THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 369 



Wintering Bees. 



Read before the Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Assoeialion Convention 



in Denver, ipii. 



OLIVER FOSTER. 



' "Jl N preparing bees for winter, shall we provide for their protec- 



Tl tion from extremes of cold and heat by packing the hives, or 



shall we leave them unprotected? This question should be 



considered with reference to several other conditions which must be 



taken into account. 



Mr. A. carries his bees into the cellar, where he scrupulously 

 maintains a uniform temperature of from 43 to 45 degrees. He has 

 found that a much lower temperature than 43 degrees will result in 

 a loss of many colonies and poor results generally, but he succeeds 

 well with the higher temperature, and his experience is in harmony 

 with all who winter in cellars. 



]\Ir. B. maintains, on the other hand, that cold does not hurt the 

 bees in the least. He leaves his colonies right out of doors, in ordi- 

 nary single-walled, unprotected hives, with the full summer entrance 

 wide open and with perhaps an additional large opening at the top 

 of the hive, right over the bees, which opens into a space between 

 an inner and an outer cover, this space having free communication 

 with all outdoors through spaces under the upper cover at ends or 

 sides. 



His bees winter well, even though the mercury falls to zero or 

 far below and though the snowy blizzards often rage throughout 

 the winter. And ]\Ir. B.'s testimony agrees with that of many oth- 

 ers who have no use for winter packing and whose bees generally 

 come through the winter and spring in good candition. 



AVhy this difiterence of opinion and practice? How is it that A. 

 and B. both succeed, each with his favorite method so different from 

 that of the other, while various compromises between these two 

 extremes do not as a rule give good results. I think we must look 

 for the answer to this question in the fact that other important fac- 

 tors are figuring in the problem. 



A. lives in a lower altitude, where the atmosphere is heavy and 

 comparatively damp, and where cold weather continues for several 

 months at a time in winter, with no warm days to enable the bees 

 to fly and renovate their conditions. B. lives in Colorado's rare and 

 dry atmosphere, where every two weeks or oftener throughout the 

 winter the bright sunshine warms his unpacked hives and all ou'i- 

 doors as well, arousing the bees from their hibernating stupor, 

 afifording them the opportunity to take a cleansing flight, and to 

 gather into their winter nest and into their now empty honey sac 

 a fresh supply of stores from the outer combs and to reduce it to 



