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warms up quickly in average seasons, this has not been found to be worth while; 

 however, packed covers are desirable. It is important that the hives should be put 

 in a place sheltered from cold winds, and the size of the entrance should be reduced. 



The colonies may be examined on a warm day when the bees are flying freely. 

 Those having less than ten or fifteen pounds of stores should be given combs of 

 stores to make up the deficiency, and colonies that are without queens or that 

 have drone breeding queens, should be united to weak colonies that contain fertile 

 queens. Very weak colonies may be saved by placing them over strong colonies with 

 a queen excluder between. 



It is wise to defer this first examination until after a few days of favourable 

 conditions and nectar is coming in freely. In their first flight after the winter, the 

 bees of the different colonies mix considerably, especially if wind blows through the 

 apiary, and the large numbers of strange bees in the hive with no nectar coming in 

 are liable to cause the queens to be attacked, balled, and possibly stung, so that one or 

 two of their legs may be paralyzed or they may even be killed, if the colony is opened 

 and examined. Also at a later period the presence of a fertile queen can be more 

 easily and quickly ascertained by noting the presence of capped worker brood, which 

 can be distinguished from drone brood by its flat and not strongly convex capping,?. 

 Some queens do not begin to lay until some days after the colonies have been removed 

 from the cellar. Further, there is a greater risk of brood getting chilled during early 

 examination than when the weather is warmer. 



