Our little favourites, by the appearance of the early spring flowers,
and the return of milder weather, are again aroused into life and
activity; but it must always be remembered that the most trying time
for them is from the middle of February to the end of March; for none
but well-stored stocks can bear up against the great inequality betwixt
the internal demand and the external supply of this period. The winter,
to be sure, has been very cold, which is generally in their favour;
for but little, if any, evil is to be apprehended from a cold winter,
though much may arise from a mild one; as, during the latter, the
stock of honey is often exhausted, from its inducing the Bees to be in
action, without affording them any resources beyond their own stores.
Diseases.--This is the month in which dysentery and other disorders
make their appearance amongst the Bees; but cleanliness and timely
supplies of food are the best remedies, and which are always found to
prevent it.
Spring-feeding, however, must be done sparingly; for if the Bees have
had a sufficient winter's supply, feeding will only be required on a
small scale, and to those that are weak, it being chiefly intended as
a stimulant to promote early breeding. A hive that has less than 5 lbs.
of honey in it is a weak one.
The importance of feeding is very great; for languor and death, says
Dr. Bevan, are less frequently to be ascribed to disease than to the
want of timely food.
Hives.--The time has now fully arrived for all careful apiarians to
possess themselves of as many hives, glasses, boxes, bee-dresses,
&c., as they are likely to require during the coming season; and to
those who prefer the use of straw hives I would say (and that most
emphatically), Never put a swarm into an old hive. Mr. Huish has said,
and with much truth, that old hives are generally so overrun with
vermin of an obnoxious character to Bees, that, even should the swarm
condescend to remain in them, the ensuing winter will place the hive in
such a ruinous state, that the Bees will forsake it in search of a more
salubrious domicile, or the contents of the hive will be destroyed by
the insects. Boxes that have been already tenanted should be cleaned
most carefully, and boiling water from the spout a tea-kettle poured
over the joints where the eggs of the wax moth--that redoubted enemy of
the Bees--will very probably have been deposited.
Haybands.--I have put in practice, with my own Bees, what I recommended
last month--namely, covering some of my hives with haybands. The good,
should any be found to arise from it, in promoting early breeding,
shall be communicated in due course.
Cleaning Floor-boards.--When performing this operation, should the
hives be found to be at all damp or mouldy, take the precaution of
raising them a little for a few hours on a dry day.
Snow.--Should we after mild weather have snow, it will be necessary
to keep the entrances of the hives stopped whilst it remains upon the
ground, or the loss of life will be very great, which, at this season,
should be more especially guarded against.
Examination.--Immediately upon the disappearance of snow, every hive
should be carefully examined, and clean floor-boards supplied wherever
the least dampness is observed.
Bees Gathering Pollen.--Bees may now be seen upon a bright day in the
Aconites and early kinds of Crocuses, collecting the little pollen
and honey which they afford; and it is but little indeed--only just
sufficient to arouse the workers to activity, and the queens to
depositing their eggs: therefore, without careful and constant feeding,
death by starvation must follow, for I imagine that not one stock in
ten has sufficient honey in store to support it through the winter and
early spring.
Forsaking Hives.--Where the population is low, and little or no food
in store, the Bees are very likely, upon a fine and mild day towards
the end of the month, to forsake their hives entirely, and to join
themselves to more populous and better-stored communities. This
desertion, when it happens towards the end of April, is frequently
mistaken for an early swarm. The only means of prevention is to keep
them well supplied with food; but even this will not, in all cases,
keep them from leaving their hives.
Wasps.--It will be well, during the present and the next month, to
be looking for queen wasps, and destroying every one that makes its
appearance. A garden syringe is the most useful thing I have ever found
to effect their destruction, for if discharged at them, it brings them
to the ground, and the foot then finishes the business.
Buying Stocks.--March is a good time for purchasing stocks, for those
who are desirous to become Bee-keepers; and there is sufficient
encouragement, I think, to induce many persons to engage in it,
for their cultivation, if properly managed, is attended with very
considerable advantage, much more, indeed, than what is generally
supposed, and would not be by any means a contemptible consideration
with even those who may fill a superior rank in the rural population of
our country.