ENTOMOLOGY 415 



the brood which hatches from the eggs laid by the queen. The 

 amount of brood is at first small, and as the new workers emerge they 

 assist in the brood rearing so that the extent of the brood can be 

 gradually increased until it reaches the maximum at 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 remedy 

 for this may be applied by feeding, if necessary, the autumn before, 

 or keeping up brood rearing by some other means as late as possible. 



If spring dwindling begins, however, it can be diminished some- 

 what by keeping the colony warm and by stimulative feeding, 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. 



Bees should not be handled in the early spring any more than 

 necessary, for to open a hive in cool weather wastes heat and may 

 even kill the brood by chilling. The hive should be kept as warm 

 as possible in early spring as an aid to brood rearing. It is a good 

 practice to wrap hives in black tar paper in the spring, not only that 

 it may aid in conserving the heat of the colony, but in holding the 

 sun's heat rays as a help to the warmth of the hive. This wrapping 

 should be put on as soon as an early examination has shown the col- 

 ony to be in good condition, and there need be no hurry in taking 

 it off. A black wrapping during the winter is not desirable, as it 

 might induce brood rearing too early and waste the strength of the 

 bees. 



As a further stimulus to brood rearing, many bee keepers prac- 

 tice stimulative feeding of sugar sirup in early spring. This pro- 

 duces the same effect as a light honey flow does and the results are 

 good. Others prefer to give the bees such a large supply of stores in 

 the fall that when spring comes they will have an abundance for 

 brood rearing, and it will not be necessary to disturb them in cool 

 Weather. Both ideas are good, but judicious stimulative feeding 

 usually more than pays for the labor. Colonies should be fed late in 

 the day, so that the bees will not fly as a result of it, and so that rob- 

 bing will not be started. When the weather is warmer and more set- 

 tled, the brood cluster may be artificially enlarged by spreading the 

 frames so as to insert an empty comb in the middle. The bees will 

 attempt to cover all the brood that they already had, and the queen 

 will at once begin laying in the newly inserted comb, thus making 

 a great increase in the brood. This practice is desirable when care- 

 fully done, but may lead to serious results if too much new brood is 

 produced. A beginner had better leave the quantity of brood to the 

 bees. 



It is desirable early in the season, before any preparations are 

 made for swarming, to go through the apiary and clip one wing of 

 each queen so that if a swarm issuas the queen can not fly and the 

 bees can be easily returned to the old stand. This should be done 



