THE APIARY. 435 



great longevity. A workei* bee three months a laborer is aged and infirm. It 

 is equally patent that winter is the trying period when the '^ struggle for life" 

 is sure to come to the bees. Docs the leader of a trying campaign call to his 

 aid men feeble with yeais, whose very age makes them topjole and fall under 

 the first burden that is laid upon them? No more should the apiarist expect a 

 colony of old bees to be able to stand the trying ordeal of winter, and build up 

 the depleted household to its wonted strength as spring draws on. Therefore 

 Ave announce our third truth : bees to winter well, must ])e strong in youthful 

 vitality as well as in numbers. 



It has been stated that excretion is a certain result with bees, even in winter; 

 though this will be slight if the temperature be kept just right. To prevent any 

 ill-etfects from an accumulation of these elements of destructive assimilation — 

 water and noisome gases — there should be absorbents above the bees, which 

 would not only absorb the moisture but permit the gases to escape, without ex- 

 posing the bees by a too rapid removal of heat. Our fourth and last truth then : 

 covering the bees with some absorbing material that is at the same time a poor 

 conductor of heat, is conducive to safe wintering. 



Now let us see if recent experience has sustained the above conclusions; for 

 if wc are sure of our diagnosis we may feel confident as to practical results. 



And first as to temperature. It is a significant fact that those winters which 

 have been most disastrous have also been characterized by extreme cold. I am 

 well aware that many colonies of bees perislied during these Avintcrs that were 

 independent of the cold. ]3ut we must remember that this is a complex sub- 

 ject, and that several elements must be considered in solving the problem. And 

 just here I would call attention to the fact that many apiarists, because of the 

 complexity of this subject, and because it would not yield a simple solution, have 

 become alarmed and cried epidemic. It is not necessary to show that cold is 

 the only cause of disaster. I myself lost heavily the first cold winter, with my 

 bees wholly protected against the extreme cold. Yet the reason of the mortality 

 was not difficult to find, as will appear in the sequel. During the terrible win- 

 ter of 18T4-5, terrible alike for cold and for bee-mortality, I supervised the 

 preparation of four apiaries for winter. With my own I tried the experiment 

 of putting them into a new depository which I supposed to be frost proof ; but 

 during the unprecedented cold of February, when the thermometer on three 

 occasions went 25° below, and once to 33 below zero ; the mercury in my build- 

 ing even went below zero, near which it remained for a number of days. My 

 bees all died. All three of my neighbors, two of whose bees were not so strong 

 as mine, whose bees I had prepared in precisely the same manner, except that 

 they Avere amply protected against the severe cold, passed the Avinter Avitli no 

 loss. 



During the winter of 1872-3 I also prepared my oavu bees and those of one of 

 my neighbors for Avinter, These AA^ere amply protected, and came through not 

 only Avithout loss but in excellent condition. So far as I know there Avere no 

 other bees saved anywhere in the town. 



My friend Mr. John Davis, of Delhi, has passed all these Avinters Avithout 

 loss. lie protects liis bees, never allowing the temperature of his cellar to fall 

 beloAV freezing point. 



That able and far seeing apiarist, the lamented M. Quinby, Avas one of the 

 first to discover this fact; and here as elsewhere he gaA'O ad\'ice, that if heeded 

 would Inwe saved great loss and sore disappointment. 



I could give much further evidence of the same kind were it required, but 

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