84 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



April 



habits differ somewhat, which is of 

 course against it. Whether,should they 

 cross, the result would be an improve- 

 ment is also a question which only 

 actual trial will ever settle. 



In conclusion 1 would add that the 

 settlement of all these points and 

 other interesting and more purely 

 scientific ones connected with these 

 bees, is something which I have long 

 belived worth the effort and expense 

 of another journey to India. In this 

 opinion Mr. Dathe agrees with me 

 fully, and he even proposed when 1 

 met him in Frankport at one of the 

 great German-Austrian bee-conven- 

 tions, that we undertake together a 

 journey to India after A'pis dorsata. 

 But the uncertainty of direct personal 

 gain, indeed I might say the certainty 

 of not being able to cover the per^^onal 

 expenses of such a journey if under- 

 taken privately, together with the 

 fact that it would require some ready 

 capital at the outset, will probably 

 leave such work to be performed, as 

 it ought to be, by our national gov- 

 ernment, which spends annually many 

 thousands of dollars for the further- 

 ance of her agricultural interests and 

 for the advancement of pure and ap- 

 plied science. 



U. S Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D C, 



January, 1895. 



Cause and Prevention of 

 Spring Dwindling. 



BY ED JOLLY. 



Second in importance to one other 

 success of the northern bee keeper is 

 the successful " springing " of his or 

 her bees. How often at the ending of 

 the cold days have the joyful tidings 



been heralded far and wide " My bees 

 have wintered well. Scarcely any loss, 

 boes strong and have plenty of honey." 

 Surely this is all that is desirable at 

 this time of the year. The bee-keeper 

 has indeed great reason to feel elated 

 at his or her success. But how dis- 

 cordant are the notes of alarm and dis- 

 may which follow in a month or six 

 weeks. " My bees are dying very 

 fast ; my colonies have become weak 

 and are getting weaker ; the brood 

 that has been started is dying for 

 want of protection." Surely this wail 

 is enough to alarm even the lion- 

 hearted. 



Following this wail comes a shower 

 of such questions as these : What is 

 the cause of this dreadful mortality 

 among my bees ? Do you think it 

 might be caused by unwholesome 

 stores of honey ? What can I do to 

 prevent it ? 



Before going into the details of the 

 cause and prevention of spring dwind- 

 ling, it would be well for the begin- 

 ner's benefit to say, that spring dwind- 

 ling is in no way connected with bee 

 paralysis, or the nameless bee disease, 

 although it has often been so con- 

 founded. This latter is a disease hav- 

 ing a local cause, and is as liable to 

 happen in the south as in the north, 

 and I believe it is more common in 

 the south and west than in the north 

 and east. 



With spring dwindling proper, is it 

 a disease or is it not ? Let us inves- 

 tigate and find what we may learn. 

 Let us examine the theory that the 

 honey was unwholesome. The bees 

 were all right at the beginning of 

 winter, on this honey they came 

 through the winter all right, they 



