VOL. I. 



PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANPG CO 



f\PRIL, 1891. 



NO. 4. 



Spring Protection. 



BY K. F. HOLTKRMAN. 



In ray last article, the necessity of 

 greater care to protect hives during 

 winter was spoken of, and in this it is 

 proposed to speak of Spring Protection. 



The advantages to be derived from 

 proper protection during spring are 

 very great. I have had protected and 

 unprotected colonies side by side in 

 spring, and do not hesitate to say, pro- 

 tect your hives during the spring 

 months. Nor only do the bees retain 

 a more even temperature in the hive 

 (luring a changeable season, but they 

 attain a higher temperature at a time 

 when the temperature would other- 

 wise be very much lower, and the bees 

 would suffer thereby. True, there are 

 times when the temperature of the 

 brood chamber would be somewhat 

 higher if the hive were not packed 

 and the sun could shine freely on it, 

 but altogether the temperature of the 

 brood chamber would be higher or re- 

 main high enough without extra labor, 

 and the lowering of the temperature 

 at times is a positive gain, as in spring 

 there are many days when the sun 

 would induce bees to fly wdien the wind 

 would be sufficiently cold to destroy 

 them. The bees can then build up 



almost unchecked if protected, pro- 

 vided always they have sufficient food. 



When the sun is strong and the wind 

 cold, entrances to the hives should also 

 be protected. If in addition to that, 

 we can give the bees bee-candy or 

 'maple sugar on top of the frames, we 

 have done just about all we can to- 

 wards successful spring management, 

 one or two of our best bee-keepers to 

 the contrary, yet I never allow my 

 best colonies to build up the weaker, 

 neither do I contract the brood cham- 

 ber unless it is below the average. I 

 have abandoned that method, and pre- 

 fer a few weak colonies and the bal- 

 ance very strong. 



The question naturally arises, "What 

 shall be the nature of our protection ?" 

 Every individual must to a large ex- 

 tent answer this for himself. His busi- 

 ness, the number of colonies he has, 

 and his locality, must all assist in 

 answering the question. Iu most lo- 

 calities in Canada, the chaff hive is 

 not sufficient protection to be depend- 

 ed on every winter. Probably in the 

 United States a different state of af- 

 fairs prevails. 



Next, a bee-keeper with out-apiaries 

 or even a large number of colonies 

 requiring agility in manipulation, I 



