MARCH.
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.