274 THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL 
supply of pollen, together with water, are the first 
requirements of the spring, both essential to the 
brood; and the eagerness of the bees to seek them 
is a certain indication of health and strength in the 
hive. The supply of the substitute for pollen (page 
246) must, however, be maintained as long as the 
bees continue to resort to it—which they will do 
until the opening blossoms afford them their natural 
provision. Stocks thus treated are greatly forwarded 
both in breeding and swarming. At page 162 a 
list is given of early flowering plants, which it is 
desirable to have in the immediate vicinity of the 
hives. At present the bees are weak, and unequal 
to a long flight; the weather, too, is on many days 
unfavourable for it. 
An attentive observer will now readily distinguish 
the strong, healthy stocks; but now and then a 
family may be seen sluggish in its work, though, 
perhaps, not deficient in numbers. The cause may 
generally be traced to an unfruitful queen, to be got 
rid of as soon as the season is a little more 
advanced, when a successor can be reared in the way 
described under the head “Queen Bee.” Or the 
same may happen if the queen has died before the 
bees have the means of establishing another, when 
an abandonment of the hive often ensues, though 
honey may still be plentiful in store. Prudence will 
at this time point out the expediency of surveying 
the state of the apiary as to repairs, painting, &e., 
to be carried out before the bees have fully entered 
upon a state of activity. 
Spring Feeding.—It is well now to examine the 
