WINTERING BEKS. 
341 
ary. I never lost a good stock that was dry, and had plenty of 
honey. 
“ In the Winter of 1855-6,1 had twenty stocks standing in a row, 
all but one of which would have been regarded as in a good con¬ 
dition for wintering—not too tight below, nor yet too open above. 
One was in a hive suspended twenty inches from the ground, and 
without any bottom-board. The chamber for surplus honey-boxes 
was open to the north; and had eight one-inch holes, all uncov¬ 
ered. 
I left home about the 12th of February, the weather being very 
cold, and the hives all banked up with drifted snow. Return¬ 
ing the last of the month, I examined the whole row, and found 
the nineteen thawed out. but in a sadly wet and miserable plight. 
If I could have taken them into a room, out of the reach of the 
frost, until they were dry, they might have been saved. The 
weather changed to severe freezing before the next morning, and 
all the nineteen swarms soon died ; while the one that was 
apparently so neglected, came out strong and healthy. Before 
adopting upward ventilation, [ had lost my best swarms in this 
way, until 1 became discouraged.” 
In the coldest parts of our country, if upward ventila¬ 
tion is neglected, no amount of protection that can be 
given to hives, in the open air, will prevent them from 
becoming damp and mouldy, even if frost is excluded. 
Often, the more they are protected, the greater the risk 
from dampness. A very thin hive unpainted, so that it 
may readily absorb the heat of the sun, will dry inside 
much sooner than one painted white, and in every way 
most thoroughly protected against the cold. The first, 
like a garret, will suffer from dampness for a short time 
only; while the other, like a cellar, may be so long in 
drying, as to injure, if not destroy, the bees. 
Much has been said in Germany, within the last few 
years, of the danger of bees that have upward ventilation 
perishing in Winter for want of water. Mr. Wagner has 
furnished me with a translation of an able article in the 
