894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Oct. 



ing and dying, is something I have never 

 succeeded in doing. 



A singular part of the whole matter is 

 that our friends in the South should suffer 

 in the same way, and even worse than we in 

 the North, as the letter I have given in the 

 extract ahove indicates. Similar cases have 

 been reported almost all over the South, al- 

 though it is a more unusual thing there, for 

 bees to die with plenty of stores in the hives. 

 There are considerable apiaries in Medina 

 Co., which, until within the past two years, 

 have scarcely known a case of this spring 

 dwindling, but which have lately been badly 

 affected. Two of the owners have excellent 

 cellars, and, heretofore, have rather ridi- 

 culed the idea that spring dwindling was 

 due to other causes than careless manage- 

 ment. Therefore, my friends, I am sorry to 

 say that, though you have hitherto never 

 lost a colony in your life, you must not be 

 astonished or disappointed should you, some 

 spring, see all your colonies go down to 

 handfuls, in spite of all you can do, and per- 

 haps perish outright. If I am mistaken, I 

 shall be very glad to know it, but I think it 

 will be safest, to base our calculations on 

 the assumption, that bee culture, in some 

 respects, is a hazardous business, even with 

 the most thorough and careful. 



WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR BEES GET 

 ^ SPRING DWINDLING." 



Look them over every other day, if neces- 

 sary, and close up the division boards, tak- 

 ing out all combs they cannot cover. As 

 soon as a colony gets so weak that it cannot 

 cover two combs, unite it with some other 

 weak one ; also, whenever you find colonies 

 queenless, unite them with others. If you 

 have the real dwindling, you will find queen 

 cells started and queens missing; at almost 

 every round you take among the hives. 

 This is because the colonies have become 

 disheartened and demoralized, and the only 

 thing that will prevent this demoralization 

 is to double them up, until there are num- 

 bers enough to repel the frost, and make 

 them feel that there is some use in trying to 

 hold out. It may be that these same colo- 

 nies that you double up and make strong 

 one day, will need the same thing done a- 

 gain, within the next 3 days, but there is no 

 help for it. Keep the brood together so as 

 to have it protected as much as possible, and 

 keep reducing your colonies until they stop 

 losing bees with such rapidity. The ques- 

 tion may be asked, what becomes of the bees? 

 I believe, generally, they. fly out of the hives, 

 and never get back again. Luring cool sun- 



shiny days, they may be seen on the fences 

 and sidewalks, on the grass and like places, 

 often laden with pollen, showing clearly 

 that they are trying to make a live of it, and 

 doing the best they can. I have sometimes 

 thought they became so chilled in their mea- 

 ger clusters at home, that they had not suf- 

 ficient vigor to withstand the chilly spring 

 winds as a bee from a powerful and prosper- 

 ous colony would. As the Italians are more 

 eager for stores than the common bees, it 

 may be that this is one reason why they are 

 often said to be more liable to this dwindling 

 than the common bees. 



Now, in regard to a decreasing apiary, al- 

 low me to say, even if the bees do get de- 

 moralized, you must not. Fix up the hives 

 and combs where the bees have died. Brush 

 out the dead bees and bury them, that in- 

 quisitive visitors may not make a great fuss 

 on seeing heaps of dead bees, and while you 

 make a retreat, do every thing in good order. 

 Make the apiary neat and tidy, just as you 

 would if every hive was boiling over with 

 bees. Lo not leave any filled combs exposed 

 to robbers, but as fast as they are taken from 

 the bees, either shut them up in bee tight 

 hives, or carry them into your bee house. 

 Your neighbor may have hives strong with 

 bees that will like no better fun than to clean 

 your hives out, and after they get once to 

 going, you may find they will clean out your 

 hives that have bees in them too. Luring 

 the past feAV weeks, I have had more com- 

 plaints of robbing in connection with this 

 spring dwindling, than ever before, perhaps, 

 in the spring. Some of the friends seem in- 

 clined to lay the whole trouble to the vicious 

 bees belonging to their neighbors, or coming 

 from the woods. 



Luring the doubling up process mentioned 

 above, many queens will be thrown out, and 

 if the season is far enough advanced, they 

 may be sold to those about you who have 

 colonies strong enough to divide. As a proof 

 that these queens are just as good as any, 

 just put them into a strong colony and you 

 will see them go to work just as well as they 

 did during the summer previous. 



Well, suppose the bees all die ; what then V 

 Why, you must do the best you can, and if 

 none are left, go out among those about you 

 who are more fortunate, and buy more. By 

 paying a dollar a lb. for bees, as I have done 

 for the past month, or by buying hives and 

 all, as cheap as you can, with your stock of 

 hives and combs, you may build them up at 

 a rate that may astonish not only those about 

 you, but even yourself as well. In order to 



