118 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
May, 1919 
AMONG WISCONSIN BEEKEEPERS 
The Wisconsin BeeKeepers Page 
Prof. H. F. Wilson Editor 
Spring Management of Bees. 
EARLY INSPECTION. 
Spring management is one of the 
greatest problems in beekeeping. 
The task is to so manage the pol- 
onies that the largest possible forces 
of worker bees are available at tbe 
beginning of the period when, in 
your locality, the most important 
honey plants begin to yield nectar. 
Efficient spring management reme- 
dies any mistakes made since the 
previous honey flow, and prepares 
to get each colony of bees to maxi- 
mum strength for the yield of nec- 
tar. There are really only two 
seasons for the beekeeper. One is 
during the preparation for the 
honey flow — from the end of honey 
production one year to the begin- 
ning of the honey flow the next 
year — and second, during the pe- 
riod of the honey flow itself. 
After bees are set out of the cel- 
lar, or when wintered out doors, 
each hive should be examined at the 
earliest time the weather permits. 
Colonies should be examined at 
once for three necessities : 1. Ade- 
quate stores, 2. A laying queen, 
3. Sufficient room for the queen to 
lay eggs. 
UNITING QUEENLESS COLONIES. 
Wll ere no queen is found in a 
hive in the spring, the queenless 
colony should be united at once 
with a colony having a queen. 
This should also be done where the 
queen appears to be failing. It 
does not pay to pamper a weak col- 
ony, at any time. Only strong col- 
onies produce enough honey to pay 
the cost of their upkeep. 
To unite two colonies of bees, 
place the hive containing the weak, 
queenless colony above the hive con- 
taining a colony with a queen, 
with a single sheet of newspaper 
between. Punch one or two holes 
through the paper with a lead pen- 
cil. The bees will do the rest. 
If there is brood in the queenless 
colony, shake the bees off the brood 
frames into their own hive, and 
put the brood in the hive which has 
a queen, before uniting. Other- 
wise, the brood may be chilled and 
die if the weather is cool. The sec- 
ond hive should not be left above 
any longer than necessary to unite 
the bees, probably forty-eight 
hours, if the weather is cold. Too 
much room to heat in cool weather 
taxes the strength of the bees. 
Try to have all colonies strong and 
of nearly equal strength in bees 
in early spring. 
HOW TO FEED BEES. 
Where the bees are short of stores 
in spring, feeding may be resorted 
to. If you have clean combs con- 
taining good honey, replace empty 
ones in the hive with combs con- 
taining honey. (Beekeepers must 
always remember that American 
foul brood, a bee disease, is trans- 
mitted through honey. Do not buy 
hives, honey for feed or any other 
than new bee supplies from any- 
one unless the seller can show a 
state apiary inspector’s certificate 
of ‘ ‘ no disease. ’ ’ Dr. S. B. Fraeker, 
Acting State Entomologist, State 
Capitol, Madison, Wisconsin, is in 
charge of apiary inspection work in 
Wisconsin. For the names of in- 
spectors in other states, write the 
United States Bee Culture Labora- 
tory, Chevy Chase, D. C.) 
Sugar syrup may be given in a 
feeder placed as near a cluster of 
bees as possible. For this a France 
feeder is ideal when placed inside 
an empty super above the bees. If 
the weather is cold, lay several 
thicknesses of newspaper between 
the empty super and the brood 
chamber. Tear a small round hole 
in the newspaper over which to set 
the feeder. This keeps the heat be- 
low. Sugar syrup is made of one 
part clean water and two parts 
pure, granulated cane sugar. Im- 
pure feed causes dysentery among 
bees. Do not feed heated syrup. 
The amount of feed needed to rear 
a frame of brood is unknown. 
Bees may have to be fed frequently 
if short of stores until nectar is 
available from natural sources. 
PROVIDING ADEQUATE ROOM. 
If a strong colony is opened early 
in the spring, and all frames are 
found to be full of brood and honey, 
more room will be needed at once, 
to prevent swarming. Add an- 
other hive body of clean drawn 
combs containing but little honey. 
This will allow the queen adequate 
room for egg laying, and give the 
bees space to store the first honey 
gathered in the field. 
These manipulations bring one 
up to the beginning of the first im- 
portant honey flow in late spring. 
Put on supers at the beginning of 
the honey flow, as needed. If you 
are producing comb honey, a queen 
excluder may be placed above all 
the brood, even if the queen is lay- 
ing in more than one brood cham- 
ber. With extracted honey produc- 
