VOL. LX— NO. 4 



HAMILTON, ILL., APRIL, 1920 



MONTHLY, $1.00 A YFAR 



SPRING MANAGEMENT 



BY C. P. DADANT 



TO speak of spring management, 

 on April 1, to beekeepers in 

 Texas, or California, or Florida, 

 is belated advice. But in our northern 

 and middle States, the bees barely 

 get out of winter's confinement by 

 the end of March, and before that 

 time it is hardly advisable to dis- 

 turb them, unless we have not done 

 right by them and have left them, in 

 the fall, with insufficient stores. 

 Usually there is enough to last them 

 till April, when the increased amount 

 of breeding will require more con- 

 sumption of food. It is also in March 

 that colonies are usually taken out 

 of the winter repositories. 



The cleaning out of the winter's 

 refuse is usually left for the bees to 

 do. With strong colonies, well shel- 

 tered, or after a mild winter, this is 

 probably as good a way as any. But 

 when the bees have suffered much and 

 a handful or more are lying on the 

 bottom, it is a mistake to leave this 

 work to them, when we can do it so 

 much more promptly. Listen to the 

 old teacher, Dzierzon : 



"The dead bees lying on the floor 

 and the wa.x dust (cappings) are re- 

 moved. The latter is not thrown 

 away, but parted from the dead 

 bees by a little sievei because it con- 

 tains the purest wax. If the carry- 

 ing out of the dead bees is cared for 

 by the bees, many living bees are 

 lost through it, by falling in the 

 water or on the cold ground, and 

 chilling before they can disengage 

 themselves from their burdens. It is 

 preferable to save them this labor, 

 which the beekeeper can do in a few 

 seconds." 



Time is money, and most beekeep- 

 ers will think little of saving the light 

 dust of beeswax made from the cut- 

 ting down of the cappings. Yet this 

 old-country process produces quite 

 a little good wax. 



At the same time a soiled hive or 

 bottom-board may be exchanged for 



a clean, dry one. We have some- 

 times saved a weakened colony by a 

 little attention of this kind. If we 

 use a division-board, it will be well 

 to follow the advice of Professor 

 Cook, another of our old-time ad- 

 visers: 



"I have never yet lost a colony by 

 spring dwindling. Crowd the bees 

 onto a few frames; give them abund- 

 ant food; cover warmly above and 

 at sides of division-boards with gen- 

 erous bags of sawdust, and leave 

 these on the hives if the weather re- 

 mains cool." 



It is true that this requires later 

 visits to enlarge the space again for 

 brood when the colony becomes 

 strong and the weather is warm. 

 Beekeepers with several apiaries can- 



not do much of this. Yet it pays for 

 the trouble. 



See to it that your bees have plen- 

 ty, so they may rear brood without 

 stint. Be sure they are in easy reach 

 of water. Water, as far as we know, 

 is not needed by bees, except to pre- 

 pare the food for the larvae or to di- 

 lute sweets that are too thick for 

 consumption. But spring is the time 

 when most of it is used, and we lose 

 more bees from flying out in cool 

 days after cold water than in any 

 other way. If you must feed, feed 

 warm, well diluted food. One of the 

 best beekeepers of Michigan. Mr. 

 Bartlett, produces an artificial flow 

 which induces the bees to breed 

 without actually supplying them with 

 much stores. He mixes sugar with 



The friction top pail with small holes punched in the cover makes the best feeder for bees. For 

 use it is inverted directly above the cluster, on top of the frames. 



