NOVEMBER 1, 1912 



681 



equal parts of sugar and water will not 

 be far out of the way, although two parts 

 of water to one of sugar would be better. 

 We feel sure your colonies would be in 

 far better condition if your hives contained 

 all the stores they needed until the new 

 honey comes in next season. If you have 

 a reserve set of combs of sealed stores, 

 it is all right to use them where they are 

 needed in the spring; but spring feeding 

 of syrup, especially by an amateur, is 

 liable to make trouble. The bees get ex- 

 cited and are likely to start robbing. Most 

 of the best producers have decided that 

 their colonies, taking every thing into con- 

 sideration, are in the very best possible 

 condition for the next honey-flow if the 

 combs contain sufficient stores in the fall, 

 so that the bees in the sjiring need not 

 feel tliat they must economize. 



I live just ten miles north of the Ohio River, 

 and my colonies are in single-walled hives. Will 

 it be necessary for me to pack them out of doors, 

 or winter them in a cellar ? 



We would not advise cellar wintering in 

 your locality, for you have a good many 

 warm days, especially in an open winter, 

 when the bees can fly; and on these days 

 bees in a cellar are likely to become rest- 

 less, for it is hard to keep the cellar tem- 

 perature from rising too much. 



As to whether you will need to pack 

 them out of doors, this will depend on the 

 winter. Last winter colonies in single- 

 walled liives even quite a distance south 

 of the Ohio River suffered, and many, of 

 course, died outright. In general, we may 

 say that strong colonies in single-walled 

 hives south of the Ohio River do not need 

 very much extra packing, provided a shel- 

 tered location can be secured. By a "shel- 

 tered location" we mean one protected from 

 the 2orevailing cold winds in the winter. If 

 these winds come from the west, a location 

 on the eastern slope of a hill is usually 

 quite sheltered, or on the east side of a 

 woods. A high board fence is a great 

 help ; but for best results it should entirely 

 surround the apiary, as a fence merely on 

 the west side sometimes causes counter- 

 currents that really do as much damage 

 as the unbroken wind. 



For those who are undecided as to what 

 to do in regard to packing, we may say 

 that, during a cold snap, when the tem- 

 perature goes lower than usual, colonies 

 may be picked up temporarily and placed 

 in tlie cellar. This applies also to localities 

 further north, even to colonies in double- 

 walled hives in ease they stand in an ex- 

 posed location. As has been mentioned 

 so often, bees will stand a great amount 

 of cold if protected from the wind. The 



temperature may be quite low in a shel- 

 tered location without serious damage. 



Three of my colonies are queenless. Will they 

 live until spring? 



Probably not. If you have any other 

 colonies in your yard that are weak, but 

 that are accompanied by a fair queen, unite 

 the queenless colonies with them. As late 

 as this it usually does not pay to buy 

 queens, even if you can get them; for 

 there is more difficulty in getting them 

 introduced; and if the venture is unsuc- 

 cessful the queen is lost and the bees too. 

 It is better to unite them than to run the 

 risk of buying a new queen. 



The time to requeen is in the latter part 

 of August or the first of September. The 

 young newly introduced queens, especially 

 if the colonies are fed to stimulate brood- 

 rearing, will get a fine lot of brood started, 

 which will result in strong vigorous young 

 bees by the time the cold weather comes 

 on, and there is little danger then that 

 the queens will be missing during the win- 

 ter or spring, just when they are needed 

 the most. If all beekeepers would look 

 carefully to this matter of queens in the 

 late summer or early fall there would not 

 be the great rush for queens in May and 

 early June as there always is — at a time, 

 too, when queens are much more expensive 

 than they are later in the season. 



I have one colony — a late swarm — that covers 

 only four combs. Is it too weak to winter, or 

 shall I unite it with another colony ? 



If it covered four combs on a cold day it 

 may be strong enough to winter; but on a 

 warm day the cluster should expand to six 

 or seven combs. It depends on the tem- 

 perature when you make the examination. 



Right in this connection we should like 

 to say a word regarding some beekeepers 

 who seem to have phenomenal success in 

 wintering. Some, even in cold climates, win- 

 ter year after year with scarcely the loss 

 of a colony ; and others in a similar loca- 

 tion, or in one that is even better adapted for 

 wintering, perhaps, lose a large proportion. 

 This loss may be explained in some eases 

 by poor winter stores; for instance, aster 

 honey, in localities where there are few 

 flight days, is sometimes unsuitable. But 

 we are inclined to believe that the differ- 

 ence is more often because of a difference 

 in the strengih of the colonies. Good strong 

 colonies of vigorous stock made up largely 

 of young bees, with plenty of good stores, 

 will winter in spite of almost every thing, 

 and the hives will be fairly boiling over 

 with bees in the spring. Such colonies do 

 not have to be fussed with and nursed in 

 order to be in good condition for the honey- 

 flow, and spring dwindling is unknown. 



