PROTECTION. 117 



tion, as a general thing, must be given to thenn in the open 

 air, for it is a very rare thing, to meet with a cellar which is 

 dry enough to prevent the combs from moulding, and the 

 bees from becoming diseased. 



Bees never, unless diseased, discharge their faces in the 

 hive ; and the want of suitable protection, by exciting un- 

 due activity, and compelling them to eat more freely, 

 causes their bodies to be greatly distended with accumula- 

 ted faeces. On the return of warm weather, bees in this 

 condition being often too feeble to fly, crawl from their hives, 

 and miserably perish. 



I must notice another exceedingly injurious effect of in- 

 sufficient protection, in causing the moisture to settle upon 

 the cold top and sides of the interior of the hive, from 

 whence it drips upon the bees. In this way, many of their 

 number are chilled and destroyed, and often the whole colo- 

 ny is infected with dysentery. Not unfrequently, large por- 

 tions of the comb are covered with mould, and the whole 

 hive is rendered very offensive. 



This dampness which causes what may be called a rot 

 among the bees, is one of the worst enemies with which the 

 Apiarian in a cold climate, has to contend, as it weakens or 

 destroys many of his best colonies. No extreme of cold ever 

 experienced in latitudes where bees flourish, can destroy a 

 strong colony well supplied with honey, except indirectly, by 

 confining them to empty combs. They will survive our cold- 

 est winters, in thin hives raised on blocks to give a freer 

 admission of air, or even in suspended hives, without any 

 bottom-board at all. Indeed, in cold weather, a very free 

 admission of air is necessary in such hives, to prevent the 

 otherwise ruinous effects of frozen moisture ; and hence the 

 common remark that bees require as much or more air in 

 Winter than in Summer. 



