Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1916-01-14
WINTER STORES FOR BEES.
insufficient Insulation and insufficient
Food Cause Much Loss.
Prepared by United States department OF
agriculture

Prepared by United States department OF
agriculture
A very common cause Of the death Of
colonies of bees Is starvation. Many
beekeeperS in the United States lose
half Of their bees in the winter either
on this account or because of the fail
ure to supply them with proper pro.
lection against the cold. The more
thoroughly the hives are insulated the
less will be the consumption of stores
but in any event the aim of the far
sighted bcekcepcr should he to save his
bees and not his stores
Since the amount Of stores that the
bees will consume varies with the
length of the winter and with the
amount Of heat which they are com
PEELED to generate ii is not possible to
fix any definite quantity that should be
supplied. The bcckeCler therefore will
do well to be far on the safe side ana
supply his colonies with all that there
is any reasonable prospect of their re-
quiring. He can make no more profit
able investment than to give his bees
more than they can possibly use. They
should have at least thirty pounds.
There is no better food in the winter
than good quality Of honey. Honey
dew honey, however, causes a rapid
accumulation Of feces and is frequent.
ly responsible for the condition known
to beekeepers as dysentery. Such honey
therefore should always be removed in
the fall and better stores substituted.
If honey Of good quality in the comb
is not available it is customary to feed
thick sugar sirup. This is usually
made of from two to two and one-half
parts Of sugar to one part Of water by
volume, one ounce Of tartaric acid be.
ing added to each forty or sixty pounds
Of sugar. The acid is added while the
sirup is being heated to the boiling
point to dissolve the sugar crystals
The sirup should be boiled fifteen min
utes. AS long as the bees feed upon
this sirup no accumulation Of feces
occurs, and when there is any doubt
as to the quality Of the other stores it
is therefore best to feed strip in addi'
ton to the other stores. About ten
pounds Of the sirup fed just after the
first killing frost will be stored by the
bees Immediately above the cluster and
will be found advantageous.
A good quality as we'll as an abun
dance of stores is particularly neces
sary when severe winters are to be en-
countered or when the hives are In
adequately protected. Under such cir
cumstances the bees generate much
heat, and the more heat that they pro
duce the more stores they consume
This leads to an accumulation of feces
which in turn cause irritation, in
creased activity and more heat produc
ton. In this way the condition of the
bees goes from bad to worse until the
accumulation of feces becomes so great
that the bees are unable to retain them
and dySentery results.
When one remembers that winter
losses in 1eekeeping range from one
tenth to more than one-half of the to |
tai number of colonies it is evident
that there are great commercial posi-
bilities in reducing this source OF
waste There is no reason, say GOV |
eminent investigators, why beekeepers
should not reduce their winter losses |
to less than per cent Unforeseen ac |
cidents will always be responsible fol
a certain amount of loss, but the two
great causes of death, insufficient in |
suatiOn and insufficient stores can be
removed with little trouble or expense