WINTERING BEES. 
355 
to a long rod may be introduced into the air-chamber, through the 
chimney, on removing the cap. This should be done frequently, 
to serve as a guide for opening or closing the mouths of the venti¬ 
lating tubes. Ventilation seems, however, according to the nu¬ 
merous experiments which 1 have made, to be of less importance 
to the health of the bees, than to preserve the combs and interior 
of the hives from dampness and mould ; and it is in view of this 
fact, that 1 have adopted the peculiar arrangement of my clamps, 
which places it in the power of the Apiarian, at almost anytime, 
to cause an adequate circulation of pure dry air within them. 
'• Apart from their cheapness, these clamps are far superior, for 
the purpose intended, to the best vaults or cellars ordinarily 
accessible. It might be objected to this mode of wintering bees, 
that the hives cannot be inspected during the Winter, however 
desirable such inspection might seem to be. That is so; but, in 
devising my clamps, I really had no reference whatever to that 
class of bee-keepers who are in the habit of operating among their 
colonies in Winter. Their case, in fact, seems to me to be a rather 
hopeless one at best, since colonies that are thus treated at that 
season, will scarcely over enable their owner to found an Apiary 
worthy of the name. I prefer to let my bees remain undisturbed 
during cold weather, satisfied that if they were in good condition 
when inclosed in the Fall, they will pass the Winter uninjured, 
and be found with adequate supplies of honey even in April. Of 
this I am the more assured, since I have ascertained that bees 
preserved in clamps consume scarcely one-half of the quantity of 
honey required by such as are wintered in the open air, or in the 
Apiary. 
•‘To institute a comparison between different modes of winter¬ 
ing bees, I placed a portion of my colonies in a clamp of the fore¬ 
going construction, on the 17th of November, 1856, and transferred 
the remainder into a well-protected dark chamber in my dwelling- 
house. Of some of the latter, I closed the entrances, but gave 
them air through a grate or vcntilating-passage in the rear of their 
hives. Of the remainder, the entrances, as well as the ventilat- 
ing-passages, were shut close. Several of those placed in the 
clamp were designedly selected as having only eight rr ten pounds 
