food, improper food, dampness,
bad air, the breaking of the clusters, and low temperature.

More colonies die from lack of food and from cold than from all other
causes. In fact, most of the other causes can be traced to lack of food
and cold.

Queenless colonies will certainly die in a few months.

If the number of bees in a colony is small the clusters cannot generate
enough heat or keep it generated and the bees will perish. To avoid
this, small colonies should be united in the fall into one big colony.

Bees must have food in the winter in order to generate heat. About forty
pounds of honey to the colony should be provided when the bees are put
into winter-quarters. Should the colony be short of honey of its own,
finished frames may be supplied early in the fall or sugar syrup may be
fed. Bee keepers should keep about one well filled extracting frame out
of every seven for feeding purposes.

Dark (not amber) honey is poor food for bees in winter. All black honey
should be removed and combs of white honey should be substituted.
Experiments made by Dr. Phillips, in Washington, D. C., have shown that
bees consume least honey and winter best when the temperature inside the
hive is 57 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dampness in a cellar causes the comb and frames of the hive walls and
cover to get damp and mouldy, and the bees perish from wet and cold
after exhausting their vitality in generating heat.

Bees need fresh air. Foul air will cause excitement, causing an
overheated condition; and the bees will scatter and die. Any excitement
among bees in winter is fatal. Cellars on high ground, covered with
straw over timbers, are best for wintering bees.

If the bee cluster divides or splits up during the winter, the smaller
clusters will perish from cold. The present style of Hoffman frames
divides the bee cluster into eleven divisions separated from each other
by a sheet of wax comb, with no direct communication between different
divisions except over, below or around the frames. If the bee cluster
contracts during the winter on account of cold the divisions of the
outside frames are sometimes left behind and die. Some bee keepers
perforate their frames to keep an easy passage for bees from one
compartment to another. If kept warm, even weak colonies may pass over
or around the frames without much difficulty. When cold, only the
strongest will be able to accomplish this difficult task. Wintering
bees in division hives or in