WINTERING BEES. 823 



ihe tremendous winds, which often for days together, swept 

 like a Polar tornado, over the land. Apiaries standing in ex- 

 posed situations, were in many instances, almost wholly de- 

 stroyed. The bees, having exhausted the honey in the combs 

 where they were clustered, were unable to stir, and thus died 

 in hives where there was an abundant supply of food. 



In this connection, I will show how, in my hives, I guard 

 bees against such a fate. It is well known, that as cold 

 weather approaches, the bees recede from the outside 

 combs, and gather themselves into a compact mass, in the 

 center of the hive, so as to husband their animal heat to the 

 best advantage. As these central combs are those most oc- 

 cupied for raising brood, they are seldom very generously 

 stored with honey, and if the cold is extreme, and of very 

 long continuance, the bees must of necessity exhaust the. 

 supplies within their reach. Strong colonies frequently 

 having some brood, even in the depth of winter, are very 

 reluctant to abandon it, and if the extreme cold prevents them 

 from procuring supplies from the other combs, they prefer to 

 die upon their brood, rather than move in a mass to those 

 combs, even when able to do so. Such a calamity can easily 

 be remedied by the use of the movable-comb hive. In the 

 latter part of October, or some time before bees cease to fly, 

 the hives should be opened, and three or four of the combs 

 most generously stored with honey, placed in the center ; 'care 

 being taken that no drone comb is used for this purpose. 

 When the bees gather towards the central combs, to econo- 

 mize their animal heat, they will thus find themselves not 

 only in combs suitable for rearing workers, but such as are 

 most amply stored with honey ! 



It may appear strange that the sagacity of the bee, so per- 

 fect in most respects, should seem to fail on a point of so 

 much importance as the proper disposition of its winter stores. 



