In packing bees for winter two things require attention so far as
stores are concerned, and one is as important as the other: (1)
There must be plenty of honey in the hive to last until the spring
honey-flow, and (2) the stores which will be used by the bees during
the period of confinement in winter must be of the best quality and
well ripened.
It is, of course, possible to give the bees more honey or sugar sirup
after spring opens, but this means that the colonies will need to
be handled during this period, and this is not the best plan. It is
commonly said among the best beekeepers that "the best time to do
spring feeding is the fall before." The safest plan by all means is to
allow each colony to have at least 45 pounds of honey at the time the
bees are packed. They should then be allowed to keep any honey which
may come in later, and it will be adequately ripened if the colony is
well packed. This will be small in extent if they are packed at the
right time, and the bees will also have their stores replenished by
small amounts of honey which come in during the early spring before
they are unpacked. This amount of stores for winter will seem large to
many beekeepers who have been in the habit of leaving loss, but the
object of the plans herein set forth is to have much stronger colonies
than are found in the average apiary in the spring, and the amount of
stores mentioned may be needed. The only places where beekeepers might
have some reason to reduce the amount of stores are locations where the
honey granulates quickly, in which event it can not be extracted later.
Such honey, however, usually is as good for winter stores as if it
were not granulated, and it may then be saved for stores the following
winter. Forty-five pounds of honey on the hive is a better investment
for the beekeeper than money in the bank, and more beekeepers make
mistakes in this regard than anywhere else in the work of the year.
Honey that is high in gums, as many of the honeys which come from
various trees, is not good for winter stores. Honeydew honey is still
less desirable. When either is present it is best to remove it and
either to give frames of good honey to take its place or to feed about
10 pounds of good honey or sirup made of granulated sugar after all
brood-rearing has ceased. Honey or sugar sirup which is fed late is
stored in the place where the last brood emerged; it is therefore the
first of the stores that the bees use. As long as they are having good
honey or sugar stores for winter use the condition known as dysentery
will be warded off. Then, later, when they have used up the good
stores, the weather will permit frequent flights, and then the less
satisfactory stores will do no harm. Honeydew honeys usually may be
detected by their bad taste, accompanied ordinarily by a dark, muddy
appearance. In case of doubt as to the stores it is always safe to give
good honey or sugar sirup. Unfortunately it is true that many of the
fall honeys are not of the best quality for winter use, and this, in
part, accounts for the heavy losses of bees occurring regularly in some
parts of the country.