236 WINTERING 



two parts sugar to one of water being regarded as better. When 

 it becomes necessary to feed from lack of sufficient stores or to 

 replace unsuitable stores, it should be attended to immediately 

 after the close of the honey flow to give the bees time to get 

 things in readiness for winter before the first cold snap. (See 

 Chapter VIII, Feeds and Feeding.) 



Failing Queens and Old Bees. — The old bees that have 

 gathered the year's honey crop will all die before the opening 

 of the next season's harvest. It is very important, therefore, 

 that the coming of winter shall find large numbers of newly 

 hatched bees to replace them. It is the late hatched bees that 

 are not exhausted by honey gathering that survive the winter 

 and begin the work of the following season. The bee-keeper 

 should see to it that conditions favor brood rearing in the fall 

 to insure this condition. 



It often happens that a colony which has been strong all 

 summer and perhaps has stored a large surplus will die during 

 the winter or early spring from the failure of the old queen. It 

 is important that the bee-keeper see that all colonies have vigor- 

 ous queens at the time of preparing for winter. All colonies that 

 cast swarms during the season will have young queens, if they 

 have any at all, as the old queen always leaves the hive to go 

 with the swarm. For this reason it often happens that one will 

 get a new swarm only to find it dead or worthless the following 

 spring. The bees usually replace a failing queen, but they cannot 

 always be depended upon to do so. When the queen begins to 

 fail in late fall or winter, conditions are not favorable for rear- 

 ing another and if a virgin is raised at this season she has no 

 opportunity for mating, so is worthless. 



Influence of the Queen.— It should be understood that the 

 queen herself does not have a direct influence on the wintering 

 of the colony. In fact she might be removed entirely and if 

 other conditions are right the colony will come through safely. 

 The importance of having a vigorous young queen lies in insur- 

 ing plenty of young bees at the beginning of winter and that 



