72 



TEE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



March 



(From American Bee Journal). 



PREPARING AND MOVING BEES IN 

 MARCH. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



QuES. — " I must move on the first 

 of March. Will my bees suffer by be- 

 ing packed and transported at that 

 time ? and would I better cover them 

 up again ? — W. S." 



Ans. — It is difficult to answer such 

 a question by yes or no. The safety 

 of transporting bees at that time de- 

 pends considerably upon their condi- 

 tion. After a winter like the present, 

 when they have had a chance to take 

 a flight every few days, there is much 

 less danger of any loss in transporting 

 them as early as March, for they are 

 usually very strong in numbers, and 

 have been breeding quite freely, often 

 as early as January. The hatching of 

 young bees early in the year is the 

 best security against spring dwindling. 



On the other hand when the colony 

 has been weakened by repeated losses 

 due to extreme cold, or tu the death 

 of a part of the cluster from its being 

 on the outside combs away from the 

 main body, during a protracted cold 

 spell, there is but little tendency to 

 brood rearing and the colony is unable 

 to recuperate its losses be they ever so 

 small, until the warm days enable 

 them to create a sufficient heat to en- 

 courage the queen to lay. Thus after 

 a long cold winter, if the bees have 

 barely commenced to breed, there is a 

 great deal of danger in the transport- 



ing of them early, as the loss of a few 

 bees that may occur will weaken the 

 colony that much more. If the breed- 

 ing is not sufficient to keep up the 

 force there are continuous losses of 

 bees in cool windy days, especially 

 when they feel the necessity of going 

 out after pollen or water. 



Some of the most noted naturalists 

 tell us that bees do not need water for 

 their brood, that they can rear plenty 

 of young bees without a drop of water, 

 but the practical apiarist who learns 

 bee culture by the experience of daily 

 observation knows that the bees do use 

 a great deal of water. He has observ- 

 ed them in early springs around 

 streams pumping up the moisture from 

 between the grains of sand on the riv- 

 er's edge, or the dew from the moist 

 leaves ; he has seen them venture out 

 in cool days, evidently with no other 

 purpose than that of getting water, 

 and he knows that although they may 

 be able to breed some without water 

 when honey is fresh and thin, they 

 surely need a great deal of it to pre- 

 pare the food for the larvas when the 

 honey is thick and the pollen dry as 

 it must be after winter. 



We would therefore say: After an 

 open winter — one in which the bees 

 have had a flight once every two or 

 three weeks or oftener — if they have 

 sustained but little loss and have 

 plenty of brood, we would not hesitate 

 to transport them in the beginning of 

 March, and would think it hardly 

 necessary to pack them up again, ex- 

 cept perhaps the weak colonies of 

 which there are always a few in a 

 good sized apiary; but if the winter 

 has been hard, if the breeding has 

 barely begun or if there have been 

 heavy losses, we would use a great 



