden their weight prevents their flying they get down and are lost. When cold weather is too long continued, they cannot wait for warm days to leave, but continue to come out at any time; and not one of such can then return. The cluster inside the hive is thus reduced in numbers till they are unable to generate heat sufficient to keep from freezing. With the indications attendant upon such losses, my own observation has made me somewhat familiar, as the following conversation will illustrate.

FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS

A neighbor who wished to purchase some stock hives in the fall, requested my assistance in selecting them. We applied to a perfect stranger; his bees had passed the previous winter in the open air. I found on looking among them that he had lost some of them from this cause, as the excrement was yet about the entrance of one old weather-beaten hive, that was now occupied by a young swarm, and was about half filled with combs.

I saw at once what had been the matter, and felt quite confident that I could give its owner a correct history of it. “Sir,” said I, “you have been unfortunate with the bees that were in this hive last winter; I think I can give you some particulars respecting it.”

“Ah, what makes you think so? I would like to hear you guess; to encourage you, I will admit that there has been something rather peculiar about it.”

“One year ago you considered that a good stock-hive; it was well filled with honey, a good family of bees, and two or three years old or more. You had as much confidence in its wintering as any other; but during the cold weather, somehow, the bees unaccountably disappeared, leaving but a very few, and they were found frozen to death. You discovered it towards spring, on a warm day. When you removed the combs, you probably noticed a great many spots of excrement deposited on them, as well as on the sides of the hive, particularly near the entrance. Also one-half or more of the breeding cells contained dead brood, in a putrid state; and this summer you have used the old hive for a new swarm.”

“You are right, sir, in every particular. Now, I would like to know what gave you the idea of my losing the bees in that hive? I can see nothing peculiar about that old hive, more than this one,” pointing to another that also contained a new swarm. “You will greatly oblige me if you will point out the signs particularly.”

“I will do so with pleasure” (feeling quite willing to give him the impression that I was “posted up” on this subject, notwithstanding it savored strongly of boasting).

I then directed his attention to the entrance in the side of the hive, where the bees had discharged their faeces, on the moment they issued, until it was near the eighth of an inch thick, and two or three inches broad; that yet remained, and just began to cleave off. “You see this brown substance around this hole in the hive?”

“Yes, it is bee-glue (propolis); it is very common on old hives.”

“I think not; if you will examine it closely, you will perceive it is not so hard and bright; it already begins to crumble; bee-glue is not affected by the weather for years.”

“Just so, but what is it, and what has that to do with your guess-work?”

“It is the excrement of the bees. In consequence of a great many cells containing dead brood, which the bees could not enter, they were unable to pack themselves close enough to secure sufficient animal heat to exhale or drive off the water in their food, it was therefore retained in their bodies till they were distended beyond endurance they were unable to wait for a warm day necessity compelled them to issue daily during the coldest weather, discharging their faeces the moment of passing the entrance, and part of them before. They were immediately chilled, and could not return; the quantity left about this entrance shows that a great many must have come out. That they came out in cold weather is proved by its being left on the hive, because in warm weather they leave the hive for this purpose.”

“This is a new idea; at present it seems to be correct; I will think it over. But how did you know that it was not a new swarm; that it was well filled?”

“When looking under it just now, I saw that combs of a dark color had been attached to the sides near the bottom, below where those are at present; this indicates that it had been full, and the dark color that it was not new. Also, a swarm early and large enough to fill such a hive the first season, would not be very likely to be affected by the cold in this way.”

“Why not? I think this hive was crowded with bees as much as any of my new swarms.”

“I have no doubt they appeared so; but we are very liable to be deceived in such cases, by the dead brood in the combs. A moderate-sized family in such a hive will make more show than some larger ones that have empty cells to creep into, and can pack closer.”

“But how did you know about the dead brood?”

“Because old stocks are thus often reduced and lost.”

“What were the indications of its being filled with honey?”

“Combs are seldom attached to the side of the hive farther down than they are filled with honey. In this hive the combs had been attached to the bottom, consequently must have been full. Another thing, unless the family is very much reduced, the hive is generally well stored, even when diseased.”

“Why did you suppose it was near spring before I discovered it?”

“I took the chances of guessing. The majority of bee-keepers, you know, are rather careless, and when they have fixed their bees for winter, seldom give them much more attention, till they begin to fly out in the spring.”

“But what should I have done had I discovered the bees coming out?”

“As it was affected with dead brood, it was but little use to do anything; you would have lost it eventually. But if it had been a stock otherwise healthy, and was affected in this way only because it was a small family, or the severity of the weather, you could have taken it to a warm room, and turned it bottom up; the animal heat would then convert the most of the water contained in their food into vapor; that would rise from the hive, and the bees could retain the excrementitious portion without difficulty till spring.”

“I suppose you must get along without losing many through the winter, if I may judge by your confident explanations.”

“I can assure you I have but little fear on this head. If I can have the privilege of selecting proper stocks, I will engage not to lose one in a hundred.”

“How do you manage? I would be glad to obtain a method in which I could feel as perfectly safe as you appear to.”

“The first important requisite is to have all good ones to start with. Enough weak families are united together till they are strong, or some other disposition made of them.” I then gave him an outline of my method of wintering, which I can confidently recommend to the reader.

ACCUMULATION OF FAECES DESCRIBED BY SOME WRITERS AS A DISEASE

This accumulation of faeces is considered by many writers as a disease a kind of dysentery. It is described as affecting them towards spring, and several remedies are given. Now if what I have been describing is not the dysentery, why I must think I never had a case of it; but I shall still persist in guessing it to be the same, and suppose that inattention with many must be the reason that it is not discovered in cold weather, at the time that it takes place. Some stocks may be badly affected, yet not lost entirely, when moderate weather will stop its progress. When a remedy is applied in the spring, long after the cause ceases to operate, it would be singular if it was not effectual. I have no doubt but some have taken the natural discharge of faeces, that always takes place in spring when the bees leave the hive, for a disease. Others, when looking for a cause for diseased brood, and found the combs and hive somewhat besmeared, have assigned this as sufficient; but according to my view, have reversed it, giving the effect before the cause.

THE AUTHOR’S REMEDY

For a time, I supposed that this moisture on the combs gradually mixed with the honey, making it thin, and that the bees eating so much water with their food, would affect them as described. Some experiments that followed, induced me to assign cold as the cause, as I always found, when I put them where it was sufficiently warm, that an immediate cure was the result, or at least, it enabled them to retain their faeces till set out in the spring.

BURYING BEES

Burying bees in the earth below the frost, has been recommended as a superior method of wintering, for small families. I have known it confidently asserted, that they would lose nothing in weight, and no bees would die. I found, in testing it, that a medium quantity of honey sufficed, and but very few were lost, perhaps less than by any other method. Yet the combs were mouldy, and unfit for further use. There was no escape for the vapor and dampness of the earth. This did not satisfy me; it only cured “one disease by instituting another.” I saved the bees, (and perhaps some honey), but the combs were spoiled.

EXPERIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR TO GET RID OF THE FROST

I wished to keep them warm, and save the bees as well as honey, and at the same time, get rid of the moisture. I found that a large family expelled it much better than small ones; and if all were put together in a close room, the animal heat from a large number combined, would be an advantage to the weak ones, at least, this proved of some benefit. Yet I found on the sides of a glass hive, that large drops of water would stand for weeks.

SUCCESS IN THIS MATTER

The following suggestion then came to my relief. If this hive was bottom up, what would prevent all this vapor as it arises from the bees from passing off? (It always rises when warm, if permitted.) The hive was inverted; in a few hours the glass was dry.

This was so perfectly simple, that I wondered I had not thought of it before, and wondered still more that some one of the many intelligent apiarians had never discovered it. I immediately inverted every hive in the room, and kept them in this way till spring; when the combs were perfectly bright, not a particle of mould to be seen, and was well satisfied with the result of my experiment. Although I was fearful that more bees would leave the hives when inverted, than if right side up, yet the result showed no difference. I had now tried both methods, and had some means of judging.

BEES WHEN IN THE HOUSE SHOULD BE KEPT PERFECTLY DARK

When not kept perfectly dark, a few would leave the hives in either case. I have found it much better to make the room dark to keep the bees in the hive, than to tie over them a thin muslin cloth, as that prevents a free passage of the vapor, and a great number of full stocks were not at all satisfied in confinement; and were continually worrying, and biting at the cloth, till they had made several holes through it for passages out. Thus the little good was attended by an evil, as an offset. Even wire cloth put over to confine them, which would be effectual, would not save bees enough to pay expense. I have thus wintered them for the last ten years, and am extremely doubtful if a better way can be found. For several years I made use of a small bed-room in the house, made perfectly dark, in which I put about 100 stocks. It was lathed and plastered, and no air admitted, except what might come through the floor. It was single, and laid rather close, though not matched.

A ROOM MADE FOR WINTERING BEES

In the fall of 1849 I built a room for this purpose; the frame was eight by sixteen feet square, and seven high, without any windows. A good coat of plaster was put on the inside, a space of four inches between the siding and lath was filled with saw-dust; under the bottom I constructed a passage for the admission of air, from the north side; another over head for its exit, to be closed and opened at pleasure, in moderate weather, to give them fresh air, but closed when cold, and so arranged as to exclude all the light.

A partition was extended across near the centre. This was to prevent disturbing the whole by letting in light when carrying them out in the spring. By closing the door of this partition, those in one room only need be disturbed at once.

MANNER OF STOWING AWAY BEES

Shelves to receive the hives were arranged in tiers one above the other; they were loose, to be taken down and put up at pleasure. Suppose we begin at the back end: the first row is turned directly on the floor, a shelf is then put across a few inches above them, and filled, and then another shelf, still above, when we again begin on the floor, and continue thus till the room is full; or if the room is not to be filled, the shelves may be fixed around the sides of the room in two or three courses. This last arrangement will make it very convenient to inspect them at any time through the winter, yet they should be disturbed as little as possible. The manner of stowing each one is to open the holes in the top, then lay down two square sticks, such as are made by splitting a board, of suitable length, into pieces about an inch wide. The hive is inverted on these; it gives a free circulation through the hive, and carries off all the moisture as fast as generated.

TEMPERATURE OF ROOM

The temperature of such a room will vary according to the number and strength of the stocks put in; 100 or more would be very sure to keep it above the freezing point at all times. Putting a very few into such a room, and depending on the bees to make it warm enough, would be of doubtful utility. If these means will not keep the proper temperature, probably some other method would be better. All full stocks would do well enough, as they would almost any way. Yet I shall recommend housing them whenever practicable. If the number of stocks is few, let the room be proportionably small. It is the smallest families that are most trouble: if they are too cold, it may be known by bees leaving the hive in cold weather, and spots of excrement on the combs; they should then have some additional protection; close part or all of the holes in the top, cover the open bottom partially or wholly, and confine to the hive as much as possible the animal heat; when these means fail, it may be necessary to take them to a warm room, during the coldest weather.

TOO MUCH HONEY MAY SOMETIMES BE STORED

After the flowers fail, and all the brood has matured and left the combs, it sometimes happens that a stock has an opportunity of plundering, and rapidly filling all those cells that had been occupied with brood during the yield of honey, and which then effectually prevents their storing in them. This, then, prevents close packing, which is all-important for warmth. Although a large family, as much care is needed as with the smaller ones. Also such as are affected with diseased brood should receive extra attention for the same reason.

Some bee-keepers are unwilling to risk the bold measure of inverting the hive, but content themselves by merely opening the holes in the top; this is better than no ventilation, but not so effectual, as all of the moisture cannot escape. There are some who cannot divest themselves of the idea, that if the hive is turned over, the bees must also stand on their heads all winter!

Rats and mice, when they find their way into such room, are less bold with their mischief than if the hive is in its natural position.

MANAGEMENT OF ROOM TOWARDS SPRING

A few warm days will often occur, towards spring, before we can get our bees out. In these cases, a bushel or two of snow or ice pounded up should be spread on the floor; it will absorb and carry off as it melts much of the heat, that is now unnecessary, and will keep them quiet much longer than without it; (provision for getting rid of this water should be made when putting down the floor.)

TIME FOR SETTING OUT BEES

The time for carrying out bees is generally in March, but some seasons later. A warm pleasant day is the best, and one quite cold, better than one only moderately warm.

After their long confinement, the light attracts them out at once, (unless very cold air prevents), and if the rays of a warm sun do not keep them active, they will soon be chilled and lost.

Some bee-keepers take out their stocks at evening. If we could be always sure of having the next day a fair one, it would probably be the best time; but should it be only moderate, or cloudy, it would be attended with considerable loss or if the next day should be quite cold, but few would leave, and then the only risk would be to get a good day, before one that was just warm enough to make them leave the hive, but not quite enough to enable them to return.

NOT TOO MANY STOCKS TAKEN OUT AT ONCE

When too many are taken out at once, the rush from all the hives is so much like a swarm, that it appears to confuse them. Some of the stocks by this means will get more bees than actually belong to them, while others are proportionably short, which is unprofitable, and to equalize them is some trouble; yet it may be done. Being all wintered in one room, the scent or the means of distinguishing their own family from strangers, becomes so much alike, that they mix together without contention.

FAMILIES MAY BE EQUALIZED

By taking advantage of this immediately, or before the scent has again changed, and each hive has something peculiar to itself, you can change the stands of very weak and very strong families.

To prevent, as far as possible, some of these bad effects, I prefer waiting for a fair day to begin, and then not until the day has become sufficiently warm to make it safe from chill.

SNOW NEED NOT ALWAYS PREVENT CARRYING OUT BEES

I am not particular about the snow being gone if it has only lain long enough to have melted a part of it, it is “terra firma” to a bee, and answers equally well as the bare earth. When the day is right, about ten o’clock I put out twelve or fifteen, taking care that each hive occupies its old stand, at the same time endeavoring to take such as will be as far apart as possible; (to make this convenient, they should be carried in in the manner that you wish them to come out.) When the rush from these hives is over, and the majority of the bees has gone back, I set out as many more about twelve o’clock, and when the day continues fair, another lot about two. In the morning, while cool, I move from the back to the first apartment, about as many as I wish to set out in a day, except a few at the last.

To do this in the middle of the day, while warm, would induce a good many bees to leave the hive, while the light was admitted, and which would be lost. It will be supposed generally that their long confinement makes them thus impatient to get out; but I have frequently returned stocks during a cold turn of weather after they had been out, and always found such equally as anxious to come out, as those which had been confined throughout the winter; without the airings, I have kept them thus confined, for five months, without difficulty! The important requisites are, sufficient warmth and perfect darkness.

DOES NOT ANALOGY PROVE THAT BEES SHOULD BE KEPT WARM IN WINTER?

Opposition to this method of wintering will arise with those who have always thought that bees must be kept cold; “the colder the better.” I would suggest for their consideration the possibility of some analogy between bees and some of the warm-blooded animals the horse, ox, and sheep, for instance, that require a constant supply of food, that they may generate as much caloric as is thrown off on the cold air. This seems to be regulated by the degree of cold, else why do they refuse the large quantity of tempting provender in the warm days of spring, and greedily devour it in the pelting storm? The fact is pretty well demonstrated, that the quantity of food needed for the same condition in spring, is much less when protected from the inclemency of the weather, than when exposed to the severe cold. The bee, unlike the wasp, when once penetrated with frost, is dead their temperature must be kept considerably above the freezing point, and to do this, food is required. Now if the bees are governed by the same laws, and cold air carries off more heat than warm, and their source of renewing it is in the consumption of honey in proportion to the degree of cold, common sense would say, keep them warm as possible. As a certain degree of heat is necessary in all stocks, it may take about such a quantity of honey to produce it, and this may explain why a small family requires about the same amount of food as others that are very large.

THE NEXT BEST PLACE FOR WINTERING BEES

A dry, warm cellar is the next best place for wintering them; the apiarian having one perfectly dark, with room to spare, will find it a very good place, in the absence of a room above ground. If a large number was put in, some means of ventilation should be contrived for warm turns of weather. I know an apiarian, who by my suggestion has wintered from sixty to eighty stocks in this way, for the last six years, with perfect success, not having lost one. Another has wintered thirty with equal safety.

As for burying them in the earth, I have not the least doubt, if a dry place should be selected, the hive inverted, and surrounded with hay, straw, or some substance to absorb the moisture, and protected from the rain, at the top of the covering, that perfect success would attend the experiment. But this is only theory; when I tried the experiment of burying, and had the combs mould, the hives ware right side up.

EVILS OF WINTERINGS IN THE OPEN AIR CONSIDERED

As a great many bee-keepers will find it inconvenient, or be unable to avail themselves of my method of wintering, it will be well enough to see how far the evils of the open air, which we have already glanced at, may be successfully avoided. I am told by those who have tried wintering them in straw hives, that in this respect they are much safer than those made of boards; probably the straw will absorb the moisture. But as these hives are more trouble to construct, and their shape will prevent the use of suitable boxes for surplus honey, this one advantage will hardly balance the loss. They are said also to be more liable to injury from the moth. We want a hive that will unite advantageously as many points as possible.

It should be remembered that bees always need air, especially in the cold. With this in view, we will try to dispose of the vapor or frost. If the hive is raised sufficient to let it out, it will let in the mice; to prevent which, it should be raised only about one-fourth of an inch. The hole in the side should be nearly covered with wire cloth to keep out the mice; but give a passage for the bees; otherwise they collect here, endeavoring to get out, and remain till chilled, and thus perish by hundreds. The boxes on the top must be removed, but not the cap or cover; the holes all opened, to let the vapor pass up into the chamber; if this is made with perfectly close joints, so that no air escapes, it should be raised a very little; otherwise not. The moisture will condense on the sides and top, when it melts will follow the sides to the bottom, and pass out; the rabbeting around the top of the hive will prevent its getting to the holes, and down among the bees. It will be easily comprehended, that a hole between each two combs at the top, (as mentioned in the subject of putting on the boxes,) will ventilate the hive much better than where there is but one or two, or where there is a row of several, and all are between two combs.

BUT LITTLE RISK WITH GOOD STOCKS

All good stocks may be wintered in this way, with but little risk in most situations. Whether in the bleak north-wind, buried in a snow-bank, or situated warm and pleasant, it will make no great difference. The mice cannot enter; the holes give them air, and carry off moisture, &c. But second-rate stocks are not equally safe in cold situations.

EFFECT OF KEEPING SECOND-RATE STOCKS OUT OF THE SUN

It has been strongly urged, without regard to the strength of the stock, to keep them all out of the sun; because an occasional warm day would call out the bees, when they get on the snow, and perish; this is a loss, to be sure, but there is such a thing as inducing a greater one by endeavoring to avoid this. I have said in another place that second rate or poor stocks might occasionally starve, with plenty of stores in the hive, on account of frosty combs. If the hive is kept from the sun, in the cold, the periods of temperate weather might not occur as often, as the bees would exhaust the honey within their circle or cluster. But on the contrary, when the sun can strike the hive, it warms up the bees, and melts the frost more frequently. The bees may then go among their stores and obtain a supply, generally, as often as needed. We seldom have a winter without sunny days enough for this purpose; but should such an one occur, stocks of this class should be brought into a warm room, once in four or five days, for a few hours at a time, to give them a chance to get at the honey. Stocks much below second-rate cannot be wintered successfully in this climate; the only place for them is the warm room. I have known bees thoroughly covered in a snow-drift, and their owner was at considerable trouble to shovel the snow away, fearing it would smother them. This is unnecessary, when protected from the mice and ventilated as just directed; a snow-bank is about as comfortable a place as they can have, except in the house. When examined a short time after being so covered, the snow for a space of about four inches on every side of the hive is found melted, and none but quite poor stocks would be likely to suffer with this protection. A little snow around the bottom, without a vent in the side of the hive, might smother them.

EFFECTS OF SNOW CONSIDERED

As for bees getting on the snow, I apprehend that not many more are lost there, than on the frozen earth; that is, in the same kind of weather. I have seen them chilled, and lost on the ground by hundreds, when a casual observer would not have noticed them; whereas, had they been on the snow, at the distance of several rods, every bee would have been conspicuous. Snow is not to be dreaded as much as chilly air. Suppose a hive stands in the sun throughout the winter, and bees are allowed to leave when they choose, and a portion are lost on the snow, and that it was possible to number all that were lost by getting chilled, throughout the season, on the bare earth the proportion (in my opinion) lost on the snow would not be one in twenty. A person that has not closely observed during damp or chilly weather, in April, May, or even the summer months, has no adequate conception of the number. Yet, I do not wish to be understood that it is of no consequence what are lost on the snow, by any means. On the contrary, a great many are lost, that might be saved with proper care. But I would like to impress the fact, that frozen earth is not safe without warm air, any more than snow, when crusted, or a little hard. Even when snow is melting, it is solid footing for a bee; they can and do rise from it, with the same ease as from the earth. Bees that perish on snow in these circumstances, would be likely to be lost if there was none.

STOCKS TO BE PROTECTED ON SOME OCCASIONS

The worst time for them to leave the hive is immediately after a new snow has fallen, because if they light on it then, it does not sustain their weight; and they soon work themselves down out of the rays of the sun, and perish. Should it clear off pleasant, after a storm of this kind, a little attention will probably be remunerated. Also, when the weather is moderately warm, and not sufficiently so to be safe, they should be kept in, whether snow is on the ground or otherwise.

For this purpose, a wide board should be set up before the hive to protect it from the sun, at least above the entrance in the side. But if it grows sufficiently warm so that bees leave the hive when so shaded, it is a fair test by which to tell when it will do to let them have a good chance to sally out freely, except in cases of a new snow, when it is advisable to confine them to the hive. The hive might be let down on the floor-board, and the wire-cloth cover the passage in the side, and made dark for the present; raising the hive at night again, as before. I have known hundreds of stocks wintered successfully without any such care being taken, and the bees allowed to come out whenever they chose to do so. Their subsequent health and prosperity proving that it is not altogether ruinous. It has been recommended to enclose the whole hive by a large box set over it, and made perfectly dark, with means for ventilation, &c. (A snow-bank would answer equally well, if not better.) For large families it would do well enough, as would also other methods. But I would much rather take the chances of letting them all stand in the sun, and issue as they please, than to have the warmth of the sun entirely excluded from the moderate-sized families. I never knew a whole stock lost by this cause alone. Yet, I have known a great many starved, merely because the sun was not allowed to melt the frost on the combs, and give them a chance to get at their stores.

DO THE BEES EAT MORE WHEN ALLOWED TO COME OUT OCCASIONALLY IN WINTER?

Besides the loss of bees on the snow when standing in the sun, and taking an airing occasionally, there are some economical bee-keepers who urge this disadvantage, “that every time bees come out in winter they discharge their excrement, and eat more honey in consequence of the vacant room.” What a ridiculous absurdity it would be to apply this principle to the horse, whose health, strength, and vital heat is sustained by the assimilation of food! and the farmer is not to be found who would think of saving his provender by the same means. That bees are supported in cold weather on the same principle is indicated strongly, if not conclusively.

Is it not better (if what has been said on the subject of wintering bees is correct) to keep our bees warm and comfortable when practicable, as a means of saving honey?

To winter bees in the best manner, considerable care is required. Whenever you are disposed to neglect them, you should bear in mind that one early swarm is worth two late ones; their condition in spring will often decide this point. Like a team of cattle or horses when well wintered, they are ready for a good season’s work, but when poorly wintered have to recruit a long time before they are worth much.