October, 1918 



GLEANINGS T N B E F, CULTURE 



587 



THE BEST OUTDOOR WINTERING 



The Great Importance of Windbreaks 

 and Plenty of Packing in Addition to 

 Strength of Colony and Good Stores 



By E. R. Root 



THE key to 

 successful 

 wintering 

 unlocks the door 

 to success in bee- 

 keeping. If bees 

 winter poorly, 

 the owner will 

 be handicapped 

 during the entire 



season. A bad start in anything is always 

 a drag clear thru. If there ever was a time 

 when I wanted beekeepers to read carefully 

 what I have to say, it is right now, for most 

 beekeepers winter outdoors. In saying this 

 I do not mean that I know it all; but I do 

 mean that my opportunities for observation 

 have been much greater than those of the 

 average beekeeper. I have traveled exten- 

 sively over several States during the last 

 few weeks. I have interviewed Government 

 experts and beekeepers who have wintered 

 their bees successfully outdoors. I know 

 why some others have failed. Out of these 

 failures and successes I can give some in- 

 formation that may be helpful. 



Before I go into the subject fully I wish 

 to present at the very outset a few of the 

 fundamentals for wintering outdoors — not 

 necessarily in the order of their importance, 

 but approximately so. 



1. Strong colonies made up largely of 

 young bees will often winter successfully 

 even when other conditions are not favora- 

 ble; but far better when they are favorable. 

 Good colonies also imply good queens. 



2. An abundance of good stores. 



;'.. Shelter from prevailing winds; and 



this means wind- 

 breaks of some 

 sort. These 

 may be in the 

 for m of trees, 

 high b a,' r d 

 fences, or build- 

 ings. 



4. Packing, 

 and an a b u n - 

 dance of it. While some colonies have win- 

 tered on a small amount of packing, it is 

 evident, from the results of last winter that 

 more packing would have been better. In 

 connection with the subject of packing I may 

 say that a large amount of deep snow — deep 

 enough to cover the hives — in a locality cold 

 enough to keep it light and fluffy during 

 the entire winter, is beneficial. If we could 

 always have plenty of dry snow, less pack- 

 ing would be required. When I emphasize 

 the importance of packing I also include 

 bottom packing. I also wish to make it 

 clear that the value of packing will be 

 somewhat lost unless it be applied early, 

 during September or not later than October. 

 Don 't put it off too long. 



5. A restricted entrance. Many a colony 

 has been lost, yet having all the essentials 

 just mentioned, simply because the entrance 

 was too large, making it impossible for the 

 bees to keep the interior of the hive warm. 



Permit me now to elaborate each of the 

 propositions. 



No. 1. All the other essentials may be 

 present; but if the colony is weak it may die 

 before spring. It must be strong enough to 

 maintain a bodilv heat of somewhere around 



Fia;. 1. — Out-apiiiry belonging to R. F. Holtermann, near Hasersville, Ontario, Canada. This yard is 

 located in second-giowth timler, and its owner says that the windhreak i« so perfect that this yard winters 

 better and produces more honey than any other yard he has. The hives are 12-fra;no, and are 4 and 5 

 stories high. This would make 48 and 60 frames respectively, or the ecjuivalent of 6-, 7-, and 8-story hives, 

 if the hees were in an 8-frame hive. Dr. Miller, in Stray Straws in this issue, believes that such skyscrapers 



are of rare occurence. 



