314 
BEE. 
no operations are going on in the winter months, 
yet the history of this hive is imperfect till it sends 
forth a new swarm. 
“ As the common bee is very susceptible of cold, 
we find as soon as the cold weather sets in, they 
become very quiet, or still, and remain so through- 
out the winter, living on the produce of the sum- 
mer and autumn; and indeed a cold day in the 
summer is sufficient to keep them at home, more 
so than a shower in a warm day : and if the hive 
is thin, and much exposed, they will hardly move 
in it, but get as close together as the comb will let 
them, into a cluster. In this manner they appear 
to live through the winter: however, in a fine day, 
they become very lively and active, going abroad, 
and appearing to enjoy it, at which time they get 
rid of their excrement; for I fancy they seldom 
throw out their excrement when in the hive. To 
prove this, I confined some bees in a small hive, 
and fed them with honey for some days; and the 
moment I let them out, they flew, and threw out 
their excrement in large quantities; and therefore, 
in the winter, I presume, they retain the contents 
of their bowels for a considerable time: indeed, 
when we consider their confinement in the winter, 
and that they have no place to deposite their ex- 
crement, we can hardly account for the whole of 
this operation in theih. Their excrement is of a 
yellow colour, and according to their confinement 
it is found higher and higher up in the intestine, 
almost as high as the crop. 
“ Their life at this season of the year is more 
