322 COLD NOT INJURIOUS TO BEES. 



power to collect it in the fields ; although his own sense 

 ought to tell him, that it is of little consequence to the bees 

 what supply of food there may be in the fields, if the 

 weather will not permit them to collect it. 



It is a false notion entertained by the majority of bee mas- 

 ters, that extreme cold is prejudicial and even destructive to 

 the bees, whereas, there is no cold in this climate which can 

 destroy a well peopled hive, and it is a part of our system of 

 management rather to expose the bees to cold, than to pro- 

 tect them from it. The cottagers however, and particularly 

 the aged females amongst them, from an amiable and well 

 intentioned motive, entertain the notion that the cold will 

 kill their bees; and therefore they wrap up their hives in 

 old blankets, or any warm substances that they can collect 

 together, little thinking, that if the hive be not well stocked 

 with provisions, they have taken the most effectual means 

 of bringing about its destruction. The greater the cold, the 

 greater is the torpor of the bees ; the greater the torpor of 

 the bees, the less is their consumption of food : it becomes 

 therefore a rational deduction, that any means which tend to 

 the decrease of that torpor must be prejudicial to the bees. 

 The great secret of the salvation of hives during the winter 

 is their complete protection from humidity, and, particularly 

 from the penetrating influence of snow; and it is in ac- 

 cordance with this principle, that the plan of plastering over 

 the hives with pitch is at the present time adopted in many 

 countries, and it is a practice, which we should by no means 

 object to see introduced into this country. It is a direct 

 preservative against the lodgment of any noxious vermin 

 between the bands of straw, and in all seasons, the interior 

 of the hive will be dry and wholesome, independently of the 

 durability, which it imparts to the hive itself. 



The culture of the bee in Russia furnishes a decided 

 negative to the opinion of many naturalists, relative to the 

 effect of cold on the bees, and ought to carry its proper 



