16 ARKANSAS EXPERIMENT STATION 



hive, or if the colony is queenless, it should be united to a strong 

 colony, taking the necessary precautions to prevent hgnting. 

 At this time of the year uniting a queenless colony with a strong 

 one having a good queen is better than requeenmg. While queens 

 may be secured from queen breeders located in the extreme 

 Southern states; requeening is not advised for such colonies at 

 this time because of the frequent delay in the delivery of queens. 

 Weak colonies should never be made to rear their own queens, 

 because such queens rarely render good service. 



The colonies should now be examined from time to time 

 when the weather permits. Care must, of course, be taken not 

 to open the hives on very cool days because it may result in 

 chilling of the brood and causing it to die. At this time the bee- 

 keeper should see that the brood nest expands properly. If 

 necessary, he can aid in this process by a judicious spreading of 

 the brood. 



A very important need for the bees in spring is a constant 

 and ample supply of fresh water. If there is no small stream 

 near by, fresh water should be provided in some other way. 



In some localities there is at times a dearth of pollen in the 

 early spring when brood rearing is begun. Some authorities 

 have recommended various kinds of flour or meal as a substitute 

 for pollen. While the bees will greedily gather flour when pol- 

 len is not available this does not prove that it is a good substi- 

 tute. As a matter of fact it is not, for the bees cannot digest the 

 large amount of starch present in the substitutes. Moreover, 

 in Arkansas where soft maples, elms, and willows are common 

 all over the state, the bees will rarely if ever lack the required 

 amount of pollen. 



Swarming. Nature has given bees the instinct to swarm 

 under certain conditions. It is the natural method of making new 

 colonies, the perpetuation of the species. For this reason swarm- 

 ing cannot be eliminated. However, it can be largely controlled, 

 and the losses due to swarming can be almost entirely prevented! 

 When the bees get the desire to swarm they start a number of 

 queen cells. Under favorable weather conditions the old queen 

 with a large portion of the bees leaves the hive shortly before 

 the first of the young queens emerges. 



In the years past beekeepers have been in the habit of 

 measuring their success in terms of swarms that issued during 

 the season. At the present, however, success is based solely on 

 the amount of surplus honey produced. The two do not go to 

 gether; if a surplus is to be gained, swarming must be kent 

 under control. "^cjjl 



Swarm Control. In attempting to control swarming one 

 should know the cause. As stated above, the primary cause fw 



