THE MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 253, 
ing. Colonies that are queenless quite early in spring or late in fall 
can be profitably united. Uniting can be done by setting the colony 
to be united over the one to which it is to be united. Another method 
is to lift the frames out separately and shake the bees at the entrance 
of the colony selected to receive them. In all uniting operations smoke 
all colonies thoroughly, and cage the queen to be saved for two or three 
days afterwards, to prevent her being killed by the strange bees. 
SPRING MANAGEMENT. 
In order to secure the available nectar from the flowers it is neces- 
sary to have a large force of bees of the right age in the colony when 
the honey flow begins. Colonies with bees in sufficient number and 
of proper age are assured only when given proper attention by the bee 
keeper. Various factors operate to reduce the strength of the colony 
through the winter and early spring. So called “spring dwindling”, 
results when the bees are allowed to pass through the winter with 
too large a force of old bees. These die very rapidly in the spring so 
that the brood does not emerge rapidly enough to maintain the colony 
strength. An induced prolongation of brood rearing in the fall will 
often prevent this trouble. The amount and kind of stores which are 
available to the bees, through the winter and early spring months, 
determine largely their condition for the honey harvest. The stores 
collected in the fall are not always suitable for maintaining the bees 
in the best of condition during the winter. The secretions deposited 
by plant lice on foliage and collected by bees is unfit for winter food. 
This is popularly known as honey dew honey. Other products such as 
juice from various fruits, or thin improperly ripened nectar, to the 
exclusion of good well ripened honey, may result in positive injury 
to the bees, causing what is known as “dysentery.” This disease is 
manifested by the bees spotting the outside and inside of the hives 
including combs, with a yellow discharge. This trouble usually dis- 
appears after a day sufficiently warm to permit of a cleansing flight 
by the bees. 
FEEDING. 
Enough stores may be provided in the fall to maintain the bees until 
the beginning of the honey flow without giving them additional sup- 
lies. 
: Very often, however, gbod results are secured by stimulative feed- 
ing, in the spring. This consists in giving each colony daily a small 
quantity of feed. This feed may be made by mixing granulated sugar 
and water, using about two or three parts water to one part sugar. 
This seems to act much as a flow when honey is daily brought into 
the hive. This results in early brood-rearing, securing the large field 
force required to gather the nectar when the flow begins. Of the feed- 
ers used for early spring feeding the division board feeder (fig. 16.) 
will probably be most satisfactory, as it is lowered into the hive just 
as a frame, and consequently receives warmth from the cluster. The 
