River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1885-10-22
Wintering Bees.

The question of safe wintering is,
says the Indian Farmer, probably the
most important subject amongsbee-
keepers, and is less understood than
any other part of the business. There
are many who winter their bees sue
cessfully, but their plan in other hands
or in different localities makes utter
failures. Again, the same plan may
be followed year after year with perfect
success, when from some unknown
difference it proves valueless. There
are, however, some general features in
connection with safety on which most
all agree.
The amount of store necessary for
the safe wintering of an ordinary colony
of bees should not be less than twenty
five pounds Some will consume less
than others. All will consume less or
more according to the condition of the
winter weather and its duration. The
quality of the stores on which they are
to subsist has much to do with the
probable outcome at spring.
Another feature, and one which we
consider of the greatest importance, is
the age of the bees which are to form
the winter cluster. We think there
can be no mistake but that the life of
the bee is governed entirely by the
amount of work done, and not by the
time consumed in doing it. In locali-
ties where no fall honey is produced
bees that Matched during the latter
part of June and through July have
but little work to perform and will last
until the latter part of December. No
fall honey coming in, but few young
bees are raised, which at the death of
the older ones leaves the cluster too
weak to withstand the winter. On the
other hand, gathering q good crop of
fall honey soon eXhausts the old bees,
but the flow of honey induces brood
rearing, which will leave the winter
cluster composed almost entirely of
young bees, which with other favorable
conditions almost insures safe winter
ing.
We consider protection from damp
ness more necessary than from severe
cold, as the first condition enables them
to resist the latter. There is moist
vapor constantly arising from the clus-
ter. We have seen this carried to such
an extent as to completely inclose the
cluster in crust of ioe. our eXper-
fence leads us to believe that the es-
cape or absorption of this moisture is
an important necessity, and for this
purpose we find nothing better than
forest leaves, with which we pack the
second story of our hives. Cloths that
have been in use on the hives for any
length of time become so propolised as
to be impervious as to water. cOnse-
quently we provide an opening to the
leaves by turning back one corner of
the cloth, but stop any direct upward
ventilation by packing the leaves over
the opening. In former years, much
more so than now, it was our practice
to reduce the size of the brood cham
Der by the use of the division boards,
but we do not consider this of any
great importance except in the case of
very small clusters. BY consumption
of the stores on which the bees are
clustered il becomes necessary for the
cluster to change position on the combs,
anu PROVISION Iot liilo chang z niuSI oe
made by allowing space for the bees to
pass from one frame to another. The
best point for this we consider is direct
ly over the cluster, and we provide this
there by laying short sticks across the
frames in such a manner as to keep
the cloth from settling down on the
top bars of the frames.
Unhealthy stores are gathered at
times by the bees in the vicinity of
cider-mills and like places. We see
the recommendation frequently given
to throw this out of the combs with the
extractor. We much prefer feeding
additional stores of sirup made from
good sugar; this will neutralize the
poisonous effect of the juices gathered
from frosted plants or decayed fruit.