THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 417 



year. The disturbance incident to putting on the insulation does not do them 

 any harm. After this the beekeeper should have no occasion to open the hive 

 until spring. An outer temperature above 60 degrees F. is desirable at the 

 time of packing, especially if no brood is present. Any day w^hen bees are 

 flying is suitable. 



If packing is delayed until late it may do far more damage than to leave 

 the bees unpacked. A colony of bees that is generating heat in response to 

 low temperature is considerably disturbed by the manipulations during pack- 

 ing and the temperature of the inside of the cluster is promptly raised. Fre- 

 quently, if bees are packed too late (when it is too cold outside), the cluster 

 temperature is raised to brood-rearing temperature, the queen begins to lay 

 eggs, and brood-rearing is usually then continued through the winter, unless 

 it results in the death of the colony, as is often the case. Many beekeepers 

 pack their colonies in December with most harmful results. There is prob- 

 ably no place in the United States where packing is needed in which it is safe 

 to wait later than Thanksgiving Day. Since more beekeepers make mistakes 

 here thr.n in any other phase of or.tside wijitering, this should be emphasir.td 

 most strongly. The authors have succeeded on several occasions in starting 

 brooc'.-rearing- in December by manipulations, both in colonies wintered outside 

 and in removing bees to a cellar, and it is certain that such winter brood-rear- 

 ing is highly injurious to the colony. 



Time for unpacking — If a colony has a good queen and plenty of stores 

 and is well packed, the beekeeper rarely has any reason for opening the hive 

 until spring is well advanced. If he is not sure of the condition of the colony, 

 he may wish to examine it earlier, but this first examination should be brief 

 and the packing may be partially removed and replaced afterwards. If there 

 are any queenless colonies or any colonies short of stores, these defects should, 

 of course, be promptly corrected, after which the colony should remain undis- 

 turbed until, as the season advances, frequent manipulations are necessary. 

 It is often best to leave the insulation on until the colonies need more room, 

 which will probably be as late as May 15 in the North. Colonies which have 

 wintered poorly need their insulation longest, while colonies that have been 

 well insulated, either in a cellar or outside, can, if necessary, stand considerable 

 exposure without much damage, although the work of heat-generation there- 

 by reduces the energv available for building up the colony rapidly. 



The time for removing packing may be still further delayed by wintering 

 a colony outside in two-hive bodies, the upper one being well supplied with 

 honey. Since there is more space to keep warm, such a hive should be more 

 thoroughly insulated. If this plan is followed, the beekeeper is sure that suf- 

 ficient stores are available and he can probably locate any queenless colonies 

 by a brief external examination. Since wintering in two-hive bodies has not 

 been practiced extensively, it should be tried with caution, but reports of this 

 method should be available from all parts of the country and beekeepers are 

 urged to try it on an experimental scale. The plan has much to commend it. 



Providing a windbreak — It is well established that a windbreak of ever- 

 greens is superior to a solid windbreak such as a house or solid fence. The 

 beekeeper can readily determine whether his bees are located in a place 

 where the wind rarely or never blows more than 5 miles an hour in winter. 

 If the apiary is not so located, it should be moved during the summer to a 

 place in the woods, in a gully, or in some other sheltered place. Bees should never 

 be moved in winter. If it is not practicable to move the apiary, a high fence 



