410 THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



Field Notes from Iowa 



J. W. STINE, Stockport 



This has been the best season for several years, in some res- 

 pects, although it has been too wet for the bees to store as much 

 honey as they would have done had it not been so wet. There has 

 been quite a little swarming in this part of the state, although we 

 have not had a natural swarm in either of our yards that we know of. 



I believe the prospects of harvesting at least seventy-five per 

 cent of a crop of white honey, (clover and basswood) is good in our 

 section of the state. There is a great amount of heartsease, and 

 Spanish needle, buckbush and other fall flowers and if the weath- 

 er conditions continue favorable as August is starting to give we 

 will have a good fall flow. The bees are still working nicely in 

 some places. 



Outdoor Wintering of Bees 



By E. F. PHILLIPS, In Charge of Bee-culture Investigations, and 

 GEORGE S. DEMUTH, Apicultural Assistant 



INTRODUCTION 



The beekeepers of the United States lose at least one-tenth of their 

 colonies of bees every winter. This is a minimum loss, which is frequently in- 

 creased to one-half and sometimes more in certain sections. This decrease is 

 largely due to carelessness or to lack of knowledge, and it is entirely practical 

 to reduce it to less than one per cent, the small loss covering various accidents 

 which cannot be foreseen. An industry which can survive in the face of such 

 a decrease must have great possibilities for commercial advancement when the 

 loss is prOt,„.iy reduced. 



An important reason for the unnecessary death of colonies in winter is 

 the belief of many beekeepers that, since unprotected colonies often live over 

 winter, no protection is needed. When, for example, heavy insulation of bees is 

 advocated at a beekeepers' convention, some beekeeper usually replies that he 

 has never protected his colonies and never loses ?.ny. His reported success is 

 often unintentionally exaggerated, and he indicates by such statements that 

 he may not know what constitutes moderately successful wintering. Although 

 probably nothing on a farm gives a better return on the investment than do 

 bees if well cared for, the majority of beekeepers neglect them. It need 

 scarcely be stated that the best beekeepers do not follow such a parsimonious 

 and unwise policy. 



It is usually believed that winter loss is confined to the northern portions 

 of the country, but this is far from true. The beekeepers of the South lose 

 many colonies during this season, and, peculiarly enough, the decrease in all 

 parts of the United States is due to the same causes in varying degree. 



For the past three winters the authorsi have made a study of the activity 



1 For a preliminary repoi-t of this work see Phillips and Demuth, 1914. The temperature 

 of the honeybee cluster in winter, Bui. 93, U. S. Dept. Agr., 16 p. 



