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Wisconsin Bulletin 264 



1893 was 70 per cent; for 1911-1912, 30 per cent; for 1912- 

 1913, 10 per cent; for 1913-1914, 8 per cent and for the past 

 five years the average has been 15 per cent. There has been 

 an apparent decrease in the winter loss in the last few years 

 and it is to be hoped that an increasing number of Wisconsin 

 beekeepers are providing more and better wintering condi- 

 tions for their bees each succeeding year. This probably will 

 be tested within the next five or six years when we may ex- 

 pect the severe winter that appears once in every ten or 

 twenty years. At that time "beekeepers" will be distin- 



FIG. 6.— fOUR-COLONY WINTERING CASES 

 These are built on the same principle as the double-walled single colony hives. 



guished from "keepers of bees" by their possession, in the 

 following spring of a large percentage of live colonies in- 

 stead of empty hives. The extent and seriousness of winter 

 loss will always remain a problem to be solved by the indi- 

 vidual beekeeper as no locality presents sufficient factors to 

 establish general wintering conditions. 



During summer season. — Most Wisconsin honey is made 

 during five to eight weeks of the summer months, the season 

 often beginning in the southern counties as early as June 

 10. For this reason, in many localities, if surplus honey is 

 obtained at all, it must be secured during a period of three 



