WINTERING OUTDOORS 
897 
such a weakened condition as to become 
practically worthless for the following sea¬ 
son. As a rule, in the northern States 
brood-rearing, unless there is a young lay¬ 
ing queen, slows down after the honey 
flow. This is perfectly normal where there 
is no late summer or fall pasturage as in 
the case of buckwheat, asters, or golden- 
rods; but during the latter part of August 
and the early part of September, brood¬ 
rearing should begin again; and unless 
there are natural sources of nectar the bees 
will require feeding with thin syrup given 
in small quantities daily to stimulate. This 
the shock of the exposure will be so great 
that they probably will not be good for 
much to gather honey. It is also highly 
important that the hives be protected from 
high winds, and that the walls surrounding 
the hive be double and warm. Colonies in 
double-walled hives out in the open, and 
where there is a strong windsweep, may 
not survive, while those in single-walled 
hives screened by buildings, woods, or 
dense shrubbery, may winter well. It would 
appear that protection from the prevailing 
winds is just as important as having the 
walls of the hives double. Special double- 
walled hives are manufactured, 
having the space between filled 
with chaff, planer-shavings, 
leaves, or other suitable material. 
The hive is so arranged that a 
tray of packing under the cover 
helps to retain the heat of the 
cluster, thus causing a smaller 
consumption of stores in order to 
Fig. 4.—The super-cover is made of 
% lumber. This is put on the hive, 
and covered with the tray shown in 
Fig. 3. 
Pig. 5.—Manner of pouring feed from a common watering 
pot into a Doolittle division-board feeder. After sufficient 
syrup has been fed, the feeder is removed, the combs are 
shoved over, a division-board inserted,and hive closed for 
winter. , 
stimulative feeding should be 
continued long enough to get 
brood in the hive so there will be 
a strong force of young bees to 
go into winter quarters. In many 
localities colonies will be able to 
gather enough nectar daily to 
supply themselves with young 
bees without any special feed¬ 
ing. So far the scheme of raising a large 
force of young bees is an important requi¬ 
site for either method of wintering, and 
especially important where bees are win¬ 
tered outdoors subjected to extremes of 
temperature. 
It is unwise to attempt to winter bees 
outdoors in single-walled hives north of 40 
degrees north latitude. While the colonies 
may come thru in a weakened condition, 
keep up the necessary animal heat. It should 
be remembered that, the warmer and better 
protected the cluster, the less honey bees 
require to eat. It is desirable to have 
them, so far as possible, enter a state of 
quiet. An extremely cold spell will make 
it necessary for this cluster to raise the 
temperature as explained under Tempera¬ 
ture of the Cluster in Winter. When a 
colony is so poorly protected that it has to 
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