April, ’23] 
MERRILL: WINTER PROTECTION FOR BEES 
125 
VALUE OF WINTER PROTECTION FOR BEES 1 
By J. H. Merrill, Apiarist , Kansas State Agricultural College 
and Experiment Station 
Abstract 
Previous work is briefly summarized. The data secured during the past four 
years are tabulated and show that a wind break made an average difference of 8,600 
bees in a one story, unpacked hive, 7,968 in a two story, unpacked hive and 3,539 in 
a packed hive, indicating that packing will to a certain extent offset the disadvantage 
of a wind break. A packed hive in a wind break shows a decided advantage over 
unpacked hives. 
The behavior of the honey bee during the winter season has been 
carefully studied by Phillips and Demuth 2 and it is not intended to 
present in this paper any new facts concerning behavior of bees during 
the winter season, but rather to give some specific figures on the results 
which beekeepers may expect by applying the facts given by these 
authors. 
Regardless of how clear an explanation may be of the necessity for 
following any line of procedure, if it involves work or expense, there will 
always be a large number of people who will claim that, either the 
practice is not necessary for their locality, or else that it is too expensive. 
An experiment has been carried on at the Kansas State Agricultural 
Experiment Station to secure data on the value of winter protection for 
bees. Phillips and Demuth have plainly shown that a colony of bees, 
in order to winter successfully, must have: First, a large number of 
young bees; second, plenty of good stores well placed; third, pro¬ 
tection from prevailing winds, and fourth, sufficient packing with some 
insulating material. Why these are needed is carefully explained, and it 
was the purpose of the Kansas experiment to show definitely the value 
of applying these principles. 
The results of the first three years’ work have been reported 3 in which 
it was explained that two series of hives were used in the experiment, 
one set of which was protected by a dense windbreak of shrubbery, 
while the other was placed in the open. In each set there were used one 
Contribution No. 83, from the Entomological Laboratory, Kansas State Agri¬ 
cultural College. This paper embodies some of the results obtained in the prosecu¬ 
tion of project No. 126 of the Agricultural Experiment Station. 
2 Phillips, E. F., and Demuth, G. S.—Outdoor Wintering of Bees. U. S. D. A. 
Farm. Bui. 695, pp. 12, 1915. 
Phillips, E. F., and Demuth, G. S.—The Preparation of Bees for Outdoor Winter¬ 
ing. U. S. D. A. Farm. Bui. 1012, pp. 20, 1918. 
3 Merrill, J. H.—Preliminary Notes on the Value of Winter Protection for Bees. 
Journ. Econ. Ento., Vol. 13, No. 1, 1920, pp. 99-111. 
Merrill, J. H.—Further Notes on the Value of Winter Protection for Bees. Journ. 
Econ. Ento., Vol. 14, No. 1, 1921, pp. 111-114. 
