-I 



2 SPECIAL BULLETIN NO. 38 



Natural Death 



Bees die fast in the spring from old age. Bees Hve from six weeks 

 to seven months or more, in proportion to their activities. The more they 

 rest the longer they live. It follows that bees hatched in September or October 

 will live longer than those hatched in August, and that bees that are perfectly 

 quiet during the winter will live longer than those that are excited. Bees that 

 are hatched late in the fall and are wintere"^ quietly will not die a natural death 

 until after the colony has been made stfoR| by a large production of young 

 bees in April and May. 



To secure this result, the beekeeper must have young and prolific queens 

 in his colonies the year before. It is a well-known fact that young queens will 

 sometimes lay eggs until in October. A modern beekeeper will feed his bees 

 late in the fall with just enough sirup every day to stimulate even his older 

 queens to raise brood late in the fall. He will remove from the hive combs of 

 pollen-laden fall honey and honey dew (black honey) and replace them with 

 clover honey or sugar sirup. From experiments made it is advisable under 

 any circumstances to feed the bees ten or fifteen pounds of sugar sirup the 

 last thing in the fall. He will provide for them a good cellar in which to 

 winter and keep them from excitement during the winter period. 



Drifting 



Drifting, which causes most harm in colonies of bees, occurs in the spring, 

 during the first flying days after the bees are set out. Bees from many hives, 

 returning from their cleansing flight, club together and enter one or two hives 

 in the bee yard, making them strong in bees but leaving the rest of the colonies 

 weak. To prevent drifting, remove bees from the cellar in the evening, con- 

 tract the entrances to the hives to a two-bee passage, and face the colonies in 

 different directions. Straight, unbroken rows of hives, an arrangement practiced 

 by most beekeepers in Minnesota, is the worst possible for drifting, and also for 

 a quick spread of foul brood. Colonies should be arranged in groups of three 

 or four. Distinguishing marks should be put on the front of the hives to help 

 the bees in locating their homes. Different colors for the hives are also 

 good guides. 



Robbing 



Robbing is caused by removing the bees from the cellar on different days, 

 those that have had a flight being in advantage over those just brought out; by 

 the presence of dead and weak colonies in the yard ; by exposing honey where 

 the bees can get at it; and by irregular feeding. 



To prevent robbing, all bees should be taken from the cellar at the same 

 time, and the entrances should be closed to a minimum. All dead colonies should 

 be removed. No honey should be left accessible to bees outside the hive. Out- 

 door feeding of sirup, if practiced, must be constant and in the same place 

 where begun until the bees quit it themselves. 



Bad Weather and Winds 



Bad weather and high winds will kill bees both outside and inside the hive. 

 The bees perish in the open when taking advantage of good weather to go in 

 search of water, pollen, and honey. Leaving the shelter of their homes they 

 encounter strong spring winds and are blown to the ground, or they roam over 

 miles of surrounding country in search of flowers, when a cloud will cover 



