Some apiarian authors are opposed to the confinement of Bees in their hives, except when snow is on the ground: _then_, and _then only_, they recommend the confinement of Bees as necessary for their safety. Now, I would respectfully ask--if, in the North of England and in Scotland, snow does not lie on the ground for weeks, and in some years for months together? and I would ask further--if Bees can bear this confinement with snow on the ground, why they cannot bear it when there is no snow? They argue, however, in the face of this admission, that confinement is injurious to Bees, and that a flight in the open air on a fine day, if there should happen to be a fine day, in the depth of winter, is beneficial to Bees, otherwise, they say, the Bees would not take it. A mild, open winter, every body knows, renders unconfined Bees poor--and when kept in a state of perpetual agitation and alarm by the restless enemies that surround them and nestle in their straw covering, and tempted by the faint, wintery sun-beams that gleam upon their floor-board through the unclosed entrance of their hives, they will, no doubt, sometimes sally forth. But what is the consequence? Hundreds and thousands of them become paralyzed[K] and never return; and those that do get home again have occasion for food: of course, the oftener these winter flights take place, the more the population of the hives they issue from is diminished, and the more pauperized that diminished population becomes in consequence of such flights: whereas, if Bees were confined, kept in darkness, or, at any rate, out of the influence of the sun, kept dry, cool, still, and undisturbed, no such disastrous consequences would ensue. [Footnote K: In the 15th page of his "Apiarian's Guide," J. H. Payne, Esq. says--"a Bee becomes torpid at a temperature of thirty-two degrees"--Payne is an experienced apiarian. What credit then is due to the anonymous critic, who in one of the weekly periodicals[L] has told us that "Bees in a glass hive, exposed in the open air, when its temperature was twenty degrees below freezing, instead of being in a state of of torpor, continued very lively?!!"--Before yielding implicit credence to this statement, it would be exceedingly satisfactory to be informed _how long_ the Bees so exposed continued very lively.] [Footnote L: _Mechanics' Magazine_, No. 564, p. 155.] The following detail will show my readers the results of some experiments, relative to the aspect and situation of Bee-hives during winter; and whilst in some degree they corroborate the foregoing observations, they may perhaps induce those, who are anxious for the prosperity of their Bees, to submit to be taught a useful lesson respecting the winter management of them.