532 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
latter abstracts heat from the bees, and intensifies their 
struggle. The water produced by the honey is thrown 
off in vapour, because the cluster is warm. If the hive 
is thin, or the bees small in numbers, and, in conse- 
quence, distant from the sides, or if the top protection 
is scanty, the heated vapour is immediately deposited 
as dew, and the interior of the hive is wetted. When 
the sides are so non-conductive that the inner faces 
are not below the dew point of the interior air, the 
hive remains dry ; and since wood conducts more 
freely than cork-dust, the inner lining should be as 
thin as notions of strength will allow. In gentle 
top ventilation, the heat of the cluster just beneath 
the roof keeps the part in contact with the bees both 
warm and free from damp, and the air passes off, 
carrying the moisture with it. The combs below are 
not mildewed, nor do they run with dew. If damp- 
ness appear at all, it is behind the runners, beneath 
the ears, where the temperature commonly falls to 
the lowest point ; this, however, causes neither damage 
nor inconvenience. 
During or after long spells of cold, some recommend 
a hooked wire to be passed into the mouth of each 
hive, in order to remove any dead bees likely to choke 
it, or stocks may be lost from stifling. I should regard 
any such necessity as a proof of an error in manage- 
ment. Yet the cautious bee-keeper will, when the 
weather is mild enough to permit of a winter’s dance 
after a cold spell, walk through the apiary, and probe 
any stocks around whose doors bees are not flying, to 
ascertain whether the exit is free. The floor-board 
should gradually slope towards the mouth. 
