WINTERING.—Chapter XVIII. 
start robbing. If any colonies are weak, their entrances should be con- 
tracted; and, if the hives are open for any length of time, it may be 
necessary to use a robber tent, for it would certainly be very bad for the 
colonies to become unduly stirred up at this time of the year when they 
should be quiet. 
In case one intends to winter in double-walled hives, he should at this 
time do the work of contracting the brood-chamber by removing two or 
three frames (see page 102 on “Wintering in Double-Walled Hives”). If 
weak or queenless colonies are found they should be united with others; dr 
the queenless one, if strong, may be given a good queen by the cage method. 
(See page 60.) Crooked combs or those having too large a per cent of 
drone comb or too much beebread should be removed; or, if there chance to 
be some brood in them, they may be placed at the side of the hive, to be 
removed later at the time of packing when the brood will have emerged. 
Whenever there is a chance for a choice in the matter, old dark combs 
should be left at the center of the hive for the bees to cluster on, since the 
cocoons in the cells make such comb much warmer than new light combs. 
During cold weather the bees are in a compact spherical mass, at the cen- 
ter of the hive, the combs dividing the mass. This part of the combs which 
they oceupy is called the winter nest. When examining the colonies in the 
fall the winter nest should not be disarranged, since the bees have arranged 
their winter stores around the winter nest as needed for winter. 
Method of Feeding. 
The friction-top pail offers a very easy method of feeding. The lid is 
pierced full of holes made with three-penny nails or in some cases by 
machinery. In ease one lacks a friction-top pail, a Mason fruit jar with 
pierced lid or with cheese-cloth tied over the top will do very nicely, al- 
though it will need repeated filling until the required amount is given. These 
feeders are filled with syrup made of two parts of sugar to one of water, 
heated or boiled till all grain has disappeared. The syrup may be used 
even thicker than this, late in the season; for late in the fall the bees 
become rather sluggish and if given syrup too thin may not evaporate it 
sufficiently. In cold weather the syrup should be thick and warm when fed. 
When the syrup is ready to be fed, an empty deep super should be 
placed over the brood-chamber, the pail of warm syrup inverted directly 
over the tops of the frames, and the pail and the top of the brood-chamber 
warmly covered with a piece of canvas or burlap to retain the heat so that 
the syrup will be taken readily by the bees. The inside and the outside 
At the left, a friction-top pail with its cover pierced with holes; at the center, pail 
filled with syrup and inverted over tops of frames; at right, pail and top of brood- 
chamber warmly covered both to keep the syrup warm and to conserve colony’s warmth. 
100 
