DADANT SYSTEM OF BEEKEEPING 105 



with an open entrance when a thaw comes. Many people object 

 to letting the bees have a flight in snow time. It is true that 

 many get lost on the snow, unless the weather is quite warm. 

 But we have always noticed that the hives whose bees get the 

 freest flight in snow time, turn out as good as the best. 



We never disturb them, for any purpose whatever, during 

 cold weather. Even if we wish to pile the snow on the north 

 side of the hives, we go at it very cautiously, so as not to awaken 

 them, as the few bees that would leave the cluster might be 

 chilled and lost. 



Many people believe in what is called "sealed covers" over 

 the brood combs. We don't. We tried this to our heart's con- 

 tent. During the winter of 1884-5, one of the hardest that we 

 ever saw, every colony which had absolutely sealed covers over 

 the cluster, was pitifully soaked by the melting of the ice which 

 formed from the bees' respiration. Wherever the bees had covers 

 in which the moisture could escape slowly through the absorbents 

 in the cap or cover, the colony wintered in much better condition. 



This test was made by us accidentally. We had on the 

 hives, right over the top of the frames, oil cloths some of which 

 were more or less damaged by the gnawing of the bees. This was 

 neglect on our part. But as it happened, we found the neglect 

 to have been beneficial. For wherever the oil cloth was perfect, 

 the upper escape of moisture was prevented. The moisture settled 

 over and around the bees, congealed there, to thaw out and soak 

 them as soon as the weather moderated. In the hives where the 

 oil cloth was more or less damaged, the moisture escaped among 

 the leaves of the upper story, the bees remained dry and condi- 

 tions were much more satisfactory. Thus, the poorer the "sealed 

 cover" the better the success. 



Let it not be understood that we want the bees to have 

 an open super above their combs. No, we try to have for them 

 what we want for ourselves in a cold winter night, a warm, wool- 

 ly, moisture-absorbing cover, that will at the same time retain 

 the heat. We have no use, either for ourselves or our bees, for 

 an impermeable cover that will confine moisture near the body. 



We do not urge the adoption of the above system of winter- 



