WINTERING BEES. 67 
hundred persons would in the same room. The same would be the 
case if one thousand persons were confined in a room one hundred 
feet square; it would be necessary that the room afford a good de- 
gree of fresh air, continually passing in at some suitable point, and 
also a passage for the impure air to escape. But if there were but one 
hundred persons in the same room, the same amount of ventilation 
that was absolutely necessary both for the health and comfort of the 
former, would be both uncomfortable and injurious to the latter, (that 
is, in very cold weather.) It is an old adage that “ circumstances alter 
cases,” and it is true in many points in the management of bees. 
There can be no precise theory adopted in every case, without regard 
to circumstances. I would, however, observe here, that in all cases 
weak families that do not fill the hive, require less ventilation, and to 
be kept warmer during winter than large and populous ones. Many 
strong, populous colonies perish every season, just for the want of a 
thorough ventilation of their hives. Many persons in the fall will set 
their hives close down upon the bottom, and no means afforded for the 
air to enter or escape, only where the bees enter. This often becomes 
closed, or nearly so, when the vapor or dampness arising from the 
breath of the bees condenses, often to such an extent as to run down 
in large quantities on the bottom of the hive, when it freezes and 
closes the entrance in some instances air tight, when the bees soon 
perish by suffocation: and even if they do not suffocate, they become 
so damp that they freeze. In conclusion, I would say that it will 
be safe for every bee-keeper to observe the following rules in winter- 
ing his bees:—Ist. Keep the hives in a perfectly dry and dark place. 
2d. See that they are well ventilated. 3d. That they are protected 
as much as possible from the extremes of heat and cold, consequently, 
where the rays of the sun cannot have any effect upon them. 
Some bee-keepers are in the habit of setting their hives bottom 
upward, with a cloth tied over them to keep in the’bees, and afford 
‘Ventilation. Mr. Miner recommends this in his winter management. But 
this mode of wintering bees I disapprove of, in toto ; and it appears 
to me that, upon a moment's reflection, every bee-keeper must agree 
with me, for every one knows that more or less bees die every winter 
in the hive; there are also often large quantities of filth, composed of 
