VENTILATION. 
27 
the bees having to stand all winter on their heads.) Mova- 
ble comb and other hives were left quite open that the ex- 
halations might evaporate. In this way I have kept from 
sixty to eighty colonies from the first of December until 
March very nicely. When the mercury is below zero out of 
doors, iu such a room it would be fifty degrees above. I have 
frequently gone into my bee-room in extremely cold weather 
to warm myself by the heat of my bees and listen to their 
gentle hum. 
The amount of honey consumed in these three months, by 
a colony kept in this manner, averages from eight to ten 
pounds. 
In the absence of such a room, when there are but a few 
hives to be housed, they could be set in the corner of a dry 
cellar where there are no decaying vegetables, and where there 
would be no pounding or motions to jar them in the least : 
ior this always keeps them in motion, and cjuiet is very es* 
sential. It is well also to keep them well covered or shaded 
so that not the least ray of light could fall on them. To- 
wards spring, when they begin to feel a strong inclination to 
fly out to empty themselves, if there come several days of 
warm weather, and the bees see the light, they will leave their 
hives and fly to it, and will fail to return. 
Care should be taken to set the bees out in a fine day 
when they can fly without being chilled, at a time when it 
is supposed that severe freezing is over, generally about the 
first of March. 
When the bees are set out, or at any time that they are dis- 
posed to fly in chilly weather, when the ground is wet 
around the hives or a light snow has fallen, it is advantageous 
to spread some hay or straw for them to alight upon. ° 
If bees ar e wintered out of doors, they should always have 
a small opening in the side of the hive some distance up from 
the bottom. Such an opening will always prevent suffocation 
should the hive become frozen air-tight below. The best plan 
I know for protection on the summer stand, is to set them 
close together, near the ground. Set up boards to make a 
box all around them a foot higher than the hives, leaving a 
space of a foot or more between the boards and the sides & of 
the hives. Into this space and on the top of the hives, pack 
saw-dust or chaff. If there are holes in the top of each hive 
and a cap or box set over them, it will help to ventilate and 
