25 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
Whatever method be followed in wintering, certain conditions regard- 
ing the colony itself are plainly essential: First, it should have a good 
queen; second, a fair-sized cluster of healthy bees, neither too old nor 
too young; third, a plentiful supply of good food. The first of these 
conditions may be counted as fulfille| if the queen at the head of the 
colony is less than two and one-half years old, is still active, and has 
always kept her colony populous; yet a younger queen—even one of the 
current season’s rearing, and thus but a few weeks or months old—is, 
if raised under favorable conditions, to be preferred. The second point 
is met if brood-rearing has been continued without serious interrup- 
tion during the latter part of the summer and the cluster of bees occu- 
pies on a cool day in autumn six to eight or more spaces between the 
combs, or forms a compact cluster 8 or 9 inches in diameter. Young 
bees, if not well protected by older ones, succumb readily to the cold, 
while quite old bees die early in the spring, and others, which emerged 
Jate in the summer or autumn preceding, are needed to replace them. 
The third essential—good food—is secured if the hive is liberally sup- 
plied with well-ripened honey from any source whatever, or with fairly 
thick sirup, made from white cane sugar, which was fed early enough 
to enable the bees to seal it over before they ceased flying. Fifteen to 
20 pounds for outdoor wintering in the South, up to 30 or 40 pounds in the 
North, when wintered outside with but slight protection, or, if wintered 
indoors,15 to 20 pounds may be considered a fair supply of winter food. 
A smaller amount should not be trusted except in case much greater 
protection be furnished against the effects of severe weather than is 
usually given. A greater amount of stores will do po harm if properly 
arranged over and about the center of the cluster, or, in case the combs 
are narrow, wholly above the cluster. In many instances it will be a 
benefit by equalizing in a measure the temperature in the hive, as well 
as by giving to the bees greater confidence in extending the brood nest 
in early spring. 
INDOOR WINTERING. 
A dry, dark cellar or special repository built in a sidehill or with 
double, filled walls, like those of an ice house, may be utilized for win- 
tering bees in extremely cold climates. It should be so built that 
a temperature of 42 to 45° F. (the air being fairly dry in the cel- 
lar) can be maintained during the greater part of the winter. To this 
end it should be well drained, furnished with adjustable ventilators, 
and covered all over with earth, except the entrance, where close-fitting 
doors, preferably three of them, should open in succession, so as to 
separate the main room from the outside by a double entry way. The 
colonies, supplied with good queens, plenty of bees, 20 to 25 pounds of 
stores each, and with chaff cushions placed over the frames, are carried 
in shortly before snow and severe freezing weather come. 
Any repository which is damp or one whose temperature falls below 
