832 
WINTERING BEES. 
FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS. 
A neighbor who wished to purchase some stock 
hives in the fall, requested my assistance in selecting 
them. We applied to a perfect stranger; his bees 
had passed the previous winter in the open air. I 
found on looking among them that he had lost some 
of them from this cause, as the excrement was yet 
about the entrance of one old weather-beaten hive, 
that was now occupied by a young swarm, and was 
about half filled with combs. 
I saw at once what had been the matter, and felt 
quite confident that I could give its owner a correct 
history of it. “Sir,” said I, “you have been un- 
fortunate with the bees that were in this hive last 
winter ; I think I can give you some particulars re- 
specting it.” 
“ Ah, what makes you think so ? I would like to 
hear you guess; to encourage you, I will admit that 
there has been something rather peculiar about it.” 
“ One year ago you considered that a good stock- 
hive; it was well tilled with honey, a good family of 
Dees, and two or three years old or more. You had 
as much confidence in its wintering as any other; but 
during the cold weather, somehow, the "bees unac- 
countably disappeared, leaving but a very few, and 
they were found frozen to death. You discovered it 
towards spring, on a warm day. When ypu removed 
the combs, you probably noticed a great many spots 
of excrement deposited on them, as well as on the 
sides of the hive, particularly near the entrance. 
Also one-half or more of the breeding cells contained 
