39. Of course it is defenseless to keep bees in hives that are not waterproof, so far as rain or snow are concerned. The finding of hives and combs covered on the inside with mold in spring often stumps the beekeeper, as he is unable to figure out where this came from, because his hive is apparently watertight. It is positive proof that the bees were forced to consume more honey than they should have during the winter and that the protection they were given was not ample for the low temperatures they had to combat. It has been estimated that 12 pounds of honey, when consumed by the bees for the production of heat, cause a gallon of water to be thrown off from the cluster of bees. You will see the amount of moisture produced by a strong colony of bees in consuming 25 to 50 pounds of honey through the cold months, as frequently happens in unprotected hives.

40. Next after wind protection and the control of moisture within the hive, comes the form of protection that is to be given the bees. We have no special style of packing to recommend. This may safely be largely a matter of personal choice, provided you do not give too small an amount. The U. S. Bee Culture Laboratory recommends several types of winter packing, varying as to ordinary winter temperatures in your locality. However, all protection gives best results if it is used primarily to afford dry cover against winds. Whatever you determine to use in your locality, it will pay you to write the U. S. Bee Culture Laboratory, Washington, D. C, for a copy of their bulletin on wintering bees outdoors. Some beekeepers successfully use a 4 colony or 2 colony case. We find many beekeepers packing single hives. We do not recommend more than 2 colonies to be packed together if all are to face in the same direction. When a lot of bees are packed side by side and all faced in the same direction it will often be found in spring that one or two of the colonies have more than their share of the bees and the others have but few bees. This drifting is an undesirable situation both from the point of wintering and springing.

41. One of the largest beekeepers in Michigan, Mr. E. D. Townsend, many years ago successfully used a winter case constructed with tar waterproof paper forming the outside of the case. His method of affording winter protection to bees has been adopted by many beekeepers, not because of anything incorrect about a heavier case, but because the latter case can be constructed much more cheaply and is efficient in most localities.

42. Whether the packing be of paper, straw, etc., it must be covered with waterproof paper or its use will not be successful, no matter how much packing is given. Winter each hive outdoors as explained in the previous chapter. Some beekeepers prefer to use a wooden case or form, easily assembled and taken down, in which packing may be placed and an exit for the bees from the hive entrance provided by a tunnel. Others use tar paper and stack corn stocks on the sides and rear of the hives. Some fill a super with haymow chaff, after tacking burlap on the bottom of the super, and set this over the inner cover, the outer cover over all. There is no best method of providing winter protection. Many must use what is at hand to keep down expense and yet afford protection.

43. It is advisable to use waterproof paper around the hives in any climate where winter and spring months are cold, even if no other packing is given. Remember the bottomboard; see that wind does not blow under the hive. The hive should be off the cold ground on cleats, bricks, etc. Entrances must be reduced in cold weather in any climate as a vast amount of the heat created by the bees may escape from the entrance. Bees cannot die of starvation in the hives, if ample stores are available, unless temperatures in the hive get too low. The bees cannot move their winter clustr until the temperature around the bees in the hive approaches 57° F. Thus bees often starve in the hives with ample food in adjoining frames, because it is too cold to allow them to move to the food. It is best in planning winter protection to proceed as if you expected the winter to be a hard one. Also plan the packing in such a way it may be left on the hive until settled warm weather and yet provide a means of examining colonies on early, warm spring days. This means the packing must be readily replaced after each spring examination. Perhaps, except for wind protection in winter, it may be reasonably said bees need protection in spring as much as in winter. This is especially true when one considers the bees have been weakened in energy by the long winter cold. Thus packing which permits of spring examination without removal until settled warm weather is valuable.

44. Too many beekeepers worry about upward ventilation during the winter, which is a bugaboo that bothered our forefathers but need not bother us. The need of upward ventilation in the old days was due to excess moisture. Remove the cause by providing the proper amount of protection against wind and cold. We urge you to find out from the nearest Weather Bureau the facts about what your average winter temperatures are for a period of 20 years past, before you attempt to modify the amount of packing recommended by the government, or to substitute for it something that you think is adequate. There are many patent insulation materials on the market that are not worthy of much faith by the beekeeper because it has been definitely proved that cheaper materials readily at hand are as effective for bees. The best insulation material has air spaces between the pieces of packing material, which act as insulators. The type of material that meets these specifications best is fine dry planer shavings or coarse sawdust, dry leaves, haymow chaff, etc.