346 WINTERING AND SPRING DWINDLING. 



such as will allow them to pass readily, in cold weather, from 

 one to another; but if these holes are made before they feci 

 the need of them, they will frequently close them. It is sug- 

 gested that small tubes made of elder, the pith of which has 

 been removed, would make permanent Winter-passages, if in- 

 serted in the combj at any time. On a cold November day, 

 Mr. Larigstroth found bees, in a hive without any Winter- 

 passages, separated from the main cluster, and so chilled as 

 not to be able to move; while, with the thermometer many 

 degrees below zero, he repeatedly noticed, in other hives, at 

 one of the holes made in the comb, a cluster, varying in size, 

 ready to rush out at the slightest jar of their hive. 



Fig. 127. 



HILL DEVICE. 



It has been found quite practical to give them a passage 

 above the combs, or between the combs and the straw-mat, 

 or quilt, above them. The Hill device sold by many dealers, 

 is very good for this purpose, although we find that the bees 

 often have bridge-combs in sufficient quantity above the 

 frames to give them the necessary passage. 



Out-Door Wintering. 



632. The usual mode of allowing bees to remain all Win- 

 ter on their Summer stands, is, in cold climates, verj' ob- 

 jectionable. In those parts of the country, however, where 

 the cold is seldom so severe as to prevent them from flying, 

 at frequent intervals, from their hives, no better way, all 

 things eonsideredj can be devised. In such favored regions, 

 bees are but little removed from their native climate, and their 

 wants may be easily supplied, without those injurious effects 



