11 
Annual re-queening is an absolute essential, as it is 
extremely difficult to stimulate an old queen of the previous 
year, to the extent required. 
SPRING TREATMENT. 
_ Where the winter has been mild—as experienced 
during recent years—it is advisable to place a cake of candy 
on the top of the frames in February, as this is a great 
stimulant at this period, and generally results in the very 
early production of brood. 
As soon as pollen is carried into the hive in quantity, 
the quilts may be raised on a warm day, and some of the 
outer combs of food uncapped without causing undue 
disturbance of the bees. If short of food, this may be 
given as candy, or as syrup by means of a brood nest feeder. 
The uncapping of the food combs should be gradually 
extended, from time to time, until all combs containing 
food have been treated in this way, with the exception of 
those containing brood. 
The object of this treatment is the utilisation of the 
stores of the colony before the spring feeding commences, 
so as to prevent the filling of the combs with food, and the 
consequent limitation of the brood space. 
When all food combs have been treated as advised 
the spring feeding should commence and the stock will 
rapidly build up, new frames being given as required until 
the stock covers 20 brood frames by the first or second 
week in May. 
When this stage is reached the Demaree method of 
swarm control should be practised, the queen being con- 
fined to the lower brood chamber, by means of a wire 
queen excluder, and kept supplied with egg laying space, 
by interchange of combs from above with those down 
below. 
As swarming can be entirely prevented by this 
method, the yields of honey are very much larger than 
generally obtained, as the stocks can be worked of very 
much greater strength. 
