278 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



St. Johnsville, N. Y., February, 1860. 



Mr. W. C. Harbtson : Dear Sir — Yours of Jan 

 uary 27th is at haud. For wintering bees out-doors, 

 I think your straw mats must be valuable. Although 

 I never tried them, I can easily comprehend some of 

 their advantages. When bees are wintered in the 

 open air, the moisture generated by them forming 

 frost, ice, &c. is the cause of much mischief, when 

 the air passages are closed, or nearly so. When the 

 hive is properly ventilated to get rid of this moisture, 

 so much of the animal heat escapes with it, that 

 the bees suffer with cold, and many small colonies 

 actually freeze to death. How it appears to me, that 

 by surrounding the combs with straw mats so much 

 of the moisture will be absorbed as to be in no dan- 

 ger of checking the air passages with frost, conse- 

 quently less ventilation will be necessary, and the 

 bees will be warmer on this account, as well as the 

 warmth afforded by the mats otherwise. 



I winter my bees in the house usually; but should 

 I have occasion to leave some out, I shall certainly 

 want to try them. 



M. Quinby. 



PATENT APPLIED FOR FOR THE INVENTION OF WINTER MATS. 



So important and so valuable has the invention 

 and application of these winter mats proved, now 

 that movable comb hives of various kinds are being 

 generally adopted by bee-keepers, that I have applied 

 to the Commissioner of Patents for letters patent 

 securing to me the benefits of the invention. These 



