APPENDIX. 47S 



pared to a garret, and the other to a cellar. While the one 

 is annoyed with dampness for a short time only, the other 

 may be so long in drying, as to injure if not destroy the bees. 



In order to lest this matter more thoroughly, 1 have re- 

 moved some colonies from hives the best protected, into 

 others less than an inch thick. Giving them the necessary 

 openings to allow the dampness to escape, and exposing 

 them to a temperature 10° below zero, I have found very 

 little frost in their hives ! It must not be inferred from 

 these observations, that it is a matter of indifference to bees, 

 whether their hives are well or ill protected, but that securi- 

 ty against dampness, if the hives are well peopled and well 

 provisioned, is more important than anything else. 



In the experiments of this winter, some of my hives have 

 been subjected to the severest tests. The honey-board has 

 been entirely removed, and only a thin upper cover placed 

 over the bees, so that the empty space above them was 

 nearly as large as the main hive. On lifting this cover, it 

 has been found coated with frost, while the main hive was 

 dry, and the bees full of life and activity. In a temperature 

 many degrees below zero, they would rush up from their 

 combs, on the slightest jar of their hive, rapidly pouring 

 through the intercommunications between the combs, and 

 thus showing their ability to reach any of the stores in their 

 hive. 



It must not be forgotten, however, that when upward 

 ventilation is given to the hives, the entrances should be 

 most carefully sheltered from cold winds. In situations 

 where this is difficult, they should be almost entirely closed, 

 and this may be safely done in ther thinnest hives, by making 

 proper provision for the escape of dampness. Even if the 

 hives should be buried in the snow, and the entrances en- 

 tirely closed, the bees will not suffer for want of air, where 

 they have free openings into the upper cover, but like the 

 Esquimaux in their snow huts, will only be the more effectu- 

 ally protected against the cold. The upward ventilation of 

 the hives in Winter, renders a ventilator on the bottom-board, 

 (p. 325,) unnecessary. 



If on the approach of Winter, a few thicknesses of com- 

 mon straw wrapping paper or old newspapers, are tacked on 

 40* 



