186 



GLEANINGS IN BEE: CULTURE. 



Mar. 1 



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TAKING BEES FROM WIMEK QUARTERS. 

 When and How to Do it ; Good Orthodox Teaching. 



BY R. F. HOLTERMANN, 

 Formerly Editor of the Canadian Bee Journal. 



After careful wintering comes the ques- 

 tion of placing the bees on summer stands, 

 and how and when to do so to the best ad- 

 vantage. This is a matter in which the 

 bee-keeper must be guided in part by cir- 

 cumstances. Bees should be kept warm in 

 spring, and doubtless a great deal can be 

 gained hy husbanding the heat of the clus- 

 ter and having the hive close-fitting in all 

 its parts. Let me say that over twenty 

 5'ears of experience in handling bees, the 

 manufacture of supplies, and having now 

 no interest whatever in their manufacture, 

 aside from making the hives for our own 

 use, and to hold the bees we sell, convinces 

 me that the average bee-keeper does not at- 

 tach the importance and value he should to 

 good hives. The supply-dealer who seeks 

 to provide a good article for his customers, 

 and charge a reasonable profit, has con- 

 stantly to convince the inexperienced bee- 

 keeper that his goods are worth more than 

 those of a local sawmill, the operators of 

 which often have no idea as to the requi- 

 sites of a hive, especially as to accuracy. 

 That it will pay in our locality to pack our 

 bees in outer cases after setting on summer 

 stands, I doubt; but that it will pay to give 

 considerably more for a hive, that will af- 

 ford ample top protection, I am sure. If a 

 bee-keeper has such a hive it will pay to 

 set bees out earlier than when they are not 

 so protected. 



To know the best time at which to set out 

 bees requires ver3' careful observation, and 

 is, in a measure at least, partially guess- 

 work. The purer the air of the cellar, and 

 thetbetter the bees are wintering, the longer 

 they can be left in the cellar. If I find cer- 

 tain colonies restless I aim to set these out, 

 also others necessary to move to reach those 

 restless. When are these to be set out ? 

 Just as early (in our latitude in March) or 

 quickly as the bees can get a good cleans- 

 ing flight. Activity exhausts vitality. When 

 the intestines of the bee are charged with 

 excrement, and it becomes diseased, it can 

 not rest; and the longer that condition pre- 

 vails, the more vitality is exhausted. Under 

 these circumstances the sooner the bees get 

 a flight the better. Even should it be very 

 cold afterward, the bee has disposed in 

 flight of the matter which keeps it restless, 

 and it can settle down quietly in the hive. 

 I have seen colonies so treated do fairly 

 well when those in apparently the same 

 condition left in the cellar perished. How- 

 ever, I gave the bees a warm cushion on 

 top. Top protection is important. 



Quite recentljs I do not know where. 

 some one advocated taking a colony with 

 dysentery, carrying it some distance from 

 the hive, and shaking the bees in the air; 

 and when those in their flight returned to 

 the old stand they would, in flight, dis- 

 charge their excrement; and by repeating 

 the operation several times the bees would 

 be cured. Let me say this: I never saw 

 bees restless with dysentery, if it was day- 

 light, remain in the hive if the atmosphere 

 was warm enough for them to fly without 

 chilling, and the shaking-ofF process ap- 

 pears to me to be quite superfluous. 



If the bees are all in about the same con- 

 dition, what then? Shall they all be set 

 out at one time? I am not an advocate of 

 setting a large apiary out of winter quar- 

 ters at one time. By that I mean carrying 

 them out one after another until all are out, 

 especial!}' if the day is warm and bright. 

 Why? It leads to confusion. The poorer 

 the wintering, the greater the excitement of 

 the bees during their first flight. Am I an 

 advocate of late setting out ? No. From 

 j^ear to year my practice has been to set 

 out earlier; and in this locality, some 80 

 miles north of Buffalo, if the day is favor- 

 able I would beg'in setting bees out at any 

 time after March 15. Out of 100, set out 7 

 or 8; and when they have had a good flight 

 put shade-boards over the entrance, and 

 then set out more the next favorable day, 

 and so on until all are out. In no case 

 would I keep the bees in the cellar after 

 the first pollen appears. No doubt, unless 

 the bad air in the cellar prevents, the bees 

 can smell the pollen and nectar, and they 

 will not rest. 



Some say the bees that have been set out 

 rob those taking their first flight. I have 

 never found this to be the case. By setting 

 shade-boards in front of those out, and then 

 taking the bees from the cellar early in the 

 day, these latter bees are pretty well over 

 their excitement bj' the time those having 

 stood in the outside cold with shade-boards 

 over the entrance get stirred up. With suc- 

 cessful cellar wintering there is no brood- 

 rearing while in winter quarters. There 

 is no mistake about this. Activity means 

 exhaustion of vitality; and when vitality is 

 exhausted, instinct (I call it obeying God's 

 law implanted in the animal) causes the 

 bees to rear brood to replace the exhausted 

 vitality. When the bees are set out they 

 begin brood-rearing; and the more active 

 the bees, the more brood is reared. The 

 days they fly, the queen lays. After sever- 

 al days of quiet she ceases laying ; and 

 when one or more days favorable to activity 

 return, the queen again lays. To such an 

 extent is this the case that an expe t can 

 tell by the age of the brood in the combs 

 the duration of cold between seasons of 

 activity. 



Some complain that, in the excitement of 

 a general flight, the bees intermingle, and 

 the strong attract bees from the weaker. 

 This is undoubtedly true; but by setting 

 out fewer bees this tendency is reduced. I 



