The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-02-08
WINTER STORES FOR GEES.

WINTER STORES FOR GEES.
Insufficient insuiation sod issvs5sisnt
9 Food Cause Mech Loss.
Prepared by United States department sf
Agricultural
A very common cause OF the death Of
colonies of bees In starvation. Many
beekeepers In the United States lose
half Of their bees Ii the winter either
IN this account or bccauss OF the fall
ure to supply them with proper pro-
tecflnn against the cold. The more
thoroughly the hives are insulated the
less win be the consumption OF stores, !
hut In any event the aim Of the far
sighted beekeeper should BE- to save his
bees and not his stores.
Since the amount of stores that the
bees viii consume varies with the
length of the winter and with the
amount of heat which they are COM
PEELED 10 generate 1t II not possible to
fix any definite quantity that should ba
supplied. The beekeeper therefore will
do wen to be far on the safe side and
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 IN no better food In the winter
than good quality Of honey. Honey
dew honey. however. causes q rapid
accumulation Of fecea and Ii frequent
II responsible for the condition known
to beekeepers as dysentery. Such honey
therefore should always be removed In
the fab and better stores substituted
II honey OF good quality In the comb
Is not available it is customary to. feed
a thick sugar strip. 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 il added while the
sirup Ia being heated to the boiling
point TO dissolve the sugar crystals.
The strip should be boiled fifteen min
utes, As long as the bees feed upon
this sirup no accumulation OF feccs
occurs, and when there Ii any doubt
as TO the quality Of the other stores 1t
is therefore best to feed sirup in addi-
ton 10 the other stores. About ten
pounds Of the strip fed just after the
FIRST killing frost will be stored by the
bees immediately above the cluster and
Will he found advantageous.
A good quality as well as an album
dance of stores IL particularly neces-
sary when severe winters ara 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 moro stores they consume.
This leads to an accumulated 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 ~ great
that the bees are unable to retain them
and iyseHtcry results.
when one remembers that winter
losses In beekeeping range from one
tenth to more than 0ne-haif Of the to-
tai number of colonies It 10 evident
that there are great commercial possi-
bilities In reducing this source OF
waste There ii no reason. say gov
eminent investigators, why beekeepers
should not reduce their winter lcsses
to less than per cent UHfofeseen &C
cidenta VIII always BE- responsible for
certain amount Of loss, but the two
great causes or death, insufficient In
sulation ana insufficient stores, can be
removed with little trouble or expense.