10 
SPRING MANAGEMENT OF BEES 
This disease is not well named, and catarrh of the 
stomach would be more appropriate. It is probably 
the result of excessive cold on the intestines of the 
bee during winter. Unsuitable food may have the 
same result, and a combination of the two will 
probably produce an aggravated case of “dysentery,” 
so that the remedy is obvious enough. 
Bees afflicted with what we term dysentery exhibit 
the effects of strong purging of the intestines, depositing 
the fecal matter whereever and whenever they alight 
to rest themselves. Needless to say, they do not live 
very long when once attacked by this trouble. This 
illness is something apart from the voiding of their 
excrement, which characterizes bees when they emerge 
into daylight after their long confinement. 
One may bring on dysentery by feeding bad food, 
that irritates the intestinal canal during winter. Fruit 
juices, sorgum syrup, burnt sugar, etc., produce 
dysentery unless tbe weather happens to be warm and 
pleasant, enough to allow the bees an opportunity to 
rid themselves of the offensive fecal matter. 
Honey-dew, or aphides honey, is credited with 
producing dysentery simply because it is inferior to 
honey as a food ; that is to say, most of it, for some 
honey-dew is very good indeed. 
Pine-tree honey comes under the head of deterious 
food for bees, probably because it contains resinous 
gums which they seem unable to digest. Glucose, the 
poorest food of all would also come under this head 
because it contains dextrine. But none of these 
substances cause trouble except during cold weather. 
Dampness in connection with cold seems to 
aggravate dysentery greatly, and we know bees 
succeed in wintering very well in Colorado. Utah and 
Nevada out of doors where it is very cold, and they 
do not suffer as much from dysentery. 
As soon as the warm pleasant weather comes, th^^ 
trouble entirely disappears; and by attending to th^H 
creature comforts of the bees the disease may be^ 
entirely overcome. Dysentery may, therefore, be con- 
sidered as the net result of poor treatment. It is not 
