306 WINTERING BEES. 



them ; whereas, had they been on the snow, every hee 

 would, have been noticable at the distance of several 

 rods. Snow is not to be dreaded so much as chilly air. 

 Suppose that a hive stands in the sun throughout 

 the winter, and the bees are permitted to leave when 

 they choose, and a portion is .ost on the snow; and 

 that it were possible to number all that are lost by be- 

 coming chilled on the bare earth, throughout the season, 

 the number lost on the snow Avould not be one in twenty. 

 A person who has not observed closely during the damp 

 and chilly weather in April, May, or even the summer 

 months, has no adequate conception of the number. Yet 

 I do not wish to be understood that those lost on the 

 snow are of no consequence, by any means. On the 

 contrary, a great many are lost that might be saved by 

 proper care. But I would like to impress the fact that 

 warm air is essential, and that crusted snow is as safe a 

 footing for a bee, as frozen earth. Even melting snow is 

 solid footing for a bee ; it can and does rise from it, with 

 the same ease as from the earth. Bees that perish on 

 the snow under these circumstances, would be likely to 

 be lost in any case. 



The worst time for them to leave the hive is imme- 

 diately after a new snow has fallen, because it will not 

 sustain their weight, and they soon work themselves 

 down out of the sun, and speedily perish. Should it 

 clear off pleasant after a storm of this kind, a little at- 

 tention will probably be remunerated. To prevent their 

 leaving the hive at such times, a wide board should be set 

 up before it, at least as high as the entrance in the side, to 

 protect it from the sun. But if it grows so warm that 

 the bees leave the hive when thus shaded, it is fair evi- 

 dence, that it will do to let them sally out freely, except 

 in case of a. new snow, when they should be confined tc 

 the hive. 



