Bee-hceping in Victoria. 77 



Colonies fed during winter cannot be given sufTicient food for breed- 

 ing up in spring, but only enough to carry them along till warmer 

 weather. They should therefore be examined periodically whenever a 

 fine day permits, and another dose of syrup given when needed. When 

 pollen is being carried into the hives, a sign that brood-rearing has com- 

 menced, the stores of syrup will be consumed much faster, and care 

 should be taken that after bringing the bees through the winter they do 

 not succumb to starvation in early spring. 



In Victoria, the necessity for winter feeding rarely occurs, unless 

 hives have been robbed or extracted without regard to the winter re- 

 quirements of the bees 



Packing of hives, as practised in colder countries, is not necessary 

 here, but upper stories of empty combs should be removed from the hives, 

 taken indoors, and stacked up and secured against bee moths. The 

 removal of all spare combs and boxes does not only prevent loss of animal 

 heat by radiation, and the unnecessary consumption of stores to replace 

 this loss, but it also compels the bees to store any thin honey, which they 

 may still gather, into combs covered by bees; it will there ripen, instead 

 of souring as it does when stored in combs outside the cluster of bees. 

 Watery honey, when consumed during inactivity, is without doubt detri- 

 mental to bees, particularlv when it contains such a hi?h percentage of 

 nitrogenous matter, as is present in the honey from our winter-flowering 

 iron-bark trees. The consumption of watery food during winter causes 

 ordinary dysentery, and probably also provides a suitable medium for 

 the multiplication of the Nosema apis parasite and the growth of fungi 

 m the intestinal tract. At the same time, the more rapid accumulation 

 of faecal matter in the intestine compels the bees to take cleansing flights 

 during unsuitable temperatures, resulting in loss through chilling and 

 failure to return to the hive. 



Methods of wintering differ with bee-keepers, and also in localities. 

 Some leave the supers on the hives whether full or empty, others put the 

 empty stories underneath the brood chamber, while yet others remove the 

 supers altogether and shut the bees down on the combs of the single 

 brood chamber. 



With a favorable winter and colonies strong, there is little, if any, 

 difference between the three methods. But colonies are not always strong 

 at the end of the honey season, and the character of the coming winter 

 •cannot be anticipated. It is therefore best to take no risks, but shut the 

 bees down to a single story, which will give the best results under all the 

 varying conditions of strength in bees and climatic influences. When 

 colonies are left with one super full of ripe honey, in addition to the 

 brood chamber, they winter well. But not many bee-keepers are pre- 

 pared to leave so much honey in the hives, which is not needed by the 

 bees and represents in a large apiary a considerable money value which 

 ■cannot be realized till the following spring. At the same time, there is 

 a risk of some of the honey granulating in the combs, and then it cannot 

 be obtained except by the destruction of the combs. 



When supers with empty combs are left on, the heat generated by the 

 cluster of bees escapes upwards and the bees sometimes follow it and 

 ■establish their seat between the empty combs. Some of the honey is 

 •carried up by this means and the operation causes unnatural activity, 

 greater consumption of stores, and wearing out of bees. 



