244 -^ Modem Bee-Farm 



From November to February, bees make but little im- 

 pression upon their stores ; but as soon as breeding is on the 

 way a difference can be seen, and it is from that time forward 

 where the real danger lies and when bees are most frequently 

 neglected. 



On the other hand, where bees go into winter with the 

 combs heavily charged with unsealed syrup given late in the 

 year, they can not possibly cluster in a compact body, and 

 being divided into thin seams they soon succumb to the 

 additional cold caused by the unsealed food all among them» 



If syrup feeding in winter is a necessity it is better to take 

 advantage of a warm spell and slip in one or two empty frames 

 so that the bees may cluster in large masses ; indeed, it is 

 advisable in any case to prepare stocks for winter in this 

 rhanner. 



Let it be- considered that during cold weather the combs 

 are really unnecessary except as the store cupboards. Under 

 normal conditions, during late autumn, at the central lower 

 portion of the combs the cells are all empty, just as vacated 

 by the later batches of brood. As the cold weather comes on 

 the bees form upon that portion of the combs, the nearest 

 possible approach to a perfectly unbroken cluster. Some of 

 them occupy the empty cells and rest head to head on opposite 

 sides of the centre wall of the combs, while others crowd 

 between. 



Thus they make the best of the situation as they find it ; 

 but careful experiments conducted over a series of years have 

 always shewn me that the bees prefer to cluster in winter 

 where there are no combs at all to intersect them, and in this 



