WINTERING 153 



Probably this question of shelter has 

 caused more thought and more work on 

 the part of beekeepers than any other 

 one item. For a time after the introduce 

 tion of the Langstroth hive with its mov- 

 able frames it was a favorite indoor sport 

 for beekeepers to design new types of bee 

 homes. The idea back of most of them, 

 however, was convenience in handling the 

 bees rather than one of better shelter dur- 

 ing the winter. Later attempts were 

 made to build hives that would offer more 

 perfect protection for the bees in winter 

 but the first of these met with an indif- 

 ferent reception. Probably even the best 

 of the insulated hives offer but little ad- 

 vantage over those with single walls. 



In a wild state bees live in the trunks 

 of hollow trees with what appears to be 

 only indifferent protection. Such col- 

 onies, however, seem to winter over in 

 good condition. At least the colony sel- 

 dom dies as a whole regardless of whether 

 the loss in numbers is large or not. Prob- 



