306 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



September 



This added protection may be sup- 

 plied in the form of winter packing- 

 cases or double-walled hives, and a 

 windbreak (outdoor wintering), or a 

 winter repository (cellar wintering). 

 In the light of the temperature re- 

 quirement of the bees, the winter 

 protection usually given is woefully 

 inadequate. 



Spring Protection — When brood- 

 rearing begins, that portion of the 

 brood-nest occupied by brood is kept 

 at brood-rearing temperature and 

 later, when there is brood in most of 

 the combs, the temperature of the 

 entire brood-chamber is usually 

 about 90 degrees F. Under these con- 

 ditions thin-walled hives permit a 

 rapid loss of heat when the outer 

 temperature is low. For this reason 

 the winter protection is usually left 

 on the hives until late in the spring. 

 Protection of the entrance against 

 robbers is also important during this 

 period. 



Room for Expansion of Colony 

 Activity 



Fall Room— The storage of food as 

 well as brood-rearing comes in waves 

 and usually at about the same time. 

 If the hive is not large enough to 

 contain the maximum of both at tine 

 same time, it may be necessary that 

 the beekeeper provide additional 

 room during a minor honey-flow, 

 either during the fall or spring. 

 When the hive is too small for both 

 stores sufficient for fall and winter 

 and for adequate brood-rearing dur- 

 ing late summer and early autumn, it 

 results either in colonies short of 

 stores for winter or colonies for win- 

 ter greatly reduced in strength, or 

 both. 



Winter Room — When brood-rear- 

 ing space and storage space do not 

 interfere, there is probably no ad- 

 vantage to be gained by an excess of 

 room, and during the winter brood- 

 less period it may be advantageous 

 even to reduce the size of the brood- 

 chamber to fit the colony. 



Spring Room — During the heavy 

 brood-rearing period of spring, the 

 strongest colonies may need more 

 room than that afforded by a single 

 hive-body, and it is at this time that 

 additional room is of great import- 

 ance, because of the bearing it has 

 upon both the production of bees and 

 swarming. The problem is usually 

 solved either by adding an extra 

 iody with empty combs or by 



expanding the brood-cdiamber of the 



Ionics into unoccupied 



spaci of colonies less strong by what 



is known as equalizing the br 1 



This is done by exchanging combs of 

 scaled brood from the strongei Eoi 

 empl j ( "mil- from the w i aker colo- 

 nies. 



Providing the Three Requirements 



It would seem that one of the 

 i ping in- 

 dustry is some stimulation to a bet- 

 ter system of supplying any deficien- 

 cy in these three fundamental re- 

 quirements early enough to prevent 

 loss. There are two extremes of 

 method in supplying these deficien 

 ine i the colonies 



daily in order pn imptlj ti i del e< I 

 their needs and then to suppl 



colony as the need develops. The 

 other is to supply the three require- 

 ments, if not already present, for 

 long periods in advance. 



The former is the method usually 

 used by the beginner. It involves a 

 tremendous amount of labor, con- 

 stant attendance in the apiary, and is 

 largely responsible for our concep- 

 tion of the complexity of beekeeping. 

 The latter method greatly simplifies 

 the work, substitut.es system for too 

 frequent a lack of system and makes 

 possible the operation of outapiaries, 

 It may, however, sometimes involve 

 the giving of something that could 

 have been omitted without loss. A 

 fall honey-flow may take care of the 

 food requirements of the colonies at 

 that time and a large hive may fur- 

 nish enough room for both incoming 

 nectar and brood-rearing. A mild 

 winter may make it seem to have 

 been unnecessary to pack the hives 

 so well or to have, furnished shelter 

 from the wind, and, finally, the ma- 

 ple, dandelion and fruit bloom may 

 supply an abundance of food for 

 brood-rearing during the spring. But 

 we cannot be sure of any of these 

 things and cannot afford to take any 

 chances of the requirements being 

 supplied in this way. 



When food is given in advance, it 

 is stored, not wasted, and remains in 

 storage until needed. We can also 

 give protection for winter and room 

 for expansion the next spring just a 

 little ahead of the time they are 

 needed. It is even possible as an 

 emergency expedient, in localities 

 having a single major honey-flow, to 

 prepare every colony at the close ol 

 any given honey-flow for the entire 

 period of preparation for the honey- 

 flow the next year, or a period of ten 

 or eleven months. Most of us would 

 be surprised on our return ten 

 months later to find how well the 

 bees have been able to take care of 

 themselves without us, if they have 

 an abundance of stores for every 

 possible need, an abundance of pro- 

 tection against the most severe win- 

 ter the locality may afford, and an 

 abundance of room for expansion lie- 

 fore the honey-flow the next spring. 



There is a growing tendency among 



beekeepers to use a shallow extract- 

 ing super or hive-body filled with 

 honey, above the regular brood- 

 chamber throughout the year, ex- 

 cept possibly during the honey-flow. 

 Its presence throughout the interval 

 between honey-flows, together with 

 adequate winter protection, leaves 

 little that the beekeeper can do to- 

 ward having the colonies strong in 

 time for the honev-flow. 



The Winter Problems of the 

 South 



By J. J. Wilder 



UP on the mountains in the sec- 

 tion of our country with high 

 altitude, a little winter care 

 might be of some value, as it is much 

 colder and there is more snow and 

 ice than in the lower country, where 

 the average temperature is from 50 

 to 70 degrees during the winter 

 months. But even there my obser- 

 vation leads me to believe that spe- 

 cial winter preparation is not neces- 

 sary. 



I have never seen any colonies of 

 bees frozen, except very small, neg- 

 lected swarms. Nor have I seen many 

 dead bees fall from the clusters dur- 

 ing winter. Many times I have win- 

 tered a pint of bees in its hive on 

 summer stands. So, actual winter 

 losses are exceedingly small. 



A few times I have spread brood a 

 little too early, and this resulted in 

 just a small loss of brood. 



I kept a house apiary for a number 

 of years where the bees had the best 

 of winter protection, with results to 

 the reverse. I don't know why. They 

 consumed more stores, dwindled more 

 and were far behind the others in the 

 same yard out in the open. 



The same thing that will keep bees 

 in thriving condition in spring, sum- 

 mer and fall will keep them through 

 the few winter months. 



Many times more bees or colonies 

 of bees die in the fall and spring 

 than during the winter months. 

 Every beekeeper knows this js true. 

 So there is something far more vital 

 than the average beekeeper would 



