Need help handling Date cells from an Excel file

So I have an excel file where there are dates entered similar to 1/2/2012. I'm trying to write a program in which the user is prompted to enter a date range. So it would be asking the user before and after which dates would he like to know the data.

So for example, if I wanted to know the data associated with May, I would enter 5/1/2012 and then 5/31/2012.

How should I go about writing this? Should I try splitting the date on the "/" character, or is there a better way?

Sorry if there's any confusion. If I need to clarify anything, let me know