110 MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 
during quite cool weather late in October or November not less than 
six spaces between the brood combs, and preferably eight or nine 
spaces, shall be occupied by a good number of bees, or that the cluster 
shall be at such a time not less than 8, and preferably 10 to 12, inches 
in diameter; the stores should consist of 30 pounds of well-ripened 
honey or thick sugar sirup, stored and mostly sealed over and about 
the bees; since in a long, shallow hive the heat is too diffused, combs 
much longer than deep should be on end for the winter, to enable 
the bees to economize their natural warmth; free access of pure air, 
but without the creation of drafts, hence the entrance should be indi- 
rect or screened in some manner; the ventilation should permit the 
gradual passing away of the moisture-laden air of the hive, but not 
Fic. 75.—An apiary in Vermont—winter view. (Reproduced from photograph.) 
the escape of heat, hence 6 or more inches (in the coldest portions of the 
United States 10 or 12 inches) of dry, porous material, soft and warmth- 
retaining, should be on all sides of the cluster and near to it, the whole 
being protected by waterproof walls from any access of outside 
moisture. Care to establish in all cases conditions similar to the above 
before bees cease flying in the autumn will insure the apiarist against 
any serious losses in wintering out of doors, even in the severest 
portions of our country. 
In the extreme South, where bees can fly out at any time of the year, 
little extra precaution is needed for the winter beyond seeing that the 
stores do not become exhausted during a drought or a protracted rain, 
when no honey can be gathered. Just in proportion to the severity 
and length of the winter season the above general rules may be looked 
upon as applicable, always bearing in mind, however, that in the 
variable climate of the middle section of the country many of the pre- 
— 
