PROTBOTION. 119 



Snugly housed in the hollow of a tree whose thickness 

 and decayed interior are such admirable materials for ex- 

 cluding atmospheric changes, the bees in Winter are in a 

 state of almost absolute repose. The entrance to their 

 abode is generally very small in proportion to the space 

 within ; and let the weather out of doors vary as it may, the 

 inside temperature is very uniform. These natural hives 

 are dry, because the moisture finds no cold or icy top, or 

 sides, on which to condense, and from which it must drip 

 upon the bees, destroying their lives, or enfeebling their 

 health, by filling the interior of their dwelling with mould and 

 dampness. As they are very quiet, they eat but little, and 

 hence their bodies are not distended and diseased by accu- 

 mulated faeces. Often they do not stir from their hollows, 

 from November until March or April ; and yet they come 

 forth in the Spring, strong in numbers, and vigorous in 

 health. If at any time in the winter season, the warmth is 

 so great as to penetrate tbeir comfortable abodes, and to 

 tempt them to fly, when they venture out, they find a balmy 

 atmosphere in which they may disport with impunity. In 

 the Summer, they are protected from the heat, not merely by 

 the thickness of the hollow tree, but by the leafy shade of 

 overarching branches, and the refreshing coolness of a for- 

 est home. 



The Kussian and Polish bee-keepers, living in a climate 

 whose winters are much more severe ihan our own, are 

 anaong the largest and most successful cultivators of bees, 

 many of them numbering their colonies by hundreds, and 

 some even by thousands ! 



They have, with great practical sagacity, imitated as 

 closely as possible, the conditions under which bees are 

 found to flourish so admirably in a stale of nature. We 

 are informed by Mr. Dohiogost, a Polish writer, that his 



