PEEPAEATIOir OF BEES FOR OUT1>OOE WIKTEEIKa. 19 



the good stores, the weather will permit frequent flights, and then the 

 less satisfactory stores will do no harm. Honeydew honeys nsuaUy 

 may be detected by their bad taste, accompanied ordinarily by a dark, 

 muddy appearance. In case of doubt as to the stores it is always safe 

 tjp give good honey or sugar sirup. Unfortunately it is true that 

 many of the fall honeys are not of the best quality for winter use, 

 and this, in part, accounts for the heavy losses of bees occurring 

 regularly in some parts of the country. 



ALL THE FACTORS OF GOOD WINTERING ARE NEEDED. 



OuQ frequently encounters beekeepers who condenm winter pack- 

 ing, stating that they have tried it without success. The writers have 

 met many such beekeepers, and many of them are good beekeepers 

 in other respects. On careful inquiry it is learned that in all cases 

 they have omitted some vitally important factor. The most common 

 l^ult in winter packing is to leave the entrances of the hives wide 

 oben. This, of course, nullifies the benefit of the packing to a large 

 ^gree, and one need not be surprised that these men do not find 

 virtue in packing heavily. Another common fault in packing is to 

 omit the packing from the bottom. Snow acts as an excellent insu- 

 lation, but one can not be sure that there will be snow at just fhe 

 right times, and it is therefore necessary, to insure good wintering, 

 that good packing be placed on the bottoms. 



It is also common to face the hives to the south and then leave 

 the fronts without packing, under the erroneous impression that 

 fince tlie heat from the sun will enter more readily, the colonies 

 'dll be benefited more than they would be if thej were heavily packed 

 front- To combat this view it should be necessary only to point 

 [^ tiiat the sun shines only a small fraction of the hours during 

 inter. Furthermore, any place through which heat may enter easily 

 irves also as a place through wMA heat e^apes. In certain well- 

 town cases the other factors of good wintering, strong colonies and 

 .od stores, are so well provided that the loss from this lack of pro- 

 action is not detected, yet it is certain that in any such method of 

 ktering there is a great loss of bee vitality, and the bees are com- 

 pelled lo do more work in heat generation than would be the case 

 were they well packed. 



It can not be stated too strongly that the right way to winter bees 

 h to provide €M the factors needed, and not to omit any of them 

 ^i^ply because in mosi fmm the bees can get through without all 

 dying when less help is given. The three things nee^sary for suc^ 

 cessfnl caring for bees from the time they are packed until they are 

 unpacked itx the late spring are (1) plenty of protection, (2) plenty 

 of stores of good quality, and (3) plenty of room for the building 



