BEES. Ot 
the brood can be gradually increased until it reaches its maximum 
about the beginning of the summer. The old bees die off rapidly. 
If brood rearing does not continue late in the fall, so that the 
colony goes into winter with a large percentage of young bees, the 
old bees may die off in the spring faster than they are replaced by 
emerging brood. This is known as “‘spring dwindling.”” A preven- 
tive remedy for this may 
be applied by feeding, if 
necessary, the autumn be- 
fore, or keeping up brood 
rearing as late as possible 
by some other means. 
If spring dwindling be- 
gins, however, it can be 
diminished somewhat by 
keeping the colony Warm — Fa. 17.—Division-board feeder to be hung in hive in place of 
and by stimulative feed- ER 
ing, so that all the-energy of the old bees may be put to the best 
advantage in rearing brood to replace those dying off. The size of 
the brood chamber can also be reduced to conserve heat. 
It sometimes happens that when a hive is examined in the spring 
the hive body and combs are spotted with brownish yellow excrement. 
This is an evidence of what is commonly called “dysentery.” The 
cause of this trouble is 
long - continued confine- 
ment with a poor quality 
of honey forfood. Honey- 
dew honey and some of 
the inferior floral honeys 
contain a relatively large 
percentage of material 
which bees can not digest, 
and, if they are not able 
to fly for some time, the 
intestines become clogged 
with fecal matter and a 
diseased condition re- 
sults. Worker bees never 
normally deposit their fe- 
ces in the hive. The obvious preventive for this is to provide the 
colony with good honey or sugar sirup the previous fall. ‘Dys- 
entery”’ frequently entirely destroys colonies, but if the bees can 
pull through until warm days permit a cleansing flight they recover 
promptly. 
447 
Fig. 18.—Feeder set in collar under hive body. 
