328 WINTERING BEES. 



up the hive. It sometimes happens that the sun comes out 

 very warm, when the ground is covered with fleecy, new- 

 fallen snow, the light shining upon which, so blinds the bees, 

 that they cannot distinguish objects, or find their home, but 

 sinking at once into the powdered snow, soon perish. At 

 such times it would probably be better to confine the bees to 

 the hive. 



Bees when heavily loaded with fseces, are much more 

 liable to be lost in the snow, than at any other period. It is 

 therefore, very desirable that the first time they fly abroad 

 after their winter confinement, the day should be calm and 

 mild. After my bees have once made their Spring flight, 

 and returned in safety, I apprehend bat little danger from the 

 snow ; for they will not often leave the hive again until the 

 weather is genial, and if they do, they seldom fail to return. 



In latitudes where the cold is steady, and much snow falls, 

 some Apiarians allow it to cover over their hives, and find 

 that they winter most admirably under a snow bank ! Others 

 cover them with boughs of hemlock, or other evergreens, 

 and then are glad to see them buried out of sight under the 

 snow. I have known some stocks, thus cared for, to winter 

 in perfection. If the entrance for the admission of air is 

 sufficient, ihey never suffocate. (See p. 120.) 



Having discussed the precautions to be observed when 

 bees are to be wintered out of doors, or in Apiaries where 

 they feel the various atmospheric changes, I shall now de- 

 scribe the methods which have been most successfully 

 pursued, by those who aim to protect them, in a great meas- 

 ure, from such changes. A very dry cellar, where the bees 

 can be kept in perfect darkness, and without having their 

 hives at all jarred, is undoubtedly one of the best possible 

 places for wintering bees. (Seep. 116.) 



In some countries, it is customary to deposit all the colonies 



