Water.—This must be supplied to the Bees immediately, for it is in the spring that they have the greatest occasion for it. The plan that I have adopted is to have a trough of wood, or stone, 18 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 6 inches deep, sunk in the ground in the immediate vicinity of the apiary, with a piece of thin wood, thickly perforated with small holes, made to fit loosely into it. This perforated wood, when the trough is filled with water, will float upon its surface, and save the Bees from drowning—a mode of death causing the loss of numbers should they, for want of this little accommodation, be obliged to go to an open cistern or pool.
Hives.—It is now quite time to have a supply of hives for the coming season, where new ones are required; and where old ones are to be used, to have them well cleaned. It is also a good time to paint those hives that are occupied—it will greatly improve their appearance, as well as tend to preserve them. A well-made hive, painted before the Bees are put into it, and once every other year afterwards, will last uninjured for upwards, of twenty years; indeed, I have one at the present time that has stood even much longer. They may be painted after six o'clock in the evening without danger to the operator or inconvenience to the Bees; of course, stopping the mouth of the hive for the time. I find stone or straw colour to be the best, as absorbing less heat than green or any dark colour. Perhaps, on this account, white would be best, but the strong reflected light from it is very objectionable.
Floor-boards.—It will be well to give the floor-boards a final cleaning for the season, and the middle of a bright day will be the best time for doing it; and, at the same time, any pieces of comb that during the winter may have fallen from the top of the hives, and are fastened by the Bees to the bottom of the combs that are in their proper places, should be removed.
Cutting out Old Combs.—This is also the best time to remove a leaf or two of comb from old hives, perhaps the two outermost ones, but not any more. The box hives are admirably adapted for this operation; still, with a proper knife (the one figured in [page 57]), it may easily be effected in the straw hive.
Putting on Glasses, &c.—It is very probable that at the end of the month some of the most populous hives may require supering, as it is termed, but I would advise its not being done too soon; indeed, not till the Bees have shown evident signs of want of room, for it is exceedingly desirable that the stock should be in such a state as to ascend into the super immediately upon its being placed upon the stock hive.
Guide-combs.—I would recommend guide-combs being fixed in glasses of every kind that are to be placed either on hives or boxes. The Bees are induced thereby to commence working in them sooner than they otherwise would do; and it must always be remembered, that simply putting on a glass, a box, or a small hive, will not prevent swarming, except the Bees commence working in it, which a small piece of comb fixed at the top induces them to do more readily. Upon each of the side-bars, nearest the centre one, a small piece of comb should be fixed. This is easily effected by heating a common flat-iron, slightly warming the bars with it, then melting a little Bees-wax upon it. The comb is now drawn quickly across the heated iron, and held down upon the bar, to which it firmly adheres, if properly managed. These pieces of guide-comb need not be more than 2 or 3 inches in diameter. Care should be taken that the pitch, or inclination of the cells, is upwards from the centre of each comb. Drone-celled combs for this purpose are to be avoided, as well as those with elongated cells. Glasses will be provided, and guide-combs fixed in them also.
Pollen.—This is not a busy month for the apiarian only, but for his Bees as well in bringing in pollen. Mr. Golding tells us that the neighbourhood of Willows is of great advantage to the Bees in early spring. Should a few fine days accompany their flowering, many hives will be enabled to ward off the impending famine which but too often then threatens. He says that from the 20th to the 30th of March, in 1830, the weather was so favourable as to enable the Bees to make an extraordinary collection. Single hives in some days gained in weight upwards of 3 lbs. each, and worked in wax where room was given as vigorously as at midsummer. The spring of 1841 was a very similar one; and he says that his hives on the 16th of March of that year gained from 2 to 3 lbs. each during the day.
The whole tribe of Crowsfoot are now making their appearance, all of which are eagerly sought after by the Bees, but more especially the Pilewort (Ranunculus ficaria), which affords them such an abundance of pollen during the months of March and April, and which abounds in meadows, pastures, and hedge-banks. Seeing an abundance of it carried into a hive is a sure proof that the stock is in a healthy and thriving state; but let it Be remembered that pollen has nothing whatever to do with supplying the Bees with food, for they will die from starvation with the combs filled with pollen, for it is only in the larvæ or grub state that they eat it: therefore, if the stocks have not a store of honey, go on to give barley-sugar.
Young Bees.—The population of every healthy stock of Bees is now rapidly increasing, and numbers of young ones may be seen upon every sunny day crowding the entrances of the hives to exercise their wings for the first time, which they may be observed to do with the greatest caution, running from side to side of the alighting-board before venturing to fly. The imperfect nymphs, also, are strewed upon the hives during the night to be carried away by the Bees as soon as the hour of labour commences. This circumstance also indicates a rapidly increasing population. A very large quantity of food is consumed by the young Bees while in the larvæ or maggot state, which draws very heavily upon the store of the food of the hive. It, therefore,, behoves the apiarian to look attentively to all weak stocks, and more especially to swarms of the last year, and to let them have a regular supply of food; and, for those who like but little trouble in feeding, dry barley-sugar is, unquestionably, the best mode in which it can be administered; it may be given either at the top or bottom of the hive, for it does not, like liquid food, attract robbers to the hives that are supplied with it.
Drone Bees.—Drone Bees usually make their appearance towards the middle or the end of this month; their first appearance is very gratifying to the Bee-keeper, for it proves to him that his stocks are in a healthy and prosperous condition. It is said that the celebrated apiarian Bonner was always so delighted at their first appearance, that he made the day one of festivity and rejoicing for himself and all his family.