As for bees getting on the snow, I apprehend that not many more are lost there, than on the frozen earth; that is, in the same kind of weather. I have seen them chilled, and lost on the ground by hundreds, when a casual observer would not have noticed them; whereas, had they been on the snow, at the distance of several rods, every bee would have been conspicuous. Snow is not to be dreaded as much as chilly air. Suppose a hive stands in the sun throughout the winter, and bees are allowed to leave when they choose, and a portion are lost on the snow, and that it was possible to number all that were lost by getting chilled, throughout the season, on the bare earth--the proportion (in my opinion) lost on the snow would not be one in twenty. A person that has not closely observed during damp or chilly weather, in April, May, or even the summer months, has no adequate conception of the number. Yet, I do not wish to be understood that it is of no consequence what are lost on the snow, by any means. On the contrary, a great many are lost, that might be saved with proper care. But I would like to impress the fact, that frozen earth is not safe without warm air, any more than snow, when crusted, or a little hard. Even when snow is melting, it is solid footing for a bee; they can and do rise from it, with the same ease as from the earth. Bees that perish on snow in these circumstances, would be likely to be lost if there was none.
STOCKS TO BE PROTECTED ON SOME OCCASIONS.
The worst time for them to leave the hive is immediately after a new snow has fallen, because if they light on it then, it does not sustain their weight; and they soon work themselves down out of the rays of the sun, and perish. Should it clear off pleasant, after a storm of this kind, a little attention will probably be remunerated. Also, when the weather is moderately warm, and not sufficiently so to be safe, they should be kept in, whether snow is on the ground or otherwise.
For this purpose, a wide board should be set up before the hive to protect it from the sun, at least above the entrance in the side. But if it grows sufficiently warm so that bees leave the hive when so shaded, it is a fair test by which to tell when it will do to let them have a good chance to sally out freely, except in cases of a new snow, when it is advisable to confine them to the hive. The hive might be let down on the floor-board, and the wire-cloth cover the passage in the side, and made dark for the present; raising the hive at night again, as before. I have known hundreds of stocks wintered successfully without any such care being taken, and the bees allowed to come out whenever they chose to do so. Their subsequent health and prosperity proving that it is not altogether ruinous. It has been recommended to enclose the whole hive by a large box set over it, and made perfectly dark, with means for ventilation, &c. (A snow-bank would answer equally well, if not better.) For large families it would do well enough, as would also other methods. But I would much rather take the chances of letting them all stand in the sun, and issue as they please, than to have the warmth of the sun entirely excluded from the moderate-sized families. I never knew a whole stock lost by this cause alone.[20] Yet, I have known a great many starved, merely because the sun was not allowed to melt the frost on the combs, and give them a chance to get at their stores.