One frequently encounters beekeepers who condemn winter packing,
stating that they have tried it without success. The writers have met
many such beekeepers, and many of them are good beekeepers in other
respects. On careful inquiry it is learned that in all cases they have
omitted some vitally important factor. The most common fault in winter
packing is to leave the entrances of the hives wide open. This, of
course, nullifies the benefit of the packing to a large degree, and
one need not be surprised that these men do not find virtue in packing
heavily. Another common fault in packing is to omit the packing from
the bottom. Snow acts as an excellent insulation, but one can not
be sure that there will be snow at just the right times, and it is
therefore necessary, to insure good wintering, that good packing be
placed on the bottoms.
It is also common to face the hives to the south and then leave the
fronts without packing, under the erroneous impression that since
the heat from the sun will enter more readily, the colonies will be
benefited more than they would be if they were heavily packed in
front. To combat this view it should be necessary only to point out
that the sun shines only a small fraction of the hours during winter.
Furthermore, any place through which heat may enter easily serves also
as a place through which heat escapes. In certain well-known cases the
other factors of good wintering, strong colonies and good stores, are
so well provided that the loss from this lack of protection is not
detected, yet it is certain that in any such method of wintering there
is a great loss of bee vitality, and the bees are compelled to do more
work in heat generation than would be the case were they well packed.
It can not be stated too strongly that the right way to winter bees is
to provide all the factors needed, and not to omit any of them simply
because in most years the bees can get through without all dying when
less help is given. The three things necessary for successful earing
for bees from the time they are packed until they are unpacked in the
late spring are (1) plenty of protection, (2) plenty of stores of good
quality, and (3) plenty of room for the building up of the colony
strength in the spring. None of these may be omitted without reducing
the colony strength in the spring, and, as every good beekeeper knows,
it is the strong colonies which get the maximum crop.