OUT-DOOB SHELTERING. 351 



saek-cloth, filling the upper story with maple leaves, and 

 covering the hives, on all sides, except the front, with what is 

 com m only known as slough-grass. This success is worthy of 

 notice, for in that memorable Winter, more than two-thirds of 

 the bees in the Northern States died, some Apiarists losing 

 all they had. Like that of 1855-6, it will long be remembered, 

 not only for the uncommon degree and duration of its cold, 

 but for the tremendous winds, which, often for days together, 

 swept like a Polar blast over the land. 



We have, for years, wintered part of our bees on the Sum- 

 mer stand, by sheltering them on all sides but the front, with 

 forest leaves closely packed, and held with a frame-work of 

 lath, or ladder. . 



636. One of the most important requirements for success- 

 ful out-door wintering, is the placing of warm absorbents, 

 immediately over the cluster, to imbibe the excess of moisture 

 that rises from the bees, without allowing the heat to escape. 



In March, 1856, we lost some of our best colonies, under 

 the following circumstances: The Winter had been intensely 

 cold, and the hives, having no upward ventilation or moisture 

 absorbents, were filled with frost— in some instances, the ice 

 on then- glass sides being nearly a quarter of an inch thick. 

 A few days of mild weather, in which the frost began to 

 thaw, were followed by a severely cold spell with the ther- 

 mometer below zero, accompanied by raging winds, and in 

 many of the hives, the bees, which were still wet from the 

 thaw, were frozen together in an almost solid mass. 



As long as the vapor remains congealed, it can injure the 

 bees only by keeping them from stores which they need; but, 

 as soon as a thaw sets in, hives which have no upward ab- 

 sorbents are in danger of being ruined. 



Mr. E. T. Sturtevant, of East Cleveland, Ohio, once known 

 as an experienced Apiarist, thus gave his experience in win- 

 tering bees in the open air: 



"No extremity of cold that we ever have in this climate, 

 will injure bees, if their breath is allowed to pass off, so that 



