It is poor policy to permit bees to enter winter quarters without an abundance of stores—better twice the amount that will be actually consumed than merely enough to enable them to live through.
(4) The bees must be kept dry and warm.—A substantial hive with a tight roof will keep rain and snow from the cluster; but the bees must have air even during the severest weather and also when in their most quiescent state; hence the question of ventilation has to be considered. It has occasioned more discussion and experimentation than any other point concerned in the wintering of bees. The amount of ventilation both indoors and outside, whether upward ventilation or lower ventilation, or both, and whether through the wooden walls of the hive alone, have given rise to thousands of experiments based on all sorts of theories, and innumerable losses have resulted. The matter is really more complicated than would seem at first thought. The warm air about the bodies of the bees (the winter temperature of the cluster being about 72° F.) coming in contact with the cold surfaces of combs of honey in ordinary hives, or with the inner Avails of such hives, condensation and deposition of moisture occurs. During severe weather this accumulates in the shape of hoarfrost, which, melting with a rise of temperature, trickles down over the combs, the walls of the hive, and the bees themselves, and, entering the honey cells through the somewhat porous capping, sours the honey with which it mixes. The soured food, dampness, and chilling of the bees combine to bring on diarrhea, which is sure to weaken and decimate the colony if it does not exterminate it. To avoid these troubles the surplus moisture of the hive must be carried away by free ventilation, which at the same time supplies pure air, but which does not create drafts in the hive nor permit such an escape of heat as will chill the cluster through. Straw hives ([fig. 72]) do this well; also the forms shown in figs. [73] and [74] if well packed over the combs and ventilated above the packing.
Fig. 74.—Double-walled hive adapted to outdoor wintering as well as summer use below 40° north latitude in the United States. Thickness of each wall, ⅜ inch; space between walls, 2 inches, packed with dry chaff or ground cork. (Original.)
(5) There should be no manipulation out of season.—Breaking up the cluster and exposing the individual bees and their combs to a low temperature, as well as causing them to gorge themselves with honey when an opportunity for a cleansing flight may not occur soon, are also causes which bring on diarrheal difficulties. Feeding to complete the winter stores, when necessary, should be done soon after the last honey flow, so that the bees will settle down for the winter on the approach of cool autumn days. After this they are better off if left undisturbed until the final work of preparing them for winter is done, which, if the hive is well arranged, will be no material disturbance to the bees. It is always preferable not to be obliged to touch the brood combs or disturb the cluster when the weather is too cold for the bees to fly freely.
OUTDOOR WINTERING.
A consideration of the requirements above mentioned leads at once to the essential features of any plan of outdoor wintering that may be followed in the colder portions of our country with uniform success, namely, the presence in the colony of a vigorous queen less than two years old; a good cluster of healthy bees bred the latter part of the season, that is, of sufficient numbers so that when closely clustered during quite cool weather late in October or November not less than six spaces between the brood combs, and preferably eight or nine spaces, shall be occupied by a good number of bees, or that the cluster shall be at such a time not less than 8, and preferably 10 to 12, inches in diameter; the stores should consist of 30 pounds of well-ripened honey or thick sugar sirup, stored and mostly sealed over and about the bees; since in a long, shallow hive the heat is too diffused, combs much longer than deep should be on end for the winter, to enable the bees to economize their natural warmth; free access of pure air, but without the creation of drafts, hence the entrance should be indirect or screened in some manner; the ventilation should permit the gradual passing away of the moisture-laden air of the hive, but not the escape of heat, hence 6 or more inches (in the coldest portions of the United States 10 or 12 inches) of dry, porous material, soft and warmth-retaining, should be on all sides of the cluster and near to it, the whole being protected by waterproof walls from any access of outside moisture. Care to establish in all cases conditions similar to the above before bees cease flying in the autumn will insure the apiarist against any serious losses in wintering out of doors, even in the severest portions of our country.
Fig. 75.—An apiary in Vermont—winter view. (Reproduced from photograph.)
In the extreme South, where bees can fly out at any time of the year, little extra precaution is needed for the winter beyond seeing that the stores do not become exhausted during a drought or a protracted rain, when no honey can be gathered. Just in proportion to the severity and length of the winter season the above general rules may be looked upon as applicable, always bearing in mind, however, that in the variable climate of the middle section of the country many of the precautions strictly essential in a colder climate may still be profitably followed, although fair results may be expected in the main without their strict observance.