122 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY fVol. 15 



storing time. One shades off into the other according to seasonal and 

 colony conditions . The length of the inactive season depends on a number 

 of conditions more or less under control. It is the aim of apiary practice 

 to prolong the inactive season until activity will be of value, and especial- 

 ly to maintain rest at times when activity would be an actual menace 

 to the well-being of the colony. When the time for profitable activity 

 arrives it is the aim of apiary practice to encourage population increase 

 to the utmost during the preparation time, then to maintain working 

 morale and discourage the tendency to divide up the working force by 

 swarming. If at the end of the active season the colony is in the best 

 condition for the period of rest the beekeeper has done his full duty by 

 his charge. The care of the surplus stores appropriated by the beekeeper 

 is another matter. 



The desirable characteristics sought in breeding honey bees are these : 

 vigor, especially for honey gathering, but including resistance to cold or 

 disease, quietness of nerves for good wintering and the comfort of the 

 beekeeper in manipulations, contentment under conditions which tend 

 to cause swarming, and length of life of the individual. The obstacle 

 in the way of exact selection is the difficulty of controlling mating. 

 For all practical purposes this is largely overcome by the use of good combs 

 bringing drone production under control, and by mating the queens 

 in fairly large apiaries where selection is constantly practised and best 

 colonies allowed to produce drones freely. 



The control of the colony in the Inactive Season is commonly called 

 "wintering," and is discussed and analyzed copiously in all bee litera- 

 tuie. The essential factors are three: the colony, the stores, and the 

 shelter. The colony should consist of an ample number of individuals 

 having a maximum supply of vitality, and having quiet nerves. The 

 stores should consist of an ample supply of food containing a minimum 

 of matter which the bee is unable to digest and assimilate. Since natural 

 stores are very variable in this respect, the control of food quality is 

 of the utmost importance. The writer has long contended that for 

 a Northern winter every colony should be fed largely on sugar syrup 

 after natural storing has ceased, and this point is coming to be generally 

 conceded. He would venture now to go a step further and ask if the 

 same procedure might not reduce colony activity when it is desirable to 

 have activity suspended in warmer climates. By "shelter" is meant 

 both the hive and its insulation from cold and protection from winds. 

 The value of both packing and wind screens is undisputed; but the 

 method of disposal of cluster moisture may be discussed. As a safe 

 arrangement for a long cold winter the writer has found upward absorp- 



