. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. September 1, 1876.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 81 In the centre of a round space about twenty feet in diameter stood a square bee-house, from all four sides of which bees were issuing in large numbers. ' Do you find that, practically, it makes any differ- ence which way the hives face ?' I inquired. ' Not the slightest,' was the answer. Not far from this centre house stood the most remarkable thing in the whole apiary, namely, a skeleton hive, in which were twelve large bar-frames and a stock of bees, which were then, and had been, busily at
. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. September 1, 1876.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 81 In the centre of a round space about twenty feet in diameter stood a square bee-house, from all four sides of which bees were issuing in large numbers. ' Do you find that, practically, it makes any differ- ence which way the hives face ?' I inquired. ' Not the slightest,' was the answer. Not far from this centre house stood the most remarkable thing in the whole apiary, namely, a skeleton hive, in which were twelve large bar-frames and a stock of bees, which were then, and had been, busily at work for weeks. I could hardly believe that they were not robber bees emptying some combs, until assured by the bee- master that they formed really a strong and healthy colony. They have been in their present position since very early in the spring, open on all sides and at top, and with no other protection from wind and drifting rain than a sloping board fixed about four inches from the top of the bars. I stood for several minutes watching them, hardly even then able to comprehend the fact that a colony of bees could exist, let alone prosper, with so little protection and so close to over forty olher stocks, who, according to our English idea of bee-keeping, ought to have attacked and demolished them. ' Do they never rob each other?' I inquired of the bee-master. ' Never.' I shook my head in perplexity and passed on to one of the stands or houses. ' Do you find it most desir- able to keep the bees warm in winter or cold ?'â I asked, seeing that his houses were for the most part lined with nearly six inches of dry moss, and that his hives had the same wedged in between them. ' I have practically proved that bees kept as you see these here eat considerably less during the winter, and are just as strong in the spring as those kept cold ; in fact, I believe they cannot have too great a thickness of moss round them. In winter it keeps them warm, and in summer cool, but they have,
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