■WINTERING BEES. 
357 
noonday sun, and the thermometer had daily ranged at trom 76® 
to 78® for some time previous, yet, on removing the outer mantle, 
I found the earth-covering below it still frozen, so that it had to 
be removed with a hoe — a satisfactory proof that the interior of 
the clamp could not have been affected by external variations of 
temperature. I now became exceedingly anxious to see whether 
rain or snow-water had penetrated to the straw covering, as 1 
apprehended might be the ease, having had no previous expe- 
rience in such matters. To my surprise and gratification, how- 
ever, I found it thoroughly dry — showing conclusively that the 
earth-covering had sufficed effectually to shed off the rain and 
snow-water, and that the ample and efficient internal ventilation 
had prevented the formation of moisture and mould. On remov- 
ing 'he straw, I perceived no symptom of dampness on the boards ; 
and when, finally, these latter were taken away, the hives pre- 
sented themselves as clean and dry as when put there in the Fall. 
“ Anxious now to ascertain the condition of their inmates, I 
tapped against the hives, but, to my dismay, heard no response. 
I seized a stick, and, tapping harder and harder, finally proceeded 
to blows; still all remained mute within. An old man from the 
neighboring village, who chanced to be present, seemed vastly 
gratified at my chagrin and consternation, as he and his neigh- 
bors had kept bees for many years, but had no fancy for such 
novel contrivances and experiments as mine. I must admit that 
I was, for the moment, thoroughly disconcerted on finding, as I 
then supposed, all my anticipations and confident calculations 
thus suddenly and effectually nullified. But, resolved to know 
the worst, 1 removed the hives to the Apiary, where the sun 
shone bright and warm ; and scarcely were the entrances opened, 
when the bees began to pour forth in masses, humming joyously, 
to my irrepressible delight, and to the utter discomfiture of the 
old villager. With special gratification did I notice that the bees 
came forth from their long imprisonment with bodies as attenuate 
and slender as they had in the preceding Autumn, whilst those 
which had been wintered in the dark chamber soiled their hives 
and all surrounding objects, by profuse discharges of faecal matter. 
This led me to conjecture that these colonies had consumed coin- 
