THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



77 



out in the latitudes mentioned 

 above, until the weather gets fine 

 and warm, even if that takes to 

 the middle of May or later. In 

 addition to these reasons for no 

 hurry in setting out bees in spring, 

 I always make it a point to over- 

 haul them and fix them up the 

 same day they are set out, and 

 this could not be done in a day or 

 two. 



So much for tlie time and order 

 of setting out. What next? After 

 the colony is placed on its own old 

 stand, first see tliat the exit is well 

 cleared so that the bees can pass 

 out and in freely. By the time 

 you get all for : that day set out, 

 the first will be about ready for 

 manipulation. Have your dupli- 

 cate empty hive prepared — clean 

 and nice — and then proceed to lift 

 the frames out, bees and all, clean 

 them by brushing ofi' adhering 

 dead bees, etc., and put tliem in 

 the clean hive, that is the frames 

 containing most stores, and those 

 containing brood, simply leav- 

 ing them the number of frames 

 they can fully cover and removing 

 all the others to a proper place to 

 be kept until wanted. Care must 

 be taken not to chill any brood 

 that may be present. Crowd the 

 frames up together pretty closely, 

 put your division-board in, one on 

 each side of tlie frames ; fill in with 

 sawdust or chaff quilts ; put lots of 

 warm, non-conducting quilts on 

 top to keep in the heat, contract 

 the entrance and the job is done. 

 But while making this spring over- 

 haul of the colony certain facts 

 and conditions must be noted so 

 that the colony need not be again 

 disturbed till necessary. If there 

 is no brood present, hunt up the 

 queen to satisfy yourself the col- 

 ony is not queenless. Then note 

 the presence or absence of pollen, 

 the quantity of honey, when they 

 will need more comb and room, 

 etc., etc. This can all be noted 



in your memorandum book if your 

 hives are numbered (which they 

 ought to be) or can be simply noted 

 on a piece of paper and left under 

 the cover on top of the quilts. Fix 

 your hives all up in this way snug 

 and comfortable — and then you can 

 always tell what hives require j'our 

 attention by referring to your 

 memorandum. The habit of open- 

 ing hives in spring unnecessarily 

 is a bad one and ought to be dis- 

 couraged. Indeed it is bad at all 

 seasons, but especially so during 

 the chilly, changeable weather of 

 spring, when the heat of the colony 

 ought to be carefully conserved. 



The main advantage in leaving 

 bees with plenty of stores in the 

 cellar till late in the spring is 

 this : the old workers live much 

 longer in than out, not being ex- 

 posed to the weather vicissitudes 

 of the spring season. Many a 

 colony that now dwindles and dies 

 outside would, if left inside in 

 proper quarters, come through all 

 right. If they are fairly quiet, 

 and have plenty of both pollen 

 and honey, and the repository is 

 comfortable, they are nuich better 

 in until the weather gets warm 

 and settled. If the Lives are on 

 bottom-boards in the cellar there 

 will of course be more or less of 

 an accumulation of dead bees be- 

 low, and this is one of the main 

 objections to leaving them in late. 

 In the case of movable bottoms 

 this diflflculty can, however, be 

 easily overcome by quietly lifting 

 each hive oflT its bottom board and 

 placing it on another clean one. 

 This, if done carefully, will disturb 

 the bees very little. Fast bottoms 

 can be pretty well cleaned oflf 

 through the eiftrance by means of 

 a wire with a crook on one end. 



The colonies outside short of 

 pollen can 1)e fed substitutes before 

 the natural pollen appears.' Spread 

 oilcake meal, rye meal, or wheat 

 meal on old sheets near the bees 



