The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-03
The Apiary in Early Spring.

There is no time during the entire year
that we can do more to increase the value
of the anairy than ir the early s9-ing.
about the months of April and Nav.
Many good colonies may be saved out
right by timely attention. and the force
! OF worker bees will be double when tie
i honey season opens if proper attention Is
gt-e. ct this time.
There IS more loss of bees during the
month OF April perhaps than any other
month in the whole year, and we might
be safe in saving ali the other ele:en
months combined This is due to two
starvation. The last cause is the most
! disastrous and easiest remedied. Spring
dwindling IS the result of bad wintering,
\ of which there is but little remedy. but
there is no excuse for any one to let their
! bees Sta-ve to death with Shere nell
gence, when ct the same time Derhz IS
they are robbed down the fall previous
and made TO give up not only their sur
plus but their winters food besides. Just
think OF II, we are sometimes treated in
a ike manner by thieves and robbers
but no other cl2ss of 2ec.'le.
Every colony of bees should have as a
reserve store in early spring ten pounds
of honey at least. and If found very much
short of this they should be fed. Feeding
may be commenced. that is liquid feed
in as soon the bees begin to fly f-e
quently and kept up until the colony has
Sufnc-ent amount to insure IL safely
through until they can gather honey. All
colonies that have a shortage of stores
IN early spring will as sure have a short
age of bees when the honey season opens.
This always means a half crop of honey
at the best. and in many cases no crop
at all. even if the season is good one.
A pound of food now means pound of
bees when the honey season opens. which
may add half a hundred pounds of honey
to the crop. Bees consume great quanti-
ties of honey in the spring time 70 rear
their brood. and brood-rearing will not
proceed without ii. 1t frequently occurs
shat they will consume their own brood
to subs-st when thus running short of
stores. This may be detected by the APP
pearance of pieces of dead brood found
at the entrance of the hive. and ii nav
be remedsed IT once by feeding
Stimulative feeding is c-act;ced to a
great extent and the advantages of this
is almost double the force OF bees. Sees
when thus fed, regardless of the amount
of stores the hive contains will breed
more rapidly ard the queen will almost
double the amount of eggs laid This kind
OF feeding IS done regularly every dc5r
amount g from q half pint to a pint Of
syrup each day. This is continued UP I'M
til the opening of the principle honey
flow.
Bees also gather ard consume a large
amount of pollen for the purpose of feed
ing their young brood. and in the ec-ly
spring this is the first work they perform
IN localities where buds and blossoms fur
nish it. 1t is essential that they have it.
hut ct times the:- are prohibited from
getting 1t; In such cases substitute may
be furnished them Almost any kind of
cereals ground fine will furnish it. Wheat
bran with goodly portion of mildings in
II answers nicely. and when the bees once
get started on it they will work il with a
Vngeance They may be started to work
at II by placing some honey on or near it.
Each and every hive should have a
thorough cleaning up. Scrape all surplus
propolis or bee glue from the hive and
frames. This greatly facilitates handling.
The best way IS to commence with a
cream ME remove the frames from an
other hive, clean and place them in it.
clean this hive and proceed to the next
and so on.-A. H. Duff in Nebraska