236 WINTERING 
two parts sugar to one of water being regarded as better. When 
it becomes necessary to feed from lack of sufficient stores or to 
replace unsuitable stores, it should be attended to immediately 
after the close of the honey flow to give the bees time to get 
things in readiness for winter before the first cold snap. (See 
Chapter VIII, Feeds and Feeding.) 
Failing Queens and Old Bees.—The old bees that have 
gathered the year’s honey crop will all die before the opening 
of the next season’s harvest. It is very important, therefore, 
that the coming of winter shall find large numbers of newly 
hatched bees to replace them. It is the late hatched bees that 
are not exhausted by honey gathering that survive the winter 
and begin the work of the following season. The beekeeper 
should see to it that conditions favor brood rearing in the fall 
to insure this condition. 
It often happens that a colony which has been strong all 
summer and perhaps has stored a large surplus will die during 
the winter or early spring from the failure of the old queen. It 
is important that the bee-keeper see that all colonies have vigor- 
ous queens at the time of preparing for winter. A1l colonies that 
cast swarms during the season will have young queens, if they 
have any at all, as the old queen always leaves the hive to go 
with the swarm. For this reason it often happens that one will 
get a new swarm only to find it dead or worthless the following 
spring. The bees usually replace a failing queen, but they cannot 
always be depended upon to do so. When the queen begins to 
fail in late fall or winter, conditions are not favorable for rear- 
ing another and if a virgin is raised at this season she has no 
opportunity for mating, so is worthless. 
Influence of the Queen.—It should be understood that the 
queen herself does not have a direct influence on the wintering 
of the colony. In fact she might be removed entirely and if 
other conditions are right the colony will come through safely. 
The importance of having a vigorous young queen lies in insur- 
ing plenty of young bees at the beginning of winter and that 
