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G Ij E A N I N G R IN BEE IJ E T U R K 



MARf'H. 1921 



.MARCH is the most trying inoiitli for bees 

 that are wintered in the cellar. If they are 

 quiet at this time and 

 Bees Eestless show no indications of 

 in Cellar. dysentery, they may 



be expected to come 

 thru in good condition. On the other hand, 

 if they are noisy now at ordinary tempera- 

 tures and spot their hives around the en- 

 trances they will continue to be restless and 

 will waste their vitality faster and faster 

 from now on until they can be put outside 

 and relieve themselves b}^ a cleansing flight. 

 When bees become noisy in the cellar be- 

 cause the temperature is too high or too 

 low or because of stagnant air in the cellar, 

 the trouble can usually be remedied; but 

 when they become restless because of ac- 

 cumulated feces, resulting from the con- 

 sumption of honey which contains a consid- 

 erable amount of indigestible matter, the 

 only remedy is a good flight in the open 

 air. Putting the bees out on a mild day for 

 a cleansing flight and then returning them 

 to the cellar has been tried as a remedy for 

 this condition, but it is not practiced to 

 any extent at the present time. When the 

 trouble has gone so far that the bees spot 

 their hives badly at this time it is already 

 rather late to apply the remedy, since their 

 vitality is usually so reduced and the bees 

 so greatly aged that the colony will dwindle 

 rapidly in the spring. If the bees are quiet 

 at this time, a cleansing flight is unneces- 

 sary and they will fare better if left in the 

 cellar until they can be put out to stay. 

 0( lo ^^s a =iff 



THOSE who winter their bees in cellars 

 will anxiously watch the weather during 

 the latter part of 

 When Should March for a suitable 

 Bees Be Taken time to put the bees 

 from Cellar? on their summer 

 stands. It sometimes 

 happens that the weather is too cold or too 

 stormy the latter part of March, and the bees 

 must be left inside until early April. 



If the bees have wintered well and are 

 quiet now, a difference of a week or two 

 in the time they are put out may not make 

 much difference to the bees; but it should 

 be remembered that, unless they are win- 

 tering exceptionally well, a week's confine- 

 ment in the cellar late in March or early 

 in April may cause the bees to age more 

 than a month or more last fall. 



It was formerly thought that bees win- 

 tered in the cellar are less hardy when put 

 out in the spring than those wintered out- 

 side and should, therefore, be left in the 

 cellar until late in April, to protect them 

 from the cold spells of early spring. This 

 is true of colonies that have wintered poorly 

 in the cellar, but this is probably because 

 the bees have aged greatly from their rest- 

 lessness in confinement rather than because 

 of any lack of hardiness resulting from be- 

 ing in the cellar during the winter. 



In fact, colonies that have wintered well 



in the cellar should be better able to endure 

 cold spells during early spring than those 

 which have been exposed to the lower tem- 

 peratures outside. The time-honored rule, to 

 put the bees out when the soft maple begins 

 to bloom, is probably as good as any. 

 In the northern portion of the United 

 States, well-wintered colonies, when set out 

 in a sheltered location during the latter 

 part of March or the first week iii April, 

 usually fare better than if left much later. 



ANY THING that will cause the bees to 

 rush madly from their hives in great num- 

 bers for their first flight 

 Drifting in in the spring will cause 

 the Spring, drifting. In bad cases 

 of drifting so many 

 bees may return to a few hives that these 

 colonies become abnormally strong, while 

 other colonies lose so many of their bees 

 that they are reduced to mere nuclei. 



Colonies that are wintered outside are 

 sometimes inclined to drift if the hives are 

 too close together; but, if they have had 

 frequent flights during the winter, they do 

 not often cavxse trouble from drifting. 



Bees that are put out of the cellar during 

 the middle of a warm day, with entrances 

 left wide open, will rush out in such great 

 numbers in their eagerness for flight that 

 they fail to mark their locations, and drift- 

 ing is sure to follow, since in returning they 

 are inclined to enter the hive having the 

 greatest commotion at the entrance. Bees 

 that have wintered poorly are usually more 

 inclined to drift than bees that have win- 

 tered well. 



Anything that tends to reduce the vol- 

 ume of flight on the first flight-day will re- 

 duce the tendency to drift. A thorough air- 

 ing of the cellar, by leaving the doors wide 

 open during a night or two just before the 

 bees are to be taken out, causes them to be 

 quieter while being carried out and after- 

 wards to fly in a more nearly normal man- 

 ner. Closing down the entrance to an inch 

 or less in width before they begin to fly 

 will prevent too many bees rushing out at 

 once, thus helping to prevent drifting. Good 

 wintering, a thorough airing of the cellar 

 the night before, careful handling of the 

 hives while carrying them out, and con- 

 tracting the entrances immediately on plac- 

 ing the hives on their summer stands should 

 prevent any trouble from drifting. 



If the bees are put out at a time when it 

 is too cold for them to fly and the entrances 

 are contracted, they will usually take their 

 first flight without drifting. When they 

 liave wintered well no apparent harm is 

 (lone even if they are not able to fly for 

 several days after being set out; but, if 

 they have wintered poorly, this would be a 

 dangerous procedure. By consulting the 

 daily weather map, issued by the Weather 

 Bureau, it should be possible to set the bees 

 out the day before the arrival of the flight- 

 day, which is a great advantage. 



