MONTHLY CALEXDAR. 639 



comb (and comb, it must be remembered, increases in weiglit at the rate of 

 one pound in each year), the hives weigh about twenty pounds each, there is 

 nothing further to do but to keep them dr}-, warm, and clean through the 

 winter. If they do not weigh so much, they must be fed until they do. 

 White sugai-, boiled in water for about five minutes after it has begun to boil, 

 in the proportion of one pound of sugar to half a pint of water, makes excellent 

 food, and as bees never waste anything, they need not be stinted ; all that is 

 given them is carried down and stowed away in the combs. All food should 

 be given at the top of the hive, in fine mild weather, and in as large quantities 

 as possible. Bees will carry down four or five pounds a day with ease, and as 

 during the feeding the internal heat, and with^t the consumption of the hives, 

 is greatly increased, it is desirable to get the feerling over as qixickly as 

 possible : it should by no means be delayed beyond the end of October, and, 

 once over, no more food should be given till March. 



1993. The feeders, or if the bee-master has not as many feeders as hives, the 

 condensers, should be left in till the beginning of March to catch and condense 

 the perspiration that will rise from the bees, and which would otherwise run 

 down the combs and make the floor-boards and hive damp and mouldy — the 

 worst thing that can happen to the bees, and the cause of their frequent 

 destruction. 



1994. In the beginning of November, the floor-boards should be changed, 

 and the entrances narrowed so that they will only admit one or two bee? 

 at once. Pieces of wood about three inches square and one inch thick should 

 now be placed about an inch before the entrances, to keep off the sunshine and 

 all reflected light, which would otherwise bring out the bees, when the cold air 

 would cause the death of many of them. These pieces will not prevent the 

 admission of fresh air, which is almost as necessary for bees as for men. The 

 pedestals must also be examined just below the surface of the earth. If any 

 signs of decay appear in them, they must be replaced by fresh ones. 



1995. In February, advantage should be taken of fine dry days to do what 

 painting is necessary ; unless everything is quite dry when painted, the paint 

 will peel ofi ; therefore the middle of the day, after the sun has been upon the 

 hives for some time, should be chosen for this purpose. 



1996. Not much is now left to be done till March, except looking well to the- 

 coverings of the hives, keeping off all wet, brushing away the snow from the 

 tops, entrances, and fronts of the hives, as soon as possible after a fall. Some 

 recommend that bees should be altogether shut in when snow is on the 

 ground ; but the eagerness of the bees to void themselves in the open air, as 

 soon as a thaw succeeds a long period of severe weather, is so great that it 

 seems cruelty to do so : doubtless many will fall on the rapidly disappearing 

 snow and perish ; but one does not like to thwart their natural instincts from 

 a purely selfish consideration. If many fall, a careful bee-keeper will collect 

 them in a bell-glass, and having restored them to life by aid of a fire, will 

 restore them to their hive : but unless the temperature be very mild, the bees- 

 will not venture out. 



