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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 13 
hive than in the packed hive, and in each case less stores will be con¬ 
sumed where the bees are not protected by a windbreak than would be 
the case if they are protected, but the number of bees in the colony at 
the beginning of the honey-flow is directly proportionate to the amount 
of stores consumed by that colony during the winter. 
The Effect of Climatic Conditions on Wintering 
One of the arguments most commonly made against using winter 
protection is that the bees in some particular locality may not need any 
winter protection because that locality has such open winters. 
24000 
20000 
16000 
12000 
8000 
4000 
0 
Fig. 5. Shows the average gain in number of bees in packed and unpacked hives 
during a severe winter with long periods of cold weather and the gain or loss in the 
same colonies during an open winter with shorter periods of cold weather. 
Figure V represents, graphically, the effects of both a severe winter 
and an open winter upon the number of bees to be found in the 
colony in the spring. In the winter of 1917-18, which was very 
severe, bees were confined to their hives for long periods at a time, 
while the winter of 1918-19 was an open winter with no long periods 
of cold weather. 
Figure V plainly shows which winter was the more favorable for the 
successful wintering of bees. During the severe winter of 1917-18, 
the one-story hive in the open lost 332, while during the open winter 
