15G 
ENEMIES OF BEES. 
crystallizes, unless the hive be very weakly peopled. 
Reaumur found brood of all ages in the month of 
January ; and the same thing was experienced by 
Huber, when the thermometer within the hive stood 
at 93°. If, on the other hand, the winter he mild, 
the bees consume food partially, and frequently go 
abroad into the open air ; and by thus voiding their 
excrement preserve themselves in health. But the 
case is far otherwise with a hive thin in population, 
and scantily provisioned. In severe weather, their 
numbers are too few to keep up the vital warmth, 
and they are in imminent danger of perishing, should 
the cold continue for a lengthened period. Should 
the winter be mild, they consume their stores ; and 
on the arrival of spring, if they still survive, they run 
the hazard of perishing of hunger. We are decidedly 
of opinion, therefore, that the temperature of the 
winter has much less influence on the prosperity of 
the apiary, than is generally imagined ; and that the 
bees coming safely through that inclement season, 
depends in almost every case on the abundance of 
population and of food. There may be one excep- 
tion to these general remarks : — In a mild winter, a 
hive which is thinly peopled, but well-stored with 
food, has a chance of escaping. But even in this 
case, we cannot always count on its well-doing, though 
its failure may arise from a different cause. Want 
of numbers is injurious, not only because it is accom- 
panied with the want of the requisite warmth, but 
also because it seems greatly to dispirit the bees ; 
and we have seen many instances of hives deserted 
