■ VENTILATION. 141 



nally excluding all intruders, they are obliged in very hot 

 weather, and in a very crowded state of their dwellings, 

 to employ a larger force in the laborious business of ven- 

 tilation, than would otherwise be necessary ; while in Win- 

 ter, they have no means of admitting air which is only mod- 

 erately cool. 1 can keep the entrance so small, that only a 

 single bee can go in at once, or I can, if circumstances re- 

 quire, entirely close it, and yet the bees need not suffer for 

 the want of air. In all ordinary cases, the ventilators will 

 admit a sufficient supply of duly tempered air from the Pro- 

 tector, and the bees can, at any time, increase their efficien- 

 cy by their own direct agency, while yet they will, at no 

 time, admit a strong current of chilly air, so as to endanger 

 the life of the brood. As bees are, at all times, prone to 

 close the ventilators with propolis, they must be placed 

 where they can easily be removed, and cleansed by soaking 

 them in boiling water. 



As respects ventilation from above, as well as from below, 

 so as to allow a free current of air to pass through the hive, 

 I am decidedly opposed to it, as in cool and windy weather, 

 such a current often compels the bees to retire from the 

 brood, which in this way is destroyed by a fatal chill. In 

 thin hives, ventilation from above may be desirable in Win- 

 ter, to carry off the superfluous moisture, but in properly 

 constructed hives, standing over a Protector, there is, as has 

 already been remarked, little or no dampness to be carried 

 off. The construction of my hives will allow, if at all de- 

 sirable, of ventilation from above ; and I always make use of 

 it, when the bees are to be shut up for any length of time, in 

 order to be moved; as in this case, there is always a risk that 

 the ventilators on the bottom-board may be clogged by dead 

 bees, and the colony suffocated. As the entrance of the 

 hive, may in a monaent, be enlarged to any desirable extent, 



