If the bees have been requeened at the proper time and if the total amount of stores is given as indicated, it will not be worth while to go through the bees to look for queenless colonies. The beekeeper should see to it that at least 45 pounds of honey are provided for each colony from the time of the last honey-flow in the fall to the beginning of the first main honey-flow of the following season. If this is not given in full, the beekeeper may be sure that the crop of the following year will be reduced. This amount of honey left for the use of the bees is a better investment for the beekeeper than money in the bank.
It should be pointed out that the giving of a second hive body in the spring is not simply a means of supplying additional stores, but more than one hive body will be needed for the development of the brood. A single 10-frame Langstroth hive is not large enough for the development of a good colony of bees, which, before the beginning of the main honey flow, should have brood to fill at least 12 frames.
As was stated earlier in this bulletin, a colony of bees from one season to the next needs three things in abundance--room for the development of the brood, stores of good quality, and protection from wind and cold. In cellar wintering the protection is given by putting the bees in the cellar; the room and stores must be supplied later or the population of the colony will be reduced at the critical time of the honey-flow. If the early sources of honey are abundant, the amount of honey advised will not be consumed. The wise beekeeper, however, does not gamble on the early honey-flows, but invests this honey as life insurance for his bees.
It is often difficult for the beekeeper to know whether his bee cellar is giving the best results, for he may not have been able to determine from reading or the observation of other cellars whether it is satisfactory. The writers, therefore, have attempted below to give a few measures which the beekeeper may apply to his apiary and his cellar, so that he may be able to decide whether his methods of cellar wintering should be improved.
(1) During the winter a thermometer inserted in the entrance of the hive should show a temperature of at least 52° F.