42 WINTERING BMES 



11. Where the conditions in a cellar are such that there 

 will be anywhere from three to four or even six inches of 

 dead bees on the cellar bottom in the spring we should say 

 that the owner of that cellar ought to investigate and ascer- 

 tain the trouble. No matter if he does bring his colonies 

 through alive, it could hardly be said that he is wintering 

 his bees successfully. An ideal cellar is one that will bring 

 the colonies through the winter in practically the same 

 strength as when they went into winter quarters. We have 

 seen a good many cellars where all the dead bees that would 

 fly out on to the cellar bottom would not in the spring make 

 a coalhodful to the hundred colonies. We have wintered 

 bees at Medina time and time again in one of our cellars so 

 successfully that one could walk across from one end of the 

 cellar to the other in the spring and scarcely step on a 

 single dead bee. Do not let any beekeeper get it into his 

 head that these old bees are superannuated and would die 

 anyway. In any cellar where the conditions are such that 

 there will be two or three inches of dead bees on the cellar 

 bottom in the spring, there is something wrong. 



12. Honey-dew or very inferior or an unpalatable or 

 poorly ripened honey may cause dysentery before spring, 

 even when all the other conditions are ideal. 



13. Pollen in the combs does little or no harm. The old 

 theory that pollen was the cause of much of our winter 

 losses is now an exploded myth. 



14. The size of entrances will depend upon the character 

 of the cellar. 



15. Shutting bees in the hives with wire cloth is usually 

 attended with uneasiness; and, unless removed, there will 

 be severe mortality. 



HOW AND WHAT TO FEED BEES DURING MID- 

 WINTER. 



It is advisable to avoid feeding any syrup during mid- 

 winter, because it has a tendency to stir up the bees, causing 



