From the end of one honey season to the beginning of the next a good
colony of bees will need fully 45 pounds of honey. When the bees are
wintered in the cellar, it is usual not to have all of this honey in
the one hive body in which they are wintered. It is a good practice
to have at least 20 pounds within this hive, although 15 pounds will
be safe. It is absolutely imperative, however, that the remainder of
the 45 pounds shall be available to be given to the bees soon after,
they are taken from the cellar. The most common cause of poor colonies
in the spring is poverty, directly due to neglect on the part of the
beekeeper. A good beekeeper sees to it that at no time when brood is
being reared do his bees have less than 15 pounds of stores in the
hive, and the full amount of 45 pounds often will all be used, and is
always needed if the colonies are to come to full strength on time
for the gathering of the full crop. This amount is always augmented
by honey from spring flowers, for 45 pounds of honey is not enough to
bring a colony to full strength in time for the main honey-flow.