No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 361 



the bind part of the body, but by the wings or thorax. The thorax 

 is the part next the head, and is not easily crushed because it is hard, 

 while the abdomen is soft. You need have no fear of being stung 

 by the queen. She has a sting, but will not demean herself by sting- 

 ing anything less than royalty in the shape of another queen. 



HUNGER-SWARMS. 



Sometimes the beginner is surprised, and perhaps delighted, to 

 see his bees swarming in early spring. But it is not because the 

 bees are so prosperous that they can afford to send out a swarm 

 in orthodox fashion. It is more likely that the bees have run out 

 of stores; and such a swarm is called a hunger-swarm. It may try 

 to force an entrance into some other hive, only to be killed there. 

 The remedy, of course, is, to get the bees back into their own hive, 

 if possible, and feed them. 



SPRING DWINDLING. 



Sometimes, for some reason not clearly understood, bees with 

 plenty of honey and brood in the hive dwindle away in numbers, 

 when no apparent cause can be found for it. The weak colonies are 

 most likely to be the ones affected by this trouble. There seems to 

 be no help for it but to wait for warm weather, when it disappears 

 of itself. Some have tried uniting two or more such colonies to- 

 gether, but the united colony does not seem to last any longer than 

 the colonies left sei)arate, and in too many cases death puts an end 

 to all before warm weather comes. Sometimes a colony thus af- 

 fected may swarm out, but that can do no good. 



STARVED BEES. 



If you find a colony with no stores left, perhaps some of the bees 

 already dropping from starvation, no time should be lost in giving 

 them food. Even when all the bees appear dead, if the death from 

 starvation occurred only a short time previous to their being thus 

 found, they may yet be saved. Take them into a warm room and 

 sprinkle them with v>'ell-sweetened water. In a little time they may 

 show signs of life, and lick up the diluted sweet. When combs, 

 bees and all are warmed and stores given, they may be returned to 

 their former place. 



