WINTERING 163 



It is now generally known, however, 

 that the amount of food required by a col- 

 ony will vary greatly with the colony, 

 with the season, and with the kind of food. 

 It is small wonder that the older writers 

 were not very clear on the subject. Ex- 

 perimentally it has been found that an av- 

 erage colony will consume during the win- 

 ter months somewhere between fourteen 

 and eighteen pounds of good honey. If 

 fed vdth cane sugar sirup they will re- 

 quire less than half that amount. Sup- 

 plied with honey dew they might require 

 more. These figures, too, do not take into 

 consideration the variations in styles of 

 winter packing. A heavily packed hive 

 will house its colony in comfort on much 

 less food than will one that is exposed to 

 the cold. 



To accept such experimental figures as 

 fixing a definite maximum consumption 

 in an average winter may lead the bee- 

 keeper into trouble, however, because there 

 are sometimes unforeseen conditions that 



