Bees should not be handled in the early spring any more than necessary, for to open a hive in cool weather wastes heat and may even kill the brood by chilling. The hive should be kept as warm as possible in early spring as an aid to brood rearing. It is a good practice to wrap hives in black tar paper in the spring, not only that it may aid in conserving the heat of the colony, but in holding the suns heat rays as a help to the warmth of the hive. This wrapping should be put on as soon as an early examination has shown the colony to be in good condition, and there need be no hurry in taking it off. A black wrapping during the winter is not desirable, as it might induce brood rearing too early and waste the strength of the bees. As a further stimulus to brood rearing, stimulative feeding of sugar sirup in early spring may be practiced. This produces much the same effect as a light honey flow does and the results are often good. Others prefer to give the bees such a large supply of stores in the fall that when spring comes they will have an abundance for brood rearing, and it will not be necessary to disturb them in cool weather. Both ideas are good, but judicious stimulative feeding usually more than pays for the labor. Colonies should be fed late in the day, so that the bees will not fly as a result of it, and so that robbing will not be started. When the weather is warmer and more settled the brood cluster may be artificially enlarged by spreading the frames so as to insert an empty comb in the middle. The bees will attempt to cover all the brood that they already had, and the queen will at once begin laying in the newly inserted comb, thus making a great increase in the brood. This practice is desirable when carefully done, but may lead to serious results if too much new brood is produced. A beginner had better leave the quantity of brood to the bees. [Illustration: Fig. 20.--Pan in super arranged for feeding.] It is desirable early in the season, before any preparations are made for swarming, to go through the apiary and clip one wing of each queen (see p. 30). This should be done before the hive becomes too populous. It is perhaps best to clip queens as they are introduced, but some colonies may rear new ones without the knowledge of the owner, and a spring examination will insure no escaping swarms. The beginner should perhaps be warned not to clip the wings of a virgin queen.