Maech, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



145 



WORKERS FOR THE HONEY FLOW 



A Few Simple Requirements Which 



Greatly Increase the Strength of 



Colonies 



By H. F. Wilson 



BE E K E E P- 

 ERS in the 

 North are 

 soon to face the 

 problem of get- 

 ting the bees in 

 shape for the 

 1921 honey crop. 

 Very few bee- 

 keepers realize 

 tlie factor of success involved in just the 

 right care of bees from March to June. They 

 feel that if the bees come thru the winter 

 successfully, they have done their best and 

 that success or failure depends upon the sea- 

 son to follow. But what of the one or two 

 beekeepers in the neighborhood who secure 

 a part of a crop altho all others failed? Did 

 the successful ones give the bees the needed 

 care in the spring? 



It is so easy to do and the results are so 

 well known among practical beekeepers that 

 it is sometimes hard to understand why 90 

 per cent of our beekeepers simply set the 

 bees out-of-doors in the spring and leave 

 them without protection and without suffi- 

 cient stores to build up as best they can. It 

 is my belief that protection and a super- 

 abundance of stores are fully as important 

 in the spring as during the winter — and per- 

 haps more so. 



During the winter the temperature sur- 

 rounding the cluster will be held at 57 de- 

 grees F. as long as the bees have stores and 

 energy to live, regardless of the cold outside. 

 During that time the temperature may go 

 below the zero point for a short period at a 

 time, but it will range mostly 20 de- 

 grees F. or higher. The bees are then re- 

 quired only to produce heat to raise the tem- 

 perature 30 to 50 degrees F. In addition, 

 they are not at that time required to use 

 energy in the production of wax and food 

 for the young. 



Value of Spring Protection. 



As soon as brood-rearing starts in the 

 spring the temperature inside the cluster 

 and around the young brood is increased to 

 93 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. At the same 

 time the outside temperature will in the 

 North run about 30 degrees F., with fluctua- 

 tions during March and April up to 65 de- 

 grees F. Under these conditions the bees are 

 forced to produce energy which will keep 

 the temperature up to that required for 

 brood-rearing, a difference of 30 to 60 de- 

 grees. During that time an excess of energy 

 is also being used in producing larval food, 

 and possibly other products. 



A practical illustration of how tempera- 

 ture influences the development of brood in 

 the spring may be demonstrated by watch- 

 ing three types of colonies, those of mini- 

 mum, medium, and maximum strength. By 

 May the weak colony will have only a small 

 circle of brood, indicating the inside space 

 covered by the cluster. This will be more or 

 less true also of the medium colony, but the 

 area of the brood-uest will extend bcvond 



the ordinary 

 winter cluster- 

 ing space. In the 

 strong colony 

 the brood-nest 

 will be several 

 times larger 

 than the winter 

 clustering space 

 and several 

 frames may be filled from end to end. 



It is, of course, a recognized fact that 

 strong colonies in the spring are able to 

 build up strong for the honey flow, but how 

 many beekeepers have ever carried on trials 

 with protected and unprotected colonies 

 with extra space for breeding and with more 

 stores than seemed necessary? When a dem- 

 onstration of this nature is carried on it is 

 truly remarkable, and this is the principal 

 reason why beekeepers who have tried pack- 

 ing the bees out-of-doors have reached the 

 conclusion that outdoor packing is better 

 than cellar wintering. However, the cellar 

 wintering was not at fault, but the fact that 

 the bees wintered out-of-doors had spring 

 protection made it appear so. In the north- 

 ern States the bees are often removed from 

 the cellar and placed in exposed locations 

 where the north and west winds sweep over 

 them, causing a loss of heat which can only 

 be made up by extra work on the part of 

 the bees and a consequent loss of energy 

 which should be conserved for a greater ex- 

 pansion of the brood-nest. Whenever a cold, 

 wet spring occurs the bees have great diffi- 

 culty in building up and always I'each the 

 honey flow in poor condition unless pro- 

 tected. The bees may be set out to advan- 

 tage as soon as the snow is off the ground if 

 they are given protection. There is consid- 

 erable evidence to show that too much jiack- 

 ing in the spring is detrimental as in heavy 

 winter packing. If the packing is too heavy, 

 the heat of the sun does not penetrate to the 

 hive, and the bees do not come out and fly 

 during the few days that are warn\ enough 

 for a flight. 



The Necessity of an Abundance of Stores. 

 Here in Wisconsin the mouth of April is 

 always cold and the night temperatures fre- 

 quently drop to near the freezing point. Per- 

 haps there are only a few days when the 

 bees can fly, and in that case we say that 

 the bees being unable to gather pollen and 

 nectar could not build up. This may be true 

 in many cases, but it would not be the case 

 if the beekeeper would only provide nbnnd- 

 ant stores. In truth, the liees do not need to 

 fly more than three or four times dui'ing the 

 latter part of March and April, and condi- 

 tions without the hive have little or no ef- 

 fect on the development of the brood if 

 conditions are right within. 



Room Needed for Full Development. 



Some of the IxM'kepers in Wisconsin wlio 



liave been content with one hive-body full 



of bees at the beginning of the honey flow, 



have, during the past two years, been 



