346 WINTEKING BEES. 



dead — their temperature must he kept considerably above 

 the freezing point, and to do this, food is required. Now 

 if the bees are governed by the same laws, and cold 

 air carries off more heat than, warm, and their source 

 of renewing it is in the consumption of honey in pro- 

 portion to the degree of cold, common sense would 

 say, keep them warm as possible. As a certain de- 

 gree of heat is necessary in all stocks, it may take 

 about such a quantity of honey to pr(^duce it, and 

 this may explain why a small family requires abojit 

 the same amount of food as others that are very large. 



THE NEXT BEST PLACE FOR WINTERINS BEES. 



A dry, warm cellar is the next best place for winter- 

 ing them ; the apiarian having one perfectly dark, 

 with room to spare, will find it a very good place, in 

 the absence of a room above ground. If a large 

 number was put in, some means of ventilation should 

 be contrived for warm turns of weather. I know an 

 apiarian, who by my suggestion has wintered from 

 sixty to eighty stocks in this way, for the last six 

 years, with perfect success, not having lost one. 

 Another has wintered thirty with equal safety. 



As for burying them in the earth, I have not the 

 least doubt, if a dry place should be selected, the hive 

 inverted, and surrounded with hay, straw, or some 

 substance to absorb the moisture, and protected from 

 the rain, at the top of the covering, that perfect suc- 

 cess would attend the experiment. But this is only 

 theory ; when I tried the experiment of burying, and 

 had the combs mould, the hives were right side up. 



