WINTEEING. 



480 



WINTERING. 



does not afford all the favorable conditions. 

 Just what these are will be referred to later. 

 While the outdoor method, on the other 

 hand, demands double-walled hives, winter 

 cases, or something to protect the hives on 

 their summer stands, it does not require that 

 degree of skill made necessary when the 

 bees are confined in the cellar. Therefore, 

 thp majority of beginners, especially where 

 the climate is not severe, are by all means 

 advised to winter outdoors. 



With either the indoor or outdoor plan it 

 is fair to state that, after a very severe win- 

 ter in which the mercury plays below the 



Indeed, some have wintered their bees win- 

 ter after winter with a loss not exceeding 

 five per cent, if we throw out of calculation 

 the one year in ten which proves abnormally 

 severe. 



OUTDOOR WINTERING. 



This is the simpler and easier plan for 

 most beginners to follow, and the principles 

 involved help to lay the foundation for the 

 more difficult problem of indoor or cellar 

 wintering. The prime requisite fur both 

 methods of wintering is a large force of 

 young bees reared during the latter part of 

 summer or early fall. A colony 

 made up of old wornout bees 

 with very few young, no matter 

 how strong, will be almost sure 

 to succumb before spring, or 

 leach such a weakened condition 

 as to become practically worth- 

 less. As a general rule, in the 

 Northern States brood - rearing 

 ceases right after the honey-flow. 



Fig. 2.— We prefer deep a telescopiug- 



cover to set over the piicklng- 



trays for our outdooi-- 



wintered colonies. 



zero-point for weeks at a time, 

 and when spring is very late, 

 with a warm spell followed by a 

 very severe cold one, losses are 

 likely to be heavy, even among 

 the most experienced bee-keep- 

 ers. But these losses can to a 

 very great extent be minimized, 

 even in bad years, provided one makes a 

 study of his locality, regarding this general 

 subject of wintering. It will, therefore, be 

 the object of this article to set forth as nearly 

 as possible some of the difficulties to be en- 

 countered, in order that the reader may in- 

 telligently undertake the problem. It is well 

 to state, though, that the very severe winters 

 referred to do not occur more than once in 

 10 (u- "10 years, when for some reason the 

 whole year seems to be thrown entirely out of 

 balance ; but at all other times, if one follows 

 carefully the directions here given his losses 

 will not exceed ten per cent, and he may 

 keep them down as low as two percent. 



Fg-. 3. — Our top packing- consists of ;i traj- tilled with phiner- 

 shiiviiigs. 



This is perfectly normal where there is no 

 late summer or fall pasturage like buck- 

 wheat; but during the latter part of August 

 and the early part of September, ltr>><>d- 

 rearing should begin again : and unJe.-s 

 there are natural sources of nectar the bees 

 will require feeding with thin syruj) given 

 in small quantities daily to stimulate. See 

 Feeding. This stimulative feeding should 

 be continued long enough to get a lot of 

 brood in the hive so there will be a strong 

 force of young bees to go into winter quar- 

 ters In many localities colonies will be able 

 to gather enough nectar daily to supply 

 themselves with young bees without any 



