April, 1917 



261 



GLEANINGS IN BEE 



CULTURE 



■3sr 



^|.FROM THETIELD OF EXPERIENCE'-;" 



Conversations with Doolittle 

 " Please tell when bees can be set out of 

 the cellar to the best advantage, and any 

 other matters regarding their removal from 

 the cellar that you think of importance." 



Perhaps at no time of the year is bee- 

 keeping more fascinating than at the time 

 when we set the colonies out on their sum- 

 mer stands. Regarding the time of doing 

 this there seems to be a difference of opin- 

 ion among practical beekeepers. Some men 

 of large experience in this matter think it 

 better to set them out on the first favorable 

 day in March, telling us that these early 

 flights are beneficial in many ways — that 

 they largely prevent what is called " spring- 

 dwindling," which, some years, takes off 50 

 per cent of the colonies during April and 

 May. Others believe it is better to wait 

 till the soft maple and elm are in bloom, or 

 even later, if the prospects for warm weath- 

 er are not favorable, claiming that, with the 

 advent of warm weather, each bee alive at 

 that time can bring to maturity three young 

 bees, while in early spring it takes three 

 bees to bring one on the stage of action. 



My experience, covering nearly half a 

 century, tells me that the best time depends 

 upon several conditions. If the bees have 

 wintered well, so that they remain very 

 quiet, almost dormant, in the spring, I be- 

 lieve it is better to wait until settled warm 

 weather before removing tliem from the 

 cellar. On the other hand, if the conditions 

 have been such that early spring finds them 

 very restless and uneasy — many leaving the 

 hives and dying — my experience has been 

 that the sooner they are set out the better. 

 There is often, however, what may be 

 called an intermediate condition when it is 

 not easy to determine when to rem.ove them. 

 there being no material difference, appar- 

 ently, whether they are set out in early 

 March or in late April. Those set out 

 consume more stores; but if there is no 

 very severely cold weather after they are 

 set out they will be enough stronger at the 

 beginning of the white-honey harvest more 

 than to offset the evtra stores consumed. 

 On the other hand, if there is very severe 

 weather, especially if it comes after they 

 have been set out long enough to have their 

 most advanced brood nearly ready to 

 emerge, they may be considerably weaker 

 than those left in until later. As the 

 weather cannot be foretold, my practice in 



this intern^.cdiate condition has usually been 

 to set out a part of the colonies quite early, 

 and to leave the rest until the prospects for 

 settled warm weather are well assured. 



There is anotlier matter on which there is 

 a difference of opinion; namely, whether it 

 makes any difference whether each colony 

 is set upon the same stand it occupied the 

 previous season. Where lack of room re- 

 quires that the hives be set close together, 

 and for any reason the colonies must all 

 be set out on the same day, I think it is 

 better to set each colony on its old stand, 

 then there is less danger of mixing. 



In bringing the colony from the cellar, a 

 wet cloth should be throAvn ever the en- 

 trance, thereby causing the bees to remain 

 in the hive till it is carried outside the cellar 

 door. Then the cloth should be rolled back 

 at one end of the entrance to make room 

 for the nozzle of the smoker, and 

 enough smoke is blown in to cause the bees 

 to run away with a humming sound. The 

 hive should now be carried to the desired 

 place, two or three more puffs of smoke 

 blown in at the opposite end of the en- 

 trance, ai:d the hive set on the stand it is to 

 occupy. In this way no bees come out and 

 get lost as they are carried from the cellar; 

 they come out as slowly as if they had been 

 Avintered on their summer stand, and the 

 location is as carefully marked as if they 

 had never been carried into the cellar. Cot- 

 ton cloth, folded to the right size to tuck 

 in at the entrance, is very satisfactory when 

 bees are to be moved only short distances. 

 The cloth should be kept wet, or as damp as 

 pcssible, and not drip. I have found this 

 plan far preferable to blocks of any kind. 



After the bees have had their cleansing 

 flight the entrance should be contracted to 

 suit the size of the colonies, giving about 

 two inch&s in length to the weaker ones, 

 and five for the strongest. A fairly still 

 day is preferable for setting bees out of the 

 cellar; but a moderate breeze docs no special 

 liarm. In the case of an out-apiary, going 

 alicad even with quite stiff wind is gener- 

 ally preferable to waiting for a better day. 



While it is not often too warm for set- 

 ting out the bees in early spring, care must 

 be used if the temperature is from 75 to 80 

 degrees in the shade, for those first set out 

 will have liad their cleansing flight and 

 rush in as robbers on those that have just 

 commenced to fly, and thus robbing will get 



