CHAPTER XIII 
WINTERING 
Wrrn the rank and file of bee-keepers in the Northern States, 
the wintering problem is the most serious one they have to face. 
In some localities brood diseases may be a serious menace for a 
time and cause great losses, but the wintering problem must 
be met in all sections of the North and must be faced every 
winter. While many professional bee-keepers have learned to 
prepare their bees for winter so carefully us to meet with little 
loss, the average small bee-keeper suffers seriously from this 
cause and in severe winters occasionally loses a large part of 
his stock. 
In the Southern States the problem is a somewhat different 
one. In some parts of the South instead of being a question of 
suitable protection from cold, it becomes a question of checking 
brood rearing during the period when no honey is to be gathered 
and providing sufficient stores to bring the colony to the next 
honey flow in good condition. When stores are short the colony 
will delay brood rearing beyond the time when large numbers 
of young bees should be hatching in the hive, with the result 
that the first period of profitable honey flow is passed before the 
colony becomes strong enough to make the most of the oppor- 
tunity. 
In the high altitudes of Colorado and the West it is a com- 
mon practice to winter the colonies in the open air without extra 
protection. While in these high altitudes with the prevalence 
of sunny weather the bees can fly so frequently as to insure a 
large portion of the colonies coming through the winter alive, 
it would seem that there must be an unnecessarily heavy mor- 
tality among the bees and that with suitable protection there 
might be considerable saving in both bees and stores. 
Essentials of Successful Wintering.—It is common to speak 
234 
