AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION DIVISION 

 Special Bulletin No. 38 



University Farm, St. Paul ■;;' April 1919 



Published by the University of Minnesota, College of Agriculture, Extension Division, 

 A. D. Wilson, Director, and distributed in furtherance of the purposes of the cooperative 

 agricultural extension work provided for in the Act of Congress of May 8, 1914. 



MANAGEMENT OF BEES 

 "care of bees in spring 



By Francis Jager, Division of Bee Culture 



Have young prolific queens ; encourage late brood rearing in the fall ; 

 winter your colonies in a dry, warm, dark, and quiet cellar ; prevent drifting 

 and robbing in the spring; feed your bees at home in the spring; and protect 

 your hives against cold and wind. By doing this you will have plenty of bees 

 to raise a large quantity of brood in the spring; your colony will grow rapidly; 

 and when the honey flow finally arrives, in June, you will have your colonies 

 in the best condition to take full advantage of the crop. 



The principal honey flow in Minnesota comes from clover and basswood, 

 during the latter part of June, and the colonies must build up quickly in the 

 spring to be ready for it. A strong colony of bees will store a large surplus of 

 honey, while a weak one will hardly store enough for its own use. In the willow 

 herb regions of the north, the honey flow comes from five to six weeks later, 

 and medium strong colonies will have time to build up to take advantage of it. 



In Minnesota the colonies of bees come from .their winter quarters early 

 in April in a rather weak condition and the beekeeper has only about two and 

 a half months in which to build them up and make them strong for the clover 

 and basswood honey. 



Colonies are made strong by large production of brood and young bees. 

 All spring management of bees must tend toward the largest possible produc- 

 tion of brood. The beekeeper must constantly bear in mind that the colony 

 will not raise more brood than the bees can take care of. The smaller the 

 colony the less brood it will raise. It therefore naturally follows that factors 

 which decrease the size of the colony will also decrease the production of brood; 

 that a loss of bees from the colony will be accompanied by a proportionate 

 loss of brood, and ultimately the loss of the honey crop. 



DWINDLING 



All causes of death or disappearance of bees in the spring, decreasing the 

 size of the colony, have been summed up under the vague term, "spring 

 dwindling." They may be separated into: (i) Natural death; (2) spring 

 drifting; (3) robbing; (4) cold rainy weather and high winds; and (5) starva- 

 tion. It is in the power of the beekeeper to remove these causes, either en- 

 tirely or in large part, by wisely appHed renjedial measures. The result will 

 be strong' colonies in June. 



