CHAPTER XX 



THE CARE OF BEES IN WINTER 



For honeybees to survive the winter season in cold cli- 

 mates it is necessary that they be able to generate consider- 

 able heat. They cannot hibernate as do solitary insects 

 and they cannot migrate to warmer climates. The only 

 method open to them is, therefore, the storage of food and 

 the production and conservation of heat when the outer 

 temperature falls below the critical temperature, 57° F. 

 The behavior of the cluster during the winter season has 

 been discussed in an earlier chapter (p. 88). 



Losses in winter. 



That the winter problem warrants considerable investi- 

 gation and study is shown by the fact that American bee- 

 keepers annually experience an average loss of probably 

 ten per cent of their colonies. The value of these amounts 

 to several milUon dollars and this loss and the weakening 

 of colonies serve further to discourage the beekeeper and to 

 reduce his income the following year. In certain years 

 the losses have been excessive. The season of 1884-85 

 stands out in the history of American beekeeping as one of 

 terrible devastation. During the winter of 1903-04 prob- 

 ably seventy per cent of the bees in New England died while 

 in 1909-10 the loss was probably fifty per cent in the north- 

 eastern United States. The winter of 1911-12 was also 

 one of heavy mortality, the actual death of colonies costing 

 the beekeepers in the eastern United States miUions of dol- 

 lars. The problem is therefore one of vital interest to the 

 beekeeper and is one of the most important in the develop- 

 ment of the industry. 



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