326 WINTERING BEES. 



THE IDEA OF BEES NOT FREEZING HAS LED TO KRBOKS IN PRAC- 

 TICE. 



By close observation we shall' probably discover 

 that the assertion so often repeated, that bees have 

 never frozen except when without honey, has led to 

 ail erroneous practice. 



APPEARANCE OF BEES IN COLD WEATHER. 



"We will first endeavor to examine the condition of 

 a stock left to nature, without any care, and see if it 

 affords any hints for our guidance, when to assist and 

 protect with artificial means. 



Warmth being the first requisite, a family of bees 

 at the approach of cold weather crowd together in a 

 globular form, into a compass corresponding to the 

 degree of cold ; when at zero it is much less than at 

 thirty above. Those on the outside of this cluster are 

 somewhat stiffened with cold ; while those inside are 

 as brisk and lively as in summer. In severe weather 

 every possible space within their circle is occupied ; 

 even each cell not containing pollen or honey will 

 hold a bee. Suppose this cluster is sufi&clently com- 

 pact for mutual warmth, with the mercury at 40, and 

 a sudden change brings it down to zero, in a few 

 hours, this body of bees, like most other things, speed- 

 ily contracts by the cold. The bees on the out^de, 

 being already chilled, a portion of them that does not 

 keep up with the shrinking mass, is left exposed at a 

 distance from their fellows, and receive but little ben- 

 efit of the warmth generated there ; they part with, 

 their vitality, and are lost. 



