WINTERING BEES. 
351 
a storm of this kind, a little attention will probably 
be remunerated. Also, when the weather is moder- 
ately warm, and not sufficiently so to be safe, they 
should be kept in, whether snow is on the ground or 
otherwise. 
For this purpose, a wide board should be set up be- 
fore the hive to protect it from the sun, at least above 
the entrance in the side. But if it grows sufficiently 
warm so that bees leave the hive when so shaded, it 
is a fair test by which to tell when it will do to let 
them have a good chance to sally out freely, except in 
cases of a new snow, when it is advisable to confine 
them to the hive. The hive might be let down on the 
floor-board, and the wire-cloth cover the passage in 
the side, and made dark for the present; raising the 
hive at night again, as before. I have known hundreds 
of stocks wintered successfully without any such care 
being taken, and the bees allowed to come out when- 
ever they chose to do so. Their subsequent health 
and prosperity proving that it is not altogether ruin- 
ous. It has been recommended to enclose the whole 
hive by a large box set over it, and made perfectly 
dark, with means for ventilation, &c. (A snow-bank 
would answer equally well, if not better.) For large 
families it would do well enough, as would also other 
methods. But I would much rather take the chances 
of letting them all stand in the sun, and issue as they 
please, than to have the warmth of the sun entirely 
excluded from the moderate-sized families. I never 
knew a whole stock lost by this cause alone.* Yet, I 
* Vide other causes of loss, a few pages back. 
