WINTER MANAGEMENT. 237 
the increased exhaling of vapour entailed by extra 
feeding will cause a condensation upon the combs, 
possibly to be followed by a freezing over of the 
honey-cells, and hence starvation of the insects, or 
else a subsequent thaw, begetting mould and fungoid 
growth. Apart, also, from the increased danger of 
dysentery from the larger consumption of food, the 
very cold itself renders it impossible to the bees to 
retain their feces, and they void them over the 
combs, thus contaminating the air of the hive, and 
engendering further sources of ill. 
The foregoing is a reproduced analysis of what 
may be regarded as the science of Mr. Cowan’s paper. 
The practical deductions thence derived we have 
freely included under the following sections, as well 
as under those on “Autumnal Feeding” and “Autumn 
Population,” which have already been presented to 
the reader. 
Winter Position.—It is extremely desirable in win- 
ter to keep off the influence of the sun from the 
front of the hives. Some persons recommend 
moving them from their summer position to a 
north aspect, or turning them round on _ their 
stands. But this shifting of quarters seems to involve 
the necessity of retaining the bees close prisoners, 
lest such of them as casually left the hive might fly 
back to the original familiar spot, never more to re- 
visit home. I entirely agree with those who assert 
that bees are never healthy where confinement has 
been long continued. ‘‘Who shuts up the wild bees 
in the forests of Lithuania, where they thrive so 
well?” asks Gelieu. Surely in this, as in other 
