No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 406 



in an egg and place at the hive entrance. This repeated two or 

 three nights has been said to put an end to the trouble. 



Birds have been accused of eating bees, but they are innocent, 

 with the exception of king-birds, bee-martins and possibly a few 

 other insectivorous birds. But these last generally do enough good 

 to compensate. If king-birds appear too troublesome, they may be 

 persuaded to stay away by using the shot-gun argument. 



DISEASES OF BEES. 



Diarrhoea, or dysentery, is the disease that the bee-keeper most 

 frequently meets among bees. It comes in cold weather when bees 

 cannot fly, and a flight is a cure. Some, indeed, contend that it is 

 not a disease at all, but a mere overloaded condition of the large 

 intestines. Certain it is that when bees fly freely, if it be a dis: 

 ease, it can not continue. Bees are cleanly creatures, and like to fly 

 a distance from the hive to empty themselves, but when they do not 

 have this opportunity for a long time their bowels become so die- 

 tended that they are obliged to empty themselves, and the front 

 of the hive will be spotted by the dark brown excrement, and in 

 severe cases the top bars and combs will be badly soiled. If still no 

 opportunity comes for a flight, the' bees will daub themselves and 

 finally die in a filthy mass. 



Some of the things that help to bring on diarrhoea may be men- 

 tioned. Cold, long continued, is a prime factor, from which it may 

 be underiS'tood that a strong colony in a warm hive will be much 

 safer than a weak colony in an open hive or one too large for it. 

 But do not make the mistake of thinking that you may make a 

 colony safe by closely plugging all the cracks and the entrance 

 as well. Plugging the cracks is all right, but the entrance must be 

 left open sufficiently for ventilation or the case may be aggravated. 

 The food eaten by the bees has its influence. Well-ripened honey 

 sealed over will not fill up the bees as will thin, watery stuff unsealed. 

 Honey-dew is often of a character that will bring on diarrhoea in a 

 short time. In some cases it may pay to take away the combs of 

 honey-dew and replace with good clover or linden honey, or with 

 sugar syrup. If comb honey is produced, there is less danger from 

 honey-dew, for the bees generally have a good store of clover honey 

 in the brood-combs. But if the honey be extracted, and especially 

 if the bee-keeper is so unwise as to extract all the early honey from 

 the brood-combs, then the bees may have nothing left to depend 

 on but a bad quality of honey-dew. Cider from cider mills is bad. 

 So is sorghum syrup, and burnt honey, candy, or sugar is about as 

 sure death as winter food. 



When a colony outdoors is affected with diarrhoea, about the most 

 you can do is to let it alone and long for a day warm enough for 



