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.
APRIL.
April may be considered the first month of the apiarian's year, a month of busy preparation for the coming honey season and its many pleasing occupations. A good supply of new straw hives (where they are used) is supposed to be already in hand, with glasses and covers, depriving-hives, adapting-boards, Bee-dresses for the operator and an assistant, and indeed, of everything that will be required during the season.
Feeding.—I must again press upon all persons who have weak stocks the necessity of feeding. The Bees are beginning to bestir themselves when the sun shines warm; and inexperienced Bee-keepers are apt to think that their stocks are now past danger, and so take no more care of them. But the truth is, that the early spring months are the most dangerous of all; many stocks that have stood the winter die in the spring, which a few ounces even of food would prevent. There is nothing to be gathered in the fields till April, and in cold late seasons not muck before even May. Stocks should be watched well in spring, and weak ones fed liberally. As soon as they begin to stir a little food should be given them every other day, or thereabouts, until they refuse to take it, for they will neglect the food given them as soon as they can gather honey.
Method of Feeding.—The best manner of giving food to Bees in a common straw hive is to put it into a dinner-plate, cover it with a piece of writing paper thickly perforated, and place it under the hive; but should there not be sufficient room for the plate without touching the combs, the hive may be raised upon a wooden hoop, the exact size of the hive, and about 2 inches deep, or upon a piece cut from the bottom of an old straw hive. The food must be given after sunset, and the plate removed by sunrise the next morning. The entrance must be stopped while the food remains in the hive; a piece of soft paper answers remarkably well for this purpose.