[2] Farmers' Bulletin 1012, Preparation of Bees for Outdoor Wintering.
In zone 1 the average temperature of the outside air during the mouth of January is 25° F., or lower in the more northern parts of the zone. This means that in colonies wintered outdoors the bees are compelled to overcome this degree of cold at all times during the coldest part of the winter. If they are so well packed that the heat which they generate is lost slowly, they are able to generate sufficient heat to make the interior of the hive warm enough to allow them to break their cluster as is necessary. In zone 2, however, the bees will be compelled to generate heat sufficient to overcome the more severe cold of that zone, and this calls for the expenditure by the bees of so much more food and vitality that it is more economical to put them in a good cellar during the months of the most severe cold, and cellar wintering is therefore preferable.
CHARACTER OF WINTER STORES.
In localities where the stores for the bees gathered during the latter part of the summer are not of the first quality, it is safer to winter the bees outdoors. This is a large factor in the placing of the zones shown in [figure 1], for it is quite common in the region south of zone 1 for the full honey to be of inferior quality. It is extremely fortunate that in both of the zones shown the stores available in winter are usually of the finest quality. As will be shown later, it is highly important that the beekeeper pay special attention to the character of the stores in the hive at the beginning of the winter, and if they are not as good as they should be, this deficiency should be corrected.
LOCATION AS REGARDS WIND PROTECTION.
In zone 1, if the apiary is so badly located that the winter winds are severe, the beekeeper will do well to winter in a cellar, although, as will be shown later, it is not best to choose such a site for the apiary even during the rest of the year.
[ESSENTIALS TO SUCCESS.]
As in the case of outdoor wintering, the essentials to success in caring for a normal colony of bees from the end of one season's honey-flow to the beginning of the next lie in providing three things in abundance: (1) Stores of good quality, (2) protection from wind and cold, and (3) room for the rearing of brood at appropriate times. These factors must not be lacking at the right times, and if any one is omitted it may prevent the bees from gathering the crop of the following season. These three factors do not apply equally throughout the period of relative inactivity, but as certainly as any one of them is decreased, just so certainly will the crop of the following year be reduced.
In practicing cellar wintering it is unnecessary to leave so much honey with the bees during the time that they are in the cellar, and it is not necessary during that period to leave room for the rearing of brood. During the coldest part of the winter the bees need especially protection from cold and wind, although enough good stores must be in the hive to keep them through that period in good condition. Probably a large part of the failure of beekeepers in practicing cellar wintering comes from the fact that before and after the bees are in the cellar the important factors of stores and breeding room have not been adequately supplied. Before the bees are put into the cellar they must have room for breeding and stores in abundance, and after they are taken out these two factors must be present in greatly increased abundance.