. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. VOL. LX—NO. 4 HAMILTON, ILL., APRIL, 1920 MONTHLY, $ A YFAR SPRING MANAGEMENT BY C. P. DADANT TO speak of spring management, on April 1, to beekeepers in Texas, or California, or Florida, is belated advice. But in our northern and middle States, the bees barely get out of winter's confinement by the end of March, and before that time it is hardly advisable to dis- turb them, unless we have not done right by them and have left them, in the fall, with insufficient stores. Usually there is enough to last them till April, when the increased amount of
. American bee journal. Bee culture; Bees. VOL. LX—NO. 4 HAMILTON, ILL., APRIL, 1920 MONTHLY, $ A YFAR SPRING MANAGEMENT BY C. P. DADANT TO speak of spring management, on April 1, to beekeepers in Texas, or California, or Florida, is belated advice. But in our northern and middle States, the bees barely get out of winter's confinement by the end of March, and before that time it is hardly advisable to dis- turb them, unless we have not done right by them and have left them, in the fall, with insufficient stores. Usually there is enough to last them till April, when the increased amount of breeding will require more con- sumption of food. It is also in March that colonies are usually taken out of the winter repositories. The cleaning out of the winter's refuse is usually left for the bees to do. With strong colonies, well shel- tered, or after a mild winter, this is probably as good a way as any. But when the bees have suffered much and a handful or more are lying on the bottom, it is a mistake to leave this work to them, when we can do it so much more promptly. Listen to the old teacher, Dzierzon : "The dead bees lying on the floor and the dust (cappings) are re- moved. The latter is not thrown away, but parted from the dead bees by a little sievei because it con- tains the purest wax. If the carry- ing out of the dead bees is cared for by the bees, many living bees are lost through it, by falling in the water or on the cold ground, and chilling before they can disengage themselves from their burdens. It is preferable to save them this labor, which the beekeeper can do in a few ; Time is money, and most beekeep- ers will think little of saving the light dust of beeswax made from the cut- ting down of the cappings. Yet this old-country process produces quite a little good wax. At the same time a soiled hive or bottom-board may be exchanged for a clean, dry one. We have some- times saved a weakened colony by a little attention of this kind
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbees, bookyear1861
