268 DR. miller's 



Winter Stores.— Q. How much honey should I leave in each 

 hive as a winter supply for the bees? 



A. A store of 30 or 40 pounds is none too much for wintering 

 outdoors, a stronger colony needing more than a weaker one, and 

 for cellaring, 10 pounds less will do. Better five pounds too 

 much that five ounces too little. The overplus will not be wasted. 



Q. Are eight Langstroth frames full of honey enough to win- 

 ter a strong colony of bees out-of-doors? I pack in leaves, three 

 in a shed, six inches of space between each hive. 



A. Yes, less than eight frames; six would do if well filled. 



Q. Will the bees go through winter with as small an amount 

 of honey as IS or 20 pounds, when in the cellar? 



A. In some cases they would, but it would not be safe to 

 risk it. 



Wintering. — Q. In preparing bees for winter, would it be best 

 to leave the hive full of honey, or leave some empty combs for 

 brood? 



A. Don't you worry about room for brood. The best you can 

 dc at getting the brood-chamber filled with honey, no doubt there 

 will be by spring plenty of room for brood, and the bees need no 

 room for brood late in the fall. Some, however, think it better 

 for them to have some empty cells to cluster on in winter, but 

 they will have these emptied out in good time. 



Q. Will it be safe to winter bees on combs with nearly all 

 cells partly full of honey, but little or no capped honey? 

 A. Not very safe, but it might succeed. 



Wintering in a Building Without Flight Opportunities. — Q. I 



wintered my bees in the granary last winter, and of 19 colonies 

 only 8 lived through the winter. They seemed to be troubled 

 with dysentery, and the stuff they passed was one-quarter of an 

 inch thick on top of the frames. The last 4 hours of the bees' lives 

 they seemed to pass nearly a teaspoonful, and all of very bad 

 odor. This winter I left them on the summer stands with these 

 results : From 18 colonies all but 3 died of the same disease. The 

 hives are full of nice looking honey. Would it be all right to put 

 a colony of bees in these same hives without removing the honey? 

 I have an idea that the sudden change in temperature caused the 

 hives to become damp, and thus the disease. 



A. The likelihood is that the granary was too cold a place. A 

 well ventilated cellar might give better results, being warmer. It 

 is possible, also, that they were not packed warmly enough on the 

 summer stands, especially on top. It is just possible, also, that 

 the honey was at fault, but in that case it would likely be dark 



