PEINCIPLES OF SUCCESSFUL WINTERING. 



As all good rules are based on sound principles, it will be profitable to call 

 attention to some of the principles of wintering before describing methods of apply- 

 ing them. It has been well said by the authors of Farmers' Bulletin 695 of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture: "Causes of the death of individual 

 bees or a colony of bees in winter, barring unusual accidents, are only two in num- 

 ber : first, inadequate stores, and, second, excessive heat production." It has been 

 shown by Phillips and Demuth, the authors of the above-mentioned bulletin, that 

 at hive temperatures between about 57° and 65° Fahrenheit a normal broodless 

 colony of bees does not form a cluster, but the bees remain inactive on the combs. 

 When the hive temperature falls below 57° Fahrenheit the bees form a cluster, 

 and those in the centre begin to generate heat by muscular activity, while those 

 in the outer portion serve as insulators by crowding close together, usually with 

 their heads towards the centre of the cluster. The innermost portion rapidly 



O.A.C. apiary in summer. Note that alternate rows face in opposite directions, and 

 hives easily form groups of four for winter packing. 



acquires a temperature considerably higher than that of the air about the bees 

 before clustering was necessary, often going to 90° Fahrenheit in normal colonies 

 and higher in abnormal ones. The niuscular activity necessary for heat-generation 

 causes increased consumption of stores; this, in turn, causes an accumulation of 

 faeces within the bees, which is more rapid if the stores contain a high percentage 

 of indigestible materials, and the presence of faeces causes discomfort, which in- 

 creases activity, often resulting in death from excessive heat generation. When 

 the accumulation is so excessive that the bees are unable to retain the faces there 

 is a discharge in and about the front of the hive, and the colony is said to be affected 

 with dysentery. Mild days, which allow bees to fly freely and discharge normally 

 reduce the danger of loss from this cause. 



With this general explanation it may be stated that the successful wintering 

 of bees depends on the bees, the stores, the hive, the immediate surroundings of 

 the hive which we may call the location, and the general surroundings, including 

 latitude, climate and weather. 



