914 
WINTERING OUTDOORS 
two bunches of bees; anrl both, being too 
small, died. 
In the case of indoor wintering, where 
the cellar temperature does not go below 
40 F., a winter nest is not so vitally neces¬ 
sary. But if the temperature goes down 
below 40, then the absence of a winter nest 
may mean the death of a colony. 
Nature has worked out this problem of 
wintering bees; and when the beeman tam¬ 
pers with her plans he tampers with his 
pocketbook. While he can do certain 
things contrary to Nature, he can not in¬ 
terfere with her plan in the arrangement 
of the stores. 
WINTER STORES—QUALITY' AND 
QUANTITY. 
Having considered the inclosure, and the 
hives themselves, something should be said 
about the quality and quantity of the 
stores. It is fair to say that bees out¬ 
doors consume more than twice as much 
as those indoors; but it is argued, on the 
other hand, that while the former consume 
this larger proportion of food they keep 
stronger numerically and will be in better 
condition at harvest time than those win¬ 
tered indoors on half the amount. The 
opinion of the beekeeping world is some¬ 
what divided on this whole question; but 
certain it is that he who winters out¬ 
doors should provide twice the amount of 
stores, or at least see that his colonies, 
after the main brood-rearing has ceased, 
have from 30 to 40 pounds of sealed stores 
and in very cold climates from 40 to 50 
pounds may be needed. The beginner will 
need to weigh his combs for the first colony 
or two, to be able to estimate approxi¬ 
mately the stores of other colonies. 
As a general thing an eight-frame colony 
should be crowded on six combs, and a ten 
on an eight. The division-board must be 
shoved up close to the frames, and the 
empty space, if any, filled with leaves, or 
other packing material. It is desirable 
that bees have stores given to them at least 
ft month before they go into their winter 
rest, so they may have a winter nesi 
around which will be sealed stores within 
easy reach. As to quality, there is nothing 
better than good honey. If there is a 
shortage, thick granulated sugar syrup 
should be given. It is believed by' most 
good beekeepers that honey will go fur¬ 
ther pound for pound than syrup. Honey 
is a natural food, and, besides, contains 
other food elements such as protein for the 
bees. 
Altho a colony may have sufficient stores 
by the middle or latter part of August it 
may run considerably short by the first of 
November, especially if a fall flow induces 
brood-rearing. In any case it is well to go 
over the colonies just prior to the final 
preparation for winter, and make sure they 
do not run short. This is very important, 
as many a colony has been lost thru star¬ 
vation when their owner supposed they 
had enough to last till spring. Colonies 
short should be fed a thick syrup. See 
Feeding and Feeders; also page 926. 
BEES FLYING OUT ON CHILLY OR 
COLD DAYS AND APPARENTLY 
DYING ON THE GROUND. 
In a late fall or early spring, in climates 
subject to snows and alternate freezing and 
thawing, bees will very often fly out on a 
bright day, whether it is very warm or not. 
They alight on the ground or some object, 
become chilled, and apparently die. Cases 
are on record where bees have flown out, 
alighted on the ground, become stiff and 
‘cold, and were apparently dead. There 
was one instance in particular of this kind 
in the author’s apiary late one fall, where 
thousands of bees had flown out and lay 
on the ground apparently never to return. 
A cold rain set in and then it began to 
freeze, followed by some snow. This freez¬ 
ing weather lasted for a couple of days. 
This was followed by warm sunshine, when, 
wonderful to relate, those dead (?) bees 
came to life, took wing and flew back to 
their hives. Other authentic reports, show¬ 
ing something similar to this, have been 
sent in. It, seems almost unbelievable, but 
the facts are, that bees can fly out, alight 
in the snow, chill thru, and seem to be dead. 
If the snow is not too deep it melts away 
so that the bodies of the bees can become 
warmed up, when they will often revive; 
they always revive, if it is warm enough, 
and they have not been chilled too long. 
Beekeepers have written in at many dif¬ 
ferent times, fearing that their bees hav¬ 
ing flown out in late fall, and, becoming 
chilled on the ground, were utterly lost. 
