242 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



At such times I Lave seen hundreds engaged on a 

 heap of saw-dust, gathering the minute particles into 

 little pellets on their legs, seeming quite pleased with 

 the acquisition." Thus we find that water is not the 

 object of their search at this season of the year. 



In regard to giving bees water in winter, or that 

 they suffer for want of it, I think it a mistake. I 

 have, in common with some other apiarians, been 

 endeavoring to discover some sure method of absorb- 

 ing and carrying off the moisture that is generated 

 by the breath of the bees during cold weather, and 

 condenses on the sides and top of all hives made of 

 wood (when wintered in the open air), in hard freez- 

 ing weather. When it moderates, this frost or ice 

 melts and runs down over the bees and combs, wet- 

 ting them; and if it suddenly becomes cold again 

 whilst thus damp or wet, the bees are certain to per- 

 ish. My experience has been that this wet or 

 moisture is, and has ever been, the most serious dif- 

 ficulty to contend with in wintering bees in the open 

 air. Hundreds and thousands of colonies are lost 

 yearly from this cause alone. 



Mr. Quinby, and various other eminent apiarians, 

 have been striving for many years to devise some 

 plan to free the bees from the effects of this accumu- 

 lation of water, some in one way and some in an- 

 other. Mr. Q. has succeeded by keeping his bees in 

 a warm room. I have succeeded by applying straw 

 in the form of mats to absorb this water, that it may 

 be carried off, as described in the chapter on winter- 

 ing bees. Yet whilst this has been going on, we are 



