BEE MANUAL. 247 
the back end of the hive should be within an inch or less of 
the back of the floor-board ; the entrance will then only admit 
of one or two bees going in or out at the same time, which will 
enable the sentinels to guard it effectually, and will render it 
impossible for the smallest of mice to force their way in. 
SECURING COVERS. 
It is equally important, in summer as in winter, to see that 
all hive covers are impervious to wet, and not liable to be dis- 
placed by sudden gusts of wind ; it is only more necessary to 
look well to these points at the beginning of winter than at 
other times, because the hives will not require to be so, con- 
stantly under the eye of the bee-keeper during the few months 
which are to follow, and indeed, if everything has been done 
that ought to be done, the less the hives are meddled with 
during that time the better. Not that I would recommend 
leaving the apiary to take care of itself in winter, any more 
than at the busy season of the year ; on the contrary, a prudent 
bee-keeper will take care that a general outward inspection of 
the hives is made every morning, if possible, to make sure that 
nothing unusual has occurred, and occasionally to brush away 
spiders and their webs. The security of the covers from being 
displaced by wind will of course depend very much upon the 
judicious shelter of the apiary. In some climates, however, 
sudden violent gusts of wind, sometimes coming in the form of 
small passing wherlwinds, cannot be well guarded against, and 
in such cases it may be prudent to secure the covers to the 
boxes by means of clasps or hooks and eyes. 
PROVIDING WINTER FORAGE. 
The necessity of attending to this point in a country 
where the bees fly and work all through the year, and 
the facilities for doing so in these colonies by the planting 
of such evergreens — especially acacias and eucalypti — as 
are peculiarly suited to the climate, and which afford honey 
and pollen all though the winter and early spring months, will 
be found fully dwelt upon in the chapter upon “ Bee Forage,” 
to which it is only necessary in this place to direct special 
attention. 
