removing the top cover light and heat would rouse them quietly to fly when desired. 
After giving this plan the closest scrutiny I can, only three plausible objections occur
to me. (1st) Trouble (not expense) of preparing bees for winter. I am far less desirous
than I once was of devising methods to suit those whose constant watchword
is Too much trouble. Such persons cannot succeed with bees. The desideratum
is a cheap, successful, and simple method of wintering bees out of doors
in cold climates in movable comb hives. (2nd) Bottom boards cannot be cleaned
in cold weather and bees will not be able to [crossed out: illegible] drag out the dead so easily
over the rough surfaces of the cobs. [illegible] Fewer bees will die if the whole bottom will be a
winter passage from comb to comb which they cannot miss as a single winter passage
for when they contract from cold they will keep down near the warm cobs,
and bees will not be falling from the cluster to get chilled on cold bottom board. 
Bees being warmer and dryer will not take cold and become diseased and thus
perish from dysentery. [illegible] late gathered honey will not hurt them so much
 (3rd) [illegible] Dead bees will collect on the bottom and hinder bees from passing freely under
the frames and cause the combs to mould. They will not collect as much on
the bottom as they now do, and combs will not mould as much as they sometimes
do when the bottom board is not cleaned off. There may be more weight
in this (3rd) objection than I now suppose there is, and experience alone can
determine it. October 17th. I have for several frosty mornings examined some
colonies fixed with corn cob platforms and side linings, except in one very populous
colony no bees could be found on the outside surface of the two outside combs,
thus plainly showing that the disposition of bees to contract centrally in cold weather cannot
be counteracted by warm linings of the sides of the hive. If the front and rear walls
were warm and the combs were attached to them, then they might, while contracting centrally
do the same laterally, that is, towards the front or rear. The side linings then are of value
mainly as making the hive warmer, so that the animal heat of the colony will not be so
rapidly conducted away from the hive, thus enabling the bees to keep up a comfortable temperature
in the cluster with less consumption of food than they otherwise could. I
am of the opinion that the expense of arranging the hives for winter will be
paid several times over by the saving of honey in wintering, that smaller
colonies can be safely wintered, and that the bees by being kept both dry
and warm and dark will be much healthier. Very little light will gain admission
to the brood nest of the hive. Perhaps no better plan can be found for covering the
tops of the frames than to drive nails into the outer edge of the rabbets projecting high
enough to prevent the cobs when laid [crossed out: illegible] over the frames from rolling off. These
cobs might be covered with pieces of old carpet or old woolen garments
which would confine the heat all the more and yet allow the escape of any
moisture. By a very simple plan the nonconducting power of the platform and
sides might also be very considerably increased. Let two [crossed out: illegible] tiers of
cobs be laid on the bottom board next to the front, then lay a good covering