WINTERING BEES. 
350 
casual observer would not have noticed them ; whereas, 
had they been on the snow, at the distance of several 
rods, every bee would have been conspicuous. Snow 
is not to be dreaded as much as chilly air. Suppose 
a hive stands in the sun throughout the winter, and 
bees are allowed to leave when they choose, and a por- 
tion are lost on the snow, and that it was possible to 
number all that were lost by getting chilled, through- 
out the season, on the bare earth — the proportion (in 
my opinion) lost on the snow would not be one in 
twenty. A person that has not closely observed dur- 
ing damp or chilly weather, in April, May, or even 
the summer months, has no adequate conception of 
the number. Yet, I do not wish to be understood 
that it is of no consequence what are lost on the snow, 
by any means. On the contrary, a great man}' are 
lost, that might be saved with proper care. But I 
would like to impress the fact, that frozen earth is not 
safe without warm air, any more than snow, when 
crusted, or a little hard. Even when snow is melting, 
it is solid footing for a bee ; they can and do rise from 
it, with the same ease as from the earth. Bees that 
perish on snow in these circumstances, would be likely 
to be lost if there was none. 
STOCKS TO BE PROTECTED ON SOME OCCASIONS. 
The worst time for them to leave the hive is imme- 
diately after a new snow has fallen, because if they 
light on it then, it does not sustain their weight ; and 
they soon work themselves down out of the rays of 
the sun, and perish. Should it clear off pleasant, after 
