THE BEE-KEEPER'S REVIEW 



141 



If your yards are conveniently located, 

 the regfular visits, after the first visit in 

 the spring, should be about every eight or 

 nine days. On the first and second visits, 

 putting your bees in order, there will be 

 very little to be done, as about all there 

 is to keep track of is their stores. If the 

 weather has been unfavorable some col- 

 onies will need feeding, but if it has been 

 favorable there may l>e nothing done. I 

 look at a few of the weaker and lighter 

 colonies to ascertain something of their 

 food needs, and brood conditions; and if I 

 find any of tham in need of stores I supply 

 thsm; but the great majority of the hives 

 I do not even open. 1 just pass along 

 and estimate conditions from the conduct 

 and appearance of the bees. A very ac- 

 curate idea of their condition may be ob- 

 tained quickly in this way. On these two 

 trips, ten hours ought to be sufficient, un- 

 der ordinary conditions, for at least 500 

 colonies of bees. I especially avoid hand- 

 ling combs or opening hives, except where 

 absolutely necessary, during tb.ose two 

 trips, as the bees need -aYl the heat ob- 

 tainable, and ally operation causing any 

 Ip'^'o of heat should be discouraged. 

 givinj surplus room. 

 The third trip, taking about three or 

 three and one-half days, comes in the 

 midst of the dandelion bloom. Honey is 

 coming in freely, and many of the colonies 

 are becoming crowded with bees, and on 

 these I put on second stories which the 

 bees generally occupy and fill at once. 

 Honey now secured from dandelion comes 

 in very nicely for use during the scant 

 times just preceding the clover harvest. 

 There will be many hives very nearly full 

 of bees which will leave you in doubt as 

 to whether they should have a second 

 story or not. In such cases you will re- 

 move the cover, look at a frame or two 

 of brood in the centre of the colony, and 

 also a frame or two somewhat to one 

 side, and if a large share of the remaining 

 brood is capped, you will put on your 

 super. If most of the brood is in the 

 larvae state, I do not give them additional 

 room until my next trip. After opening 



a few colonies of this class and ascertain- 

 ing the advancement of the brood and 

 condition of the brood nest, you can readi- 

 ly diagnose the remainder by simply rais- 

 ing the cover and taking a look at their 

 condition from above. If they have al- 

 ready filled, or nearly filled, the available 

 room in their hive with honey, combs 

 filled or nearly filled with honey and free 

 of brood may be moved to the upper 

 story, and frames of empty comb supplied 

 in their place, but be sure and not inter- 

 fere with or spread the brood nest any, 

 as the surplus hive will draw from them 

 all the heat they can spare. 



Brood will now be hatching in the con- 

 tracted hives, and many of them can ^ak • 

 an additional frame or two, bul t?e ra-'te 

 to put them next to the divisioii t -ard. 

 Treated as I have recornmended ve. y few 

 colonies will be troubled with spring 

 dwindling; but even where it does happen. 

 I seldom draw from a strong colony. 



WHY STREN3THEN1NG WEAK COLONIES IS 

 UNPROFITABLE. 



Where bees in the spring have their 

 vitality so weakened that they persist in 

 dying off in spite of all we can do for 

 them, it is both economy of time and 

 economy of bees to give them their way. 

 We can only strengthen them by giving 

 them eith3r hatching brood or bees at a 

 time when every colony can utilize to the 

 very best advantage all the bees or hatch- 

 ing brood it may have; and, further, after 

 we have given tha invalid colony a card 

 of hatching brood the bees will often 

 leave the young larvae on the outer edges 

 of the comb poorly cared for or utterly 

 neglected. 



The loss, however, from spring dwindl- 

 ing is very small with me, amounting to 

 only about one per cent, which is not near- 

 ly so much as it was when I fussed with 

 them. 



As we extend our out-yards we learn 

 to handle our colonies more and our frames 

 less. A glance at the entrance, and a 

 look at the bees beneath the cover, will 

 give us a very accurate idea of the con- 

 dition of a colony. It is on such a diag_ 



