284 WINTERIHG BEES. 



CHAPTER XXIII, 



WINTERING BEES. 



There is almost as mucli irreconcilable diversity of 

 opinion with respect to wintering bees as in the construc- 

 tion of hives. 



DIFFBKENT METHODS. 



We are told to keep them warm, and to keep them 

 cold ; to keep them in the sun and out of the sun ; to 

 bury them in the ground ; to put them in the cellar, in 

 the chamber, in the wood-house, and to do nothing with 

 them. Here are plans enough to drive the inexperienced 

 into despair. Yet I have no doubt but bees have occa- 

 sionally been successfully wintered by all these contra- 

 dictory methods. That some are superior to others, 

 needs no argument ; but which are hest, is our province 

 to inquire. Let us endeavor to investigate the subject 

 without prejudice. 



We will first examine the condition of a stock left to 

 nature, without any care, and see if it afibrds us any 

 hints as to how we shall protect them. By close observa- 

 tion we shall probably discover that the oft-repeated as- 

 sertion, that bees will never freeze except when without 

 honey, has led to many errors in practice. 



■WARMTH FBKST KEQUISITE. 



Warmth being the first requisite, a family of bees 

 crowds together at the approach of cold weather, into a 

 compass corresponding to the degree of cold. Those on 

 the outside are somewhat stiffened with cold, while those 

 within, are as brisk and lively as in summer. In severe 

 weather, every bit of space within their circle is occupied ; 



