The old rule of many beekeepers is to take the bees from the cellar when the soft maples are in bloom. This is an excellent rule in localities where there are trees of this species. In general, in zone 1 the right time to take the bees out of the cellar is about the time of the spring equinox (March 21).

In choosing a time for the removal of the bees, the beekeeper again should watch the weather maps closely. He should choose a time when a high-pressure area is just passing and at the approach of a well-defined low-pressure area. At such a time the weather will be cool, not permitting the bees to fly, but at the time of the low-pressure area the weather will become warmer, allowing the good flights, which are then badly needed.

If the bees are taken out at a time when they can fly at once—and some beekeepers prefer this—they should be taken out in the early morning, so that they can have a good flight before night. Bees should not be taken from the cellar at a time when they can fly only a little, but they should either be taken out when they can not fly at all or at a time when they can fly freely almost at once. Bees in good condition rarely fly freely unless the outside temperature is as high as 60° F.

PREVENTION OF DRIFTING.

When the bees are taken from the cellar and placed on their summer positions they sometimes tend to leave the weaker, colonies and on their return to collect in those with greater populations. This is known as "drifting." In general, the bees tend to drift toward the windward side of the apiary. Most frequently they join the hives that were first set out and which have established a strong flight by the time the neighboring colonies have first taken wing. The tendencies, therefore, are to join flying colonies, stronger colonies, and the end colonies in a row. The condition of the bees plays a large part in drifting, for if the bees are badly in need of a flight because of dysentery they go at once into the air without properly marking the location of their hive, and therefore are not able to find it when they return.

To prevent drifting, it is best to set the bees out when it is too cold for them to fly, so that as the weather warms, permitting flight, this will take place more naturally. It is also well to reduce the entrances so that as the bees leave the hive their tendency to orient themselves will be greater. It is claimed by some beekeepers that if the cellar is well aired the night before the bees are to be removed, they will be in better condition and will drift less, but it is not clear what difference this can make unless the clusters are made tighter because of lower temperatures.

Beekeepers have discussed the question whether, after removal, the bees should be placed on the same stands occupied by them the fall before. If the bees could remember their old location so that they would return to it, even after an interval of four months, it would be necessary, or at least desirable, to place each colony on the same stand which it occupied previously. There is no evidence, however, that the memory of the bees is so good, and it is usually the ease that the bees of a colony will lose the memory of location within a week; therefore no attention need be paid to this feature.

PROTECTION OF THE HIVES IN THE SPRING.

The greatest objection to wintering bees in cellars is that after they are removed they are exposed to low temperatures. The ideal practice would be to pack the bees after taking them out in much the same way that bees are packed for outdoor wintering, but the work involved makes this impracticable. There can be no doubt that protection at this time would be beneficial. As has been pointed out, the apiary site should be one in which the hives are well protected from wind, and it is advantageous if the apiary grounds slope toward the south in order that the bees may have the fullest advantage of heat from the sun. If the bees have been wintered in the cellar in double-walled hives they will have the advantage of some protection when they are taken from the cellar. The beekeeper may feel safe in giving the bees all the protection possible at the time that they are taken from the cellar, knowing that it is impossible at this time or any other to insulate the hive too well.

In deciding whether the hives should be packed in the spring the beekeeper should be governed largely by the condition of the bees. If they have wintered well they will be able to stand greater extremes of temperature in the spring without loss, but if they have been wintered in a cold cellar they will be greatly injured by cold weather after they have been set out. Of course, the need of protection is determined chiefly by the kind of weather prevailing during the first few weeks after the bees have been taken from the cellar. In some seasons the weather is so fine that the bees would be little benefited by packing or other protection, but the beekeeper can not influence the weather, and the only safe plan is so to place the bees that if the weather does turn cold they will still be safe. Here, as everywhere else in beekeeping, it pays to be on the safe side, so far as protecting the bees is concerned.