GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1919 



the ten:perature of the hive out of doors, 

 they should by all means be put out on the 

 first day suitable for a safe flight. The only 

 reason for putting bees in the cellar at all 

 is to conserve their energy, and when it no 

 .longer does this they are better out of doors. 



Finally, colonies that have wintered well 

 (i. e. have lived slowly) will usually remain 

 quiet thruout March, and even thru the 

 greater portion of April, if they should be 

 left that long. They gradually become 

 more sensitive to higher temperature and 

 stagnant air in the cellar, but are sometimes 

 so quiet that we have hesitated about tak- 

 ing them out even when natural pollen was 

 available. 



Thus, while successfully wintered colo- 

 nies, retaining nearly the full measure of 

 their vital energy of the previous fall, are 

 abundantly able to endure the cold spells of 

 early spring if put out earlj^, their continued 

 quiescence makes it unnecessary to remove 

 them from the cellar until the arrival of 

 more favorable weather. The problems con- 

 nected with removing the bees from the 

 cellar successfully are much less exacting 

 when they have wintered well than when 

 they have not. The time for setting them 

 out, the character of the day, the impor- 

 tance of immediate flight, and all of the pre- 

 cautionary measures to prevent drifting 

 become less important with better wintering. 

 Remove Two Months Before Honey Flow. 



We have a few times left such quiet colo- 

 nies in the cellar as an experiment until 

 late in April, with the idea of escaping all 

 of the disagreeable weather of early spring. 

 We found that they were, on June first, con- 

 siderably behind the ones removed from the 

 cellar about April first. Our honey flow usu- 

 ally begins about the first of June, so we 

 want every colony ready for business at 

 that time. It seems to require about two 

 months after being removed from the cellar 

 to build up for the honey flow. We, there- 

 fore, want our colonies on their summer 

 stands not later than April first in order to 

 have two months of brood-rearing before 

 the beginning of the clover-honey flow. In 

 practice, the bees have usually been put out 

 the latter part of March. They sometimes 

 have to endure some disagreeable weather 

 after being put out; but strong colonies, 

 well wintered, are abundantly able to do 

 this. 



This fits in well with the old rule for tak- 

 ing the bees out of the cellar at the time of 

 the blooming of the soft maples, Eestless 

 colonies may sometimes be taken out earlier 

 to their advantage, and no colonies should 

 be left in so long that they will have less 

 than two months to build up for the honey 

 flow. 



The Drifting Problem. 



We have had almost no trouble from 

 drifting, except one spring when the bees 

 were taken out on an abnormally warm day 

 without the usual preliminary airing of the 

 cellar. The bees rushed out pell-mell with- 

 out marking their Jprations and drifted bad- 



ly. Ordinarily we leave the cellar door and 

 ventilator wide open during the night pre- 

 vious to setting the bees out. When this 

 is done the bees are quieter and much more 

 easily handled the next day. They are less 

 inclined to fly from the hives while being 

 carried out and are less eager to fly after 

 being placed on the summer stands, thus 

 greatly reducing that first mad rush from 

 the entrance, which is almost sure to be fol- 

 followed by drifting. A wet cloth for clos- 

 ing the entrances of unruly colonies while 

 the hive is being carried out is sometimes 

 needed; but when the bees have wintered 

 well, and the cellar has been thoroly aired 

 the night before, the bees may be carried 

 out without its use. As each hive is placed 

 on its summer stand the entrance is con- 

 tracted. This, we think, helps to prevent 

 drifting since it restricts their flight. Any- 

 thing that in any way tends to reduce the 

 volume of flight, when first set out, dimin- 

 ishes the tendency to drift. Good winter- 

 ing, a thoro airing of the cellar the night 

 before, careful handling of the hives while 

 carrying out to prevent too great a dis- 

 turbance, and contracting the entrances at 

 the time of placing the hives on their sum- 

 mer stands should prevent any trouble from 

 drifting. We do not attempt to place the 

 hives on the same stands they occupied the 

 previous fall. 



Setting Bees Out When Too Cold. 



We formerly waited for a day suitable 

 for immediate flight for setting the bees 

 out, selecting, if possible, a bright warm 

 morning with prospects of a temperature 

 of 60 degrees or more during the middle 

 of the day. The bees were taken out as 

 rapidly as possible in order that all the 

 colonies could have a good flight before 

 evening. 



Latterly, however, the bees have been 

 taken directly from the cellar to the out- 

 yards on days too cold for them to fly. The 

 entrance screens are put in place while the 

 hives are in the cellar and the loading is 

 done at the cellar door. In this case, it is 

 sometimes several days before a suitable 

 flight day occurs, tho we try to do this on 

 the day preceding a flight day. 



This method eliminates much anxiety in 

 trying to choose a suitable day, saves con- 

 siderable hustle and worry in getting the 

 bees all on their summer stands early in the 

 day, and saves one handling of the hives in- 

 tended for outyards. It has worked out 

 highly satisfactorily with us when the bees 

 liave wintered well, but we would not care 

 to try it on poorly wintered colonies, Well- 

 wintered colonies quiet down after the dis- 

 turbance of moving and do not attempt to 

 fly until a day suitable for safe flight occurs 

 when they fly normally. We have not been 

 able to detect any evil results when such 

 colonies have been outside a week or more 

 before having their first flight. 



Removing the bees from the cellar marks 

 the closing act of wintering. It is but one 

 of a succession of events which began last 



