WINTERING BEES. 341 



dry. I never lost a good stock that was dry, and had plenty of 

 honey. 



" In the Winter of 1855-6, 1 had twenty stocks standing in a row, 

 all but one of which would have been regarded as in a good con- 

 dition for wintering not too tight below, nor yet too open above. 

 One was in a hive suspended twenty inches from the ground, and 

 without any bottom-board. The chamber for surplus honey-boxes 

 was open to the north ; and had eight one-inch holes, all uncov- 

 ered. 



" I left home about the 12th of February, the weather being very 

 cold, and the hives all banked up with drifted snow. Return- 

 ing the last of the month, I examined the whole row, and found 

 the nineteen thawed out, but in a sadly wet and miserable plight. 

 If I could have taken them into a room, out of the reach of the 

 frost, until they were dry, they might have been saved. The 

 weather changed to severe freezing before the next morning, and 

 all the nineteen swarms soon died ; while the one that was 

 apparently so neglected, came out strong and healthy. Before 

 adopting upward ventilation, I had lost my best swarms in this 

 way, until I became discouraged." 



In the coldest parts of our country, if upward ventila- 

 tion is neglected, no amount of protection that can be 

 given to hives, in the open air, will prevent them from 

 becoming damp and mouldy, even if frost is excluded. 

 Often, the more they are protected, the greater the risk 

 from dampness. A very thin hive unpainted, so that it 

 may readily absorb the heat of the sun, will dry inside 

 much sooner than one painted white, and in every way 

 most thoroughly protected against the cold. The first, 

 like a garret, will suffer from dampness for a short tune 

 only ; while the other, like a cellar, may be so long in 

 drying, as to injure, if not destroy, the bees. 



Much has been said in Germany, within the last few 

 years, of the danger of bees that have upward ventilation 

 perishing in Winter for want of water. Mr. Wagner has 

 furnished me with a translation of an able article in the 



