T'A() 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of a iMMiUnlfo, iuiri losvvo v.M-y lIlMo 

 cloaniiiK out fof M><^ l)t'•^s. 



Probably soint« \vo\iUi pn^liM- t.o nst^ 

 liMiiHlatlon and ii><>lt. >il> <''"' "'<' «'oiubs. 

 Tho rharartor of ttu^ combs l,ll.^ms.^lvcs 

 would luivo somoMiiiiK 1" •!<» '» <lt-fi(liiiK. 

 NitM'. straiKlit,. all worker foinb inlKhl. 

 bo b(>t.l.i>r Mian fonmlallon, wliilo crooUt'tl 

 combs with a Kood proporUon of dron(>- 

 comb tulRhl, boUcr b»^ moltod ui>. 



|'loas(> boar in mind thai pnl.tln^' 

 wormy i'oml)s into a n(^w hivo doos not, 

 liisuH' llio .•onMnuam-o of worms. Tlio 

 wornis do not, n\nlUply, only as moths 

 ontor t,ho hivo and lay nioro oK«s. So il 

 a slrouK colony is put. upon wormy 

 i'oml)s. st.rouK (MioiikIi to pnwonfc nuitUs 

 cn(,«>rlnK, Just, as soon as the worms 

 prcsont como t,o mat,urit,y, t,lu' Ironl) c 

 will bo at, an ond, ovon if tlio boi«s sl\ould 

 not, s>icco(>d in toarlnR out Uio Intnulors. 



What. Caused the DwiudliuK 1* 



NYliat ia tho roason my l»ocs arc 

 dwindliutf away? Thoy arc dying ono 

 by ono. I had 15 colonics of bees on 

 MarcJi 1st, in tfood condition, wit,l\ plenty 

 of stores and iirood. To-day 1 have lost 

 about IT) colonics. They l<eep dyiuR 

 away until at last thoy have only the 

 (Mioon. four or iWo boos, and sonvtN brood 

 loft, and tln^y have plenty of honey. 

 Half of thon\ were wintered in tho col- 

 lar, ai\d halt on the snmn\er stands in 

 chalT hives. 1 have handled bees for 

 the last ton years, and never bad any 

 oxperi<>nce lil<e this. 



Omaha, Nebr. A- 0. David.son. 



Answku. Spriutf dwindlinir seems to 

 hv i>ne of the thlnits for which no ono 

 has any satisfactory explanation. ^ oars 

 a«o there soiMued to be nothing of tho 

 iv'ind Son\e hav<> thonitht that now 

 plans of management, the extractor, or 

 something of tho Uiiui might be thc 

 causo, but apiaries of box-luvos have 

 sniTorod as well as others. , , , ^ 



There soru\s to be no tixed rnlo abinit 

 it One n\an may say it never troubles 

 his be.>s. and with his n\anagen\ent no 

 ono over need sntTtM- fnnnit. Init perhaps 

 the very next spring it swoops down on 

 him, and he has nothing more to say. 



As to cure, none is Known. At least 

 none that YOU can app^"- "^Vhon con- 

 tinnous good weather comes, allowing 

 the boos to bring in fresh h.niey and 

 p,»11eu. then spring dwindling ceases. 

 Perhaps it might be said that you can 

 prevent it by iiaving your colonies very 

 strong. l?vit sometimes the strong col- 

 ony of th.- fait is the weak colony of tho 

 spring. 



Torhaps spring dwindling Is ono of 

 t,he n^snlts, or at least one of tho things 

 liUely to follow, bad wintering. Aft,or a 

 very hard wint(\r boos sooiu weak and 

 really for dwindling in cold spring 

 w(>a.tlH<r. Th.^ past winter has boon 

 severe, and tli»> spring one of the very 

 worst ever known. Some who brought 

 Iheir boos out of tho collar with trilling 

 loss, hav(> (Mit,or«>d tln^ month of .luno 

 with a fourth, half, or more, gone whoro 

 tho woodbine twinoth. 



There is one comfort for you, if this is 

 your lirst experienc(> with spring dwind- 

 iing. It will iiev«>r trouiih> yon so much 

 again. Yon will loam to take it philo- 

 sophically, and boar it patiently, oxpoct- 

 iiig loss from it as a part of tho busiuoss. i 



Workor-Brood in Drone-Comb. 



Mr. .1. r. Ralston has a colony of boes 

 that have workor-brood sealed over in 

 drone-comb, on both sidt>s of tho conib. 

 I noticed it, and showed it to him in 

 looking over t,ho colony. 1 think he will 

 scud a part of it to Mr. A. 1. Root in a 

 few days. 1 think that "busts" tho 

 comprossion-of-tho-(iuoon's-abdomon tho- 

 ^),.y_ .1. C. Hai.cu. 



Hronson, Kans. 



Anhwj<;u.— Thoro Is nothing n«>w in 

 this, and tho advocates of tho compres- 

 sion thtMiry do not admit that It has any 

 " busting" power, for they claim that 

 before a fecundated tineen lays worker- 

 eggs in drono-colls tho boos alw.ays nar- 

 row the mouths of tho colls with wax. 

 Somctlung like lit) years ago Mr. R. R. 

 ]\lurphy sent to the Ameuican Hkk 

 .loutvN.M, a tino sample of hatching 

 workers in drono-colls. Perhaps Dr. 

 Milh>r is the only one who has lately 

 said anything in favor of tho compres- 

 sion thoorv, and he has mn'or protended 

 that it could be proven true, only that 

 il had not yot been disproved. Hut Mr. 

 Keepon's bringing in Apis ikimiia with 

 only one size of brood-colls for drones 

 ami workers proved too much for the 

 Doctor, and he lias given up all defense 

 of tho compression theory. 



C apous and CaponiriiiR, by 



Kdward Warren vSawyer, M. D., Fanny 

 Field, and others. It shows in clear 

 1-vngnage and illustrations all about 

 c".-\poni/.ing fowls: and thus how to 

 make tho most money in poultry-raising. 

 Every poultry-keeper should have It. 

 Price, postpaid, :U> cents : or chibbed 

 with Ukk .lovuN.M. one year, for !^l.lO. 



