306 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



not seem to show that they are faring worse than other 

 colpnies. 



The winter has been unusually warm, no day since 

 the bees were taken in being as cold as the day on which 

 they were taken in. Keeping the doors more or less 

 open all the time, and the window part of the time, the 

 cellar cannot be kept entirely dark. 



All these things are against successful wintering, but, 

 as already said, even if the bees should come out in the 

 spring in poor condition it is no proof that another winter 

 would show the same result. They are not likely to be 

 taken in another winter after having suffered so much 

 from cold, and the winter is not likely to be again so 

 warm. 



VALUE OF PURE AIR. 



But amid the discouraging circumstances there is one 

 strongly redeeming feature — the bees have not suffered 

 from impure air. The simple fact that the air in the cel- 

 lar is much warmer than it would be without the furnace 

 gives assurance of better ventilation. 



I suspect that the value of pure air for wintering 

 bees is underestimated, and that the reason that bees out- 

 doors can stand confinement at a much lower temperature 

 than they can in the cellar is not so much because of oc- 

 casional flights as because of purer air. So I am not 

 without hope that notwithstanding unfavorable conditions 

 the great compensation of pure air may help the bees to 

 pull through. 



KEEPING CELLAR OPEN. 



At present writing a thaw of a few days' duration 

 has kept the doors of the cellar open to their widest, night 

 and day, the window being open but shaded, and the ther- 

 mometer stands at 53 degrees in daytime, going down to 

 50 degrees at night. Being so warm and so light, a few 



