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op hive fronts, and an increased death rate of individual bees. The uneasiness, 

 raises the cluster temperature to the brood rearing point, and brood rearing adds 

 to the sum total of activity, causing increased consumption of food and increased 

 accumulation of fseces, which the workers are unable to void except in flight. 

 The flight of healthy bees in a cellar is prevented by darkness and a low tempera- 

 ture; but those which have become diseased by an overload of faecal matter either 

 develop dysentery and discharge at the hive entrance or fly out into the dark, or 

 to a light carried by an observer, never to return to their hives. This flight of 

 individuals is another indication of poor cellar conditions. 



The date of setting out will depend on the condition of the bees and of the 

 season. Colonies which contained mostly young bees and good stores the previous 

 autumn will, in favorable cellar conditions, endure and profit by a longer confine- 

 ment than others not .so fortunate. In visiting the cellar to judge conditions, 

 no kerosene light should be used on account of the odor, but a small electric light 

 or wax candle. When bees are quiet and not showing dysentery, they should be 

 left in until snow is gone from the yard, and there is something for them to 

 gather outside. The melting of snow can be hastened by shovelling it about when- 

 ever it thaws. The usual rule is to wait, if possible, until soft maple blossoms 

 begin to open. 



Carrying bees out in January or February for a winter fiight, then returning 

 them to the cellar, was tested quite thoroughly some years ago, and condemned 

 as poor practice. WTiere bees cannot be successfully cellar-wintered without this 

 they should, be packed and wintered on their summer stands. 



When the approximate time of setting out has been decided upon, the day 

 and hour must be selected. In making a selection we must take into account the 

 tendency of bees to become excited when first brought out of the cellar into day- 

 light. This excitement is increased by a restless condition of the bees previous 

 to bringing out, by Jarring and delay in carrying, and by the day being very warm. 

 It may be reduced by opening doors and windows the previous evening to give 

 the cellar a good cooling off overnight, by handling the hives very carefully to avoid 

 disturbance, and by selecting a -day which is not too warm. It should be noted 

 that excessive airing of the cellar in spring, while it provides temporary relief, 

 will ultimately increase the uneasiness unless the hives are soon taken out. The 

 first flight of the bees should be accompanied by sunshine, still air, and a tempera- 

 ture of 60° to 60° F., indicated by a thermometer hanging in the shade. Excite- 

 ment, causing large numbers of bees to fly at once, is liable to result in drifting, 

 particularly if the wind becomes strong. By "drifting" is meant many bees 

 going into certain hives, making those colonies too populous and depleting the 

 strength of others. 



This term requires some explanation. When a young bee comes out of its 

 hive for the first time in the summer, it will be seen to turn its head toward the 

 entrance upon taking wing, flying in front of the hive in circles, each circle grow- 

 ing larger as it goes further from the hive until it is lost to sight. In this way 

 it impresses upon its memory the exact spot of "home." On subsequent trips 

 these precautions are not taken, and it leaves its hive in a direct line of flight, 

 never looking back. If the hive is afterwards carried to a new location on' 

 familiar ground less than a mile away, the older bees do not usually notice the 

 change, but return from flight to the exact spot where they first marked their 

 home, there to die as homeless martyrs, unless there are other hives near at hand 

 to receive them. There are occasions, however, in the lives of bees when the 



