156 ENEMIES OF BEES. 



crystallizes, unless the hive be very weakly peopled. 

 Reaumur found brood of all ages in the month of 

 January; and the same thing was experienced by 

 Huber, when the thermometer within the hive stood 

 at 93. If, on the other hand, the winter be mild, 

 the bees consume food partially, and frequently go 

 abroad into the open air ; and by thus voiding their 

 excrement preserve themselves in health. But the 

 case is far otherwise with a hive thin in population, 

 and scantily provisioned. In severe weather, their 

 numbers are too few to keep up the vital warmth, 

 and they are in imminent danger of perishing, should 

 the cold continue for a lengthened period. Should 

 the winter be mild, they consume their stores ; and 

 on the arrival of spring, if they still survive, they run 

 the hazard of perishing of hunger. We are decidedly- 

 of opinion, therefore, that the temperature of the 

 winter has much less influence on the prosperity of 

 the apiary, than is generally imagined ; and that the 

 bees coming safely through that inclement season, 

 depends in almost every case on the abundance of 

 population and of food. There may be one excep- 

 tion to these general remarks : In a mild winter, a 

 hive which is thinly peopled, but well-stored with 

 food, has a chance of escaping. But even in this 

 case, we cannot always count on its well-doing, though 

 its failure may arise from a different cause. Want 

 of numbers is injurious, not only because it is accom- 

 panied with the want of the requisite warmth, but 

 also because it seems greatly to dispirit the bees; 

 and we have seen many instances of hives deserted 



