18 PABMEES' BTJLLETOT 1012. 



of the packing tuinecesbary as early as tlie dates indicated, it is 

 entirely safe to leave the packing on until some manipulation makes 

 it desirable to handle the combs, as this can not well be done while 

 the hives are heavily packed. 



WINTER STORES. 



In packing bees for winter two things require attention so far as 

 stores are concerned, and one is as important as the other: (1) There 

 must be plenty of honey in the hive to last until the spring honey- 

 flow, and (2) the stores which will be used by the bees during the 

 period of confinement in winter must be of the best quality and well 

 ripened. 



It is, of course, possible to give the bees more honey or su^ar sirup 

 after ^ring opens' but this feans that the colonies';!!! nfed to be 

 handled during this period, and this is not the best plan. It is com- 

 monly said among the best beekeepers that "the best time to do 

 spring feeding is the fall before." The safest plan by all means is 

 to allow each colony to have at least 45 pounds of honey at the time 

 the bees are packed. They should then be allowed to keep any 

 honey which may come in !ater, and it wi!! be adequately ripened if 

 the colony is well packed. This will be small in extent if they are 

 packed at the right time, and the bees will also have their stores 

 replenished by small amounts of honey which come in during the 

 eatly spring before they are unpacked. This amount of stores for 

 winter will seem large to many beekeepers who have been in the 

 habit of leaving less, but the object of the plans herein set forth is 

 to have much stronger colonies than are found in the average apiary 

 in the spring, and the amount of stores mentioned may be needed. 

 The only places where beekeepers might have some reason to reduce; 

 the amount of stores are locations where the honey granulates 

 quickly, in which event it can not be extracted later. Such honey, 

 however, usually is as good for winter stores as if it were not granu- 

 lated, and it may then be saved for stores the following winter. 

 Forty-five pounds of honey on the hive is a better investment for the 

 beekeeper than money in the bank, and more beekeepers make mis- 

 takes in this regard than anywhere else in the work of the year. 



Honey that is high in gums, as many of the honeys which come 

 from various trees, is not good for winter stores. Honeydew honey 

 is still less desirable. When either is present it is best to remove 

 it and either to give frames of good honey to take its place or to 

 feed about 10 pounds of good honey or sirup made of granulated 

 sugar after all brood-rearing has ceased. Honey or sugar sirup which 

 i^ fed late is stored in the place where the last brood emerged; it is 

 therefore the first of the stores that the bees use. As long as they are 

 having good honey or sugar stores for winter use the condition known 

 as dysentery will be warded o&. Then, later, when they have used up 



