1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



155 



And by successful wintering I mean 

 that the colonies ought to reach the 

 earlier honey-yield in condition to 

 take full advantage of it, i. e., in such 

 condition as regards numbers and 

 health as they are ordinarily found 

 after this early yield has passed. 



Let us see what course Nature pur- 

 sues in preparing her willing sub- 

 jects — the honey-bees — to pass suc- 

 cessfully the ordeal of winter and enter 

 upon a season of prosperity. Perhaps 

 we can profit by imitating the plans 

 of the ancient dame who is supposed 

 to have been wise even in the long-ago 

 ages when our remotest ancestors were 

 but inert molecules. 



As a matter of fact strong colonies 

 of bees located in hollow trees or in 

 log gums or in box-hives, and whose 

 combs are therefore undisturbed in 

 their natural arrangement, if well 

 provisioned, and so constructed as to 

 be fairly protected from extremes of 

 weather, to premit the escape of sur- 

 plus moisture while at the same time 

 retaining during the colder portions 

 of the year as much as possible of the 

 natural heat generated by the bodies 

 of the bee, are, barring natural acci- 

 dents or provisions having no connect- 

 ion with the above-named conditions, 

 always in excellent condition on the 

 opening of spring and i-eady to fulfill 

 the double work for which they were 

 created, namely : 1st, the pollenizing 

 of blossoms to the end that more and 

 better fruits and seeds should be 

 borne ; and, 2ud, the collection and 

 elaboration of a valuable sweet. I say 

 always in excellent condition, for, if the 

 conditions named above are present, 

 the colony will withstand our coldest 

 winters without freezing ; nor will it 

 starve if well provisioned, for that 



implies an abundance of good stores 

 suitably disposed for the bees to 

 reach them during any kind of weath- 

 er ; nor will inclement weather cause 

 the colony to become diseased as long 

 as the bees and their habitation are 

 dry. Colonies in frame hives can be 

 put into practically the same condi- 

 *tion as those box-hive colonies. I 

 have taken as examples above : in- 

 deed, if we fully understand those 

 conditions we can be more sure with 

 frame than with box hives that they 

 are uniformly and exactly complied 

 with. 



Some one might argue that even 

 when the preparation of the bees for 

 their most trying season is left whol- 

 ly to Nature, such conditions are not 

 always established by our good moth- 

 er as to most favor the bees. They 

 die. Admitted. Yet this by no 

 means controverts what I have just 

 claimed, for Nature, in working out 

 her laws, purposely sets certain de- 

 structiye forces over against our pro- 

 tegees. She looks well to all her 

 creatures, and only exceptional merit 

 will cause her to let one kind flour- 

 ish to the exclusion of others — so 

 nicely is the balance adjusted. And 

 if no checks had been provided the 

 bees would soon have overrun all. 



Perhaps a study of these same 

 natural agencies which are set as a 

 limit to bee-life will also be a good 

 lesson — will show us what we must 

 fight constantly and what to avoid. 

 In a state of nature we find colonies 

 that go into winter with queens de- 

 crepit — either permaturely or after 

 years of good service, rendering them 

 unable at the most critical period — 

 late winter and early spring — to keep 

 up the population of the hive, or 



