> This is why the Canadians went from shaking out bees after harvest

I would say the primary reason for using packages instead of overwintering is that it is more profitable. The reason it was stopped has to do with the closed border preventing bees coming from California. 

Eva Crane wrote in 2005:
> It is almost impossible to winter colonies of honey bees at latitudes much above 60 N, but in 1984 I saw successful overwintering at 65 N in Alaska, USA, achieved by insulating the hives with a great deal of packing. In recent decades honey production in such regions has been made much more practicable by the use of package bees.

PLB

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