DISEASES OF BEES. 185 



be active, without affording any resources beyond 

 their own domicile ; yet it is not uncommon to 

 hear the keepers of bees speak of a mild winter 

 as favourable for the bees. It is most unfavour- 

 able to them ; and if feeding be not duly attended 

 to, frequently fatal. Hence a northern aspect has 

 been recommended for hives during winter ; and if 

 guarded by proper coverings, and contrivances 

 against snow and other bad weather, such an as- 

 pect is highly proper. THE REV. STEPHEN 

 WHITE observes, that if hives be placed on the 

 northern side of a building, the bees will seldom 

 be induced to come out, and will eat much less 

 than if exposed to the winter's sun. MR. GEDDE 

 recommends keeping them during winter, not only 

 in a cold, but in a dark situation, in order to lessen 

 the consumption of honey. He even suggests the 

 use of an ice-house, having found that bees sur- 

 vive the cold in Siberia, and render Russia some- 

 what remarkable for its productiveness of honey. 

 " A very observing gentleman," says DR. DARWIN, 

 " at my request, put two hives for many weeks 

 into a dry cellar, and observed, during all that 

 time, that they did not consume any of their pro- 

 vision, for their weight did not decrease, as it had 

 done when they were kept in the open air." The 

 same observation is made in the Annual Register 

 for 1768, p. 113. The sudden transitions from 

 heat to cold, and from cold to heat, experienced 



