^I^D GAZETTE. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Vol.. II, 



ISTAJEIGJI, ISOr. 



No. 9, 



Boe-Culture in Cottage Hives, 

 No. 9. 



EARLY SPRING TREATMENT. 



At the approacli of spring, as the weather 

 gradually grows milder, bees speedily feel the 

 change, become uueasj^ iu their winter quar- 

 ters, and prepare to avail themselves of the 

 first opportunity to roam abroad. The first 

 clear day, when the sun shines bright and 

 warm, will tempt them forth; and the careful 

 bee-keeper will exert himself to encourage and 

 facilitate their egress. By placing small blocks 

 under the Cvlges of the hives, the warm air will 

 the more freely enter, and the entire mass of 

 of bees be the more speedily roused. 



It is oft-times important that the movement 

 be rapid and gf^ueral, that the workers may 

 speedily discharge their fajces, as otherwise, by 

 a sudden change of temperature, large numbers 

 may be caught abroad and so chilled as to be 

 unable to return to their homes. There need 

 be no fear that by thus elevating the hives, 

 robbers would be attracted, for when thus is- 

 suing for the first time in spring, bees have no 

 disposition whatever to appropriate the stores 

 of other colonies. They are so busily and in- 

 tently engaged in their own appropriate duties, 

 on the proper discharge of which they are in- 

 stinctivelj^ conscious that much of their subse- 

 quent welfare depends, as not to be lightly in- 

 duced to neglect them; and the gieed for honey 

 is at this time yet iu a good degree dormant. 

 At evening, after the masses have re-entered 

 their hives and become settled, the blocks or 

 wedges should be withdrawn again, the hives 

 readjusted on the honey -boards, and all holes 

 or openings, except the proper entrance, care- 

 fully closed, not only to prevent the escape of 

 heat, but to preclude the ingress of prying 

 marauders later in the spring. When practic- 

 able also, the opportunity may be used to 

 change the bottom-boards of the hives, substi- 

 tuting clean and dry ones for those in use dur- 

 ing winter. 



When this cannot be done, the bottom-board 

 may be cleansed by elevating the hive and 

 gently scraping off the deposited debris and 



filth by means of a paddle or spatula. This 

 will save the bees a great deal of labor, and keep 

 many from perishing. But a single supernu- 

 merary honey -board will enable the operator to 

 accomplish his purpose by substituting it for 

 that of one of the other hives, cleansing the 

 latter, and using it to exchange for the next, 

 and thus proceeding till the whole have been 

 cleansed in course. 



It is always more or less injurious if the bees 

 issue when such mild weather occurs while the 

 ground is covered with snow, especially if the 

 sun shines when the bees come forth. Many 

 are thereby blinded, drop into the snow, and 

 perish. On such occasions it is advisaljle to 

 scatter hay or straw on the snow in front of the 

 hives, or to strew ashes upon it. If many 

 bees thus get lost in the snow, they may 

 be collected and put into a tumbler, which, 

 after being covered with a piece of thin muslin 

 or gauze, may be set in a warm room. Most of 

 the bees will soon revive, and may then be 

 given to one of the weaker stocks. 



Should a spell of cold weather follow after the 

 bees have been enabled to fly, they will cluster 

 again in their hives, and ought then to remain, 

 undisturbed. The longer they can now be kept 

 quiet, before the full opening of spring, the bet- 

 ter. No bees are then lost, and as brooding 

 proceeds gradually, an increase of population 

 will be very perceptible when mild weather re- 

 curs. 



While the bees are thus flying for the first 

 time, the bee-keeper should carefully observe 

 their deportment at every hive, to ascertain 

 whether any are qucenless. It is a favorable 

 symptom when the bees come forth in masses, 

 fly briskly, carry out their dead, and otherwise 

 cleanse their hives, all seeming busily engaged 

 in regular labor. 



Inaction and sluggishness on the other hand 

 are unfavorable symptoms, as are likewise a rest- 

 less and discontented roving to and fro, as 

 though in quest of something. Such stocks 

 should be examined again late iu the evening, 

 and the bees have not yet become settled, they 

 may be regarded as qucenless, and will almost 

 surely prove to be so. 



If satisfied that a colony has a queen and is 



