April, '22] WILSON: CLIMATE AND BEE MANIPULATION 143 



the occasional infected colony, bees and all, also causes them to save 

 every doubtful bit of equipment. That state of mind is fatal to success 

 in the treatment of bee disease. 



Summary 



To simimarize, the factors governing the success of area clean-up 

 campaigns are as follows: 



1 . Successful prevention of the sale or movement of used bee supplies. 



2. Willingness on the part of the commercial beekeeper to take 

 a few more steps than the absolute minimimi requirement, even at a 

 temporar}^ sacrifice to himself. 



3. Thorough cleaning of honey houses and preventing even the tem- 

 porarv' storage of infected material in the apiary. 



4. If treatment is being used, seasonal conditions which make treat- 

 ment practical. 



5. A persistent follow-up inspection, year by year as long as any 

 infection remains. 



When these factors are present and satisfactory, it is possible to re- 

 duce the amount of disease in large, heavily infected areas at a rate 

 which should free them completely from disease in a reasonable length 

 of time. 



RELATION OF CLIMATE TO BEEKEEPING MANIPULATIONS 



By H. F. Wilson, Madison, Wisconsin 



Very few beekeepers realize the important influence of weather on 

 beekeeping manipulations. It is true that this matter has been agitated 

 more or less for a number of years but very little serious thought has 

 been given to the subject. A study of weather records for different 

 sections of the United States shows that there is a more or less definite 

 set of conditions for the average year and with a proper knowledge of 

 these conditions, our beekeepers can judge to a better degree what the 

 spring, summer, fall and winter conditions are likely to be for their 

 particular neighborhood. 



It is true that there is a considerable variation so that in some years 

 one might be very badly mistaken in his program. On the other 

 hand it appears that certain weather conditions are more or less regular 

 as for instance, in examining the weather records for the past ten years 

 at Madison, Wisconsin, we find that there is a certain definite time, 

 namely, March 10 to 15 when we may expect the first regular spring 

 thaw and between March 20 and April 1 of each year, we know there will 

 be a few days when the temperature is sufficiently high and the sun 

 shining so that the bees can fly freely. 



