328 
WINTERING BEES. 
honey ; the spaces between the combs would be about 
one-fourth of an inch — only room for one thickness of 
bees to spread through. The combs would perhaps 
be one and a half or two inches thick. All the warmth 
that could be generated then, would be by one course 
or layer of bees, an inch and a half apart. Although 
every bee would have food in abundance without 
changing its position, the first turn of severe weather 
would probably destroy the whole. This, it may be 
said, “is an unnatural situation.” I will admit that it 
is; the case was only supposed for illustration. I 
know that their winter quarters are among the brood 
combs, where the hatching of the brood leaves most 
of the cells empty ; and the space between the combs 
is half an inch ; a wise and beautiful arrangement; as 
ten times the number of bees can pack themselves 
within a circle of six inches, as can in the other case ; 
and in consequence the same number of bees can se- 
cure much more animal heat, and endure the cold 
much better ; but a small family, even here, will often 
be found frozen, as well as starving. 
frost and ice sometimes smother bees. 
Besides freezing, there are other facts to be observed 
in stocks which stand in the cold. If we examine the 
interior of a hive containing a medium-sized swarm, 
on the first severely cold morning, except in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the bees, we shall find the combs 
and sides of the hive covered with a white frost. In 
the middle of the day, or as soon as the temperature 
is slightly raised, this begins to melt, — first next tc 
the bees, then at the sides. A succession of cold 
