Frequently great loss of colony strength is due to delay in putting
on the packing. Perhaps this is the most common source of loss in
outdoor wintering aside from that due to a failure to pack the bees
at all. Packing should not be deferred after the flowers furnishing
the last honey are killed by frost. In case the late fall flowers
furnish honey that is to be removed, then it is necessary to wait until
nectar is no longer coming in before applying the packing, but it is
indeed rare that the last honey should be taken away, and it is good
beekeeping to apply the packing even before there is any frost at all.
The determining factor is the necessity for handling the bees. If more
stores must be given them or if some of the late honey is to be removed
in order that it may be replaced by better honey or by sugar sirup,
then handling of the bees after frost may be needed, but after the last
essential handling it is much the best plan to pack the bees. In pints
of the country where bees are wintered outdoors it is quite customary
to delay packing until Thanksgiving Day, but this is too late by far
except in the extreme South (zone C).
It is safe, therefore, for the beekeeper to use the dates shown in
figures 5 and 6 and the data given in Table I as a guide to the time
of packing. He may be assured that if he delays packing later than the
dates shown therein the bees will suffer by a loss of colony strength
and vitality at a season of the year when they can ill afford to be
weakened by neglect. Under no circumstances should packing be delayed
more, than two weeks after the date given for each zone. Further, if
packing is delayed until after cold weather begins, the disturbance of
the colony may induce the beginning of brood-rearing, find this in turn
may result in the death of the colony. If by chance a colony has been
left unpacked until after the bees have been confined by cold weather
for three or four weeks, the packing may do more harm than good.