Monthly Management. - March

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Section fourteen of The American Bee Journal, Volume one, number three,
March eighteen sixty one. This is a LibriVox recording. All
LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read by
Christine Rucker, the American Bee Journal, volume one, number three,

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March eighteen sixty one. By various monthly management, March. Though
February may have been too cold and inclement to allow
the bees to fly, this month will almost certainly afford
them frequent opportunities to leave their hives on the first
occasion that they can issue freely. All the colonies should

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be carefully watched to ascertain whether any among them are queenless.
Those which manifest no uneasiness and remain quiet in the
hive after they have ceased to fly, may be regarded
as in good order for this respect. But such as
a peer restless and discontented, passing in and out of

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the hive with a dissatisfied air, and running hurriedly over
the front and sides of the hive may be looked
upon as certainly queenless, more, especially if on lifting the
hives slightly and blowing in some smoke they utter a peculiar,
plaintive moan never heard under other circumstances. A queenless colony

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at this season of the year is of little value
as an independent stock, and had better be at once
united with some feeble colony having a fertile queen, if
there be any such in the apiary. If not, then
unite it with its nearest neighbor. The attempt to rear
a queen would most probably result in disappointment, and if

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the colony be suffered to remain on its stand till
spring fairly opens, it will in all likelihood be attacked
and destroyed by robbing bees, for these would speedily discover
its destitute condition. When weak stocks which have a fertile
queen happen to be assailed by robbers and cannot conveniently

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be removed from their stand, it is advisable to contract
the entrance so that only two or three bees may
pass at a time, and it will be serviceable also
to rub the alighting board in front of the hive
with garlic, onions, warmwood, or other acrid substance which bees dislike.

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The odour of the bees poison and of formic acid
is likewise useful in such cases, and may be employed
in like manner to repel robbers. A piece of paper
dipped in formic acid may be used as a blind
at the entrance of the hive to conceal it and
deter the assailants. As the weather grows warmer, the bees

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spread themselves over a greater number of coal, cleansing them
of impurities, removing all the dead and carrying out also
the droppings which lie on the bottom board. This is
a laborious task for them, and many bees perish while
thus engaged. It is consequently advantageous to relieve them of

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the labor as much as possible, by lifting the hive
and brushing out all the droppings and dead bees lying
under the combs, or by removing the bottom board and
substituting a clean and dry one. A few extra boards
should be kept for this purpose, so as to expedite
the operation while the weather is mild enough to permit

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the exchange to be made without detriment to the brood
or the bees. Combs which have become soiled or moldy
may now also be pruned, removing only such portions as
is objectionable or useless. If the bees are kept in
movable comb hives, one or more extra hive should always

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be provided, so that, on some favorable opportunity, the frames, combs,
and bees may readily be transferred into a clear and
dry hive from the one in which they were wintered.
This is the speediest and most effectual mode of cleaning
house and getting rid of impurities and refuse matter. After

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the transfer has been made, the interior should be thoroughly
scalded and washed and well dried to prevent moldiness, so
as to have it ready for future use. Unless the
weather continue unusually cold, brooding will now be commenced even
in the weaker colonies, and be already abundant in the

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stronger or more populous Though not in itself desirable at
so early a period in northern districts, it is in
fact as difficult to prevent or restrict as it is
to keep trees and plants from sprouting on the approach
of spring. Still is well not to encourage or promote

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brooding by any interference on our part. That would be
as injudicious and injurious as it would be to urge
trees and plants into bloom earlier than the season justifies.
Stimulative feeding resorted to by many at this season is
generally useless. The food and time devoted to it are

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almost invariably wasted. The bees so fed are impelled to
issue and fly at times when the weather is unfavorable,
and many more perish from exposure than the brood supplies.
Stimulated colonies are usually weaker when forage begins to abound
than those which were not fed or fed only sparingly,

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as the exigency required. Even meal feeding undertaken early is disadvantageous.
For similar reasons, it should be resorted to only when
the season is so far advanced that there is a
reasonable prospect of continuous mild weather. Certain special objects may
certainly at times be attained by a system of artificial forcing,

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but great judgment and skill are indispensable to success. Beginners
in be culture should use it sparingly by way of experiment,
venturing to use it on a larger scale only when
by practice and observation they have learned to employ it judiciously. Ordinarily,
it is best to wait patiently till the bees can

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gather pollen from the hazel, the alder, and the willow
before undertaking to stimulate them by feeding diluted honey or
other saccharine substitutes. Brooding generally commences early enough, and if
encouragement to be needed, it is more advantageously extended three
or four weeks before the fruit trees blossom. If the

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weather where is raw and blustering, the bees should remain
undisturbed till the spring fairly opens. End of section fourteen.
End of the American Bee Journal, Volume one, number three,
March eighteen sixty one, by various