SNOW AND OUTDOOR WINTERING.
The heavy fall of snow which we have just had is very favorable for outdoor wintering, and we would advise our readers not to shovel it away from the hives, but if you have time put a little more on with a snow shovel. We would much rather have ten feet of snow over hives than none at all.
A friend of ours once told us how he had made a great mistake by digging away the snow from some of his hives, but at the same time learned a valuable lesson. His apiary was situated in somewhat of a valley, and one morning after a heavy fall of snow which had been considerably drifted, he looked out and was dismayed to see his entire apiary buried beneath the fleecy flakes. One portion, however, was much worse than the other—that at the north end being buried in some places ten feet deep. The south end was not so bad, and so he determined to clear what he could and leave the rest to perish, as he supposed. After considerable shoveling he got about 25 colonies pretty well cleared off, and by dint of hard work managed to keep them clear till spring. When warm weather came these 25 colonies were flying in and out, while the snow was still lying upon the other portion. Thinking the latter were dead he paid no attention to them till quite late in the spring, when the tops of some of them began to show above the snow, and what was his surprise and delight to discover every colony in splendid condition, some of them filled with brood, and all ready for a good season’s work, while at the same time they had not consumed nearly so much stores as those he kept clear of snow! Upon investigation he discovered that the heat from the bees had melted spaces about the hives varying in size from a square foot to a square yard, and the air from the hives became purified by contact with the snow, while at the same time the temperature was kept so even and was so little affected by the cold breezes of winter that very little stores were consumed.
The method of purifying air is one which is taken advantage of by some of our native animals. We have often amused ourselves by watching the otter who will stay underneath the ice for hours together engaged in fishing, and when finding it necessary to breathe will place his nose against the ice, expel the air from his lungs when it forms a bubble between ice and water, and then inhale it again.—C. B. J. (Canada.)
