Show 0 BEE DYSENTERY that the disease known to bee keepers as dysentery is very frequently an indirect result of insufficient protection of the hives during the winter is one of the conclusions of a government study of the outdoor wintering of bees which recently has been published by the united states department of agriculture as farmers bulletin no As soon as the temperature of the air immediately surrounding the bees falls below 57 degrees P jha bees form a cluster those in the center generating heat beat by muscular activity while those on the outside crowd together to prevent at its is escape the lower the tei temperature falls the more heat the bees in the interior inferior generate this excessive ex aati activity vi ity results in a greatly increased con consumption tump tion of stores which in turn especially if the stores contain a large proportion of indigestible matter leads to an accumulation of feces normally the bee discharges its feces only when in flight but if the weather is too severe for this the accumulation is unduly great and the bees i in n the hive may be unable to retain them this condition familiar to all beekeepers bee keepers is usually described as dysentery despite the fact that it is recognized recognize as s a serious menace to the welfare of the colony few beekeepers bee keepers have recognized the possibility of alleviating the condil condition U on by providing adequate insulation for the hive too much insulation says the bulletin already mentioned is an impossibility not enough will indirectly tend to produce dysentery for the reasons already described but even if this menace is avoided the additional heat production re quiren will exhaust the vitality of the bees by compelling them ahem to do an excessive amount of work during the winter and thus unfit them for the task of brood rearing in the spring in addition to inadequate insulation su lation and consequent low tern tem pera pem tures in the hive hi the presence of honeydew honey or other poor stores is responsible for most cases of bee dysentery ry for this reason such honey may be removed whenever it is pes ent in the fall and eitai either er ot other her honey or a thick sugar sub if is fed it may be made with from 2 to 21 parts of sugar to I 1 part of water by volume with 1 ounce of tartaric acid added for each 40 to 60 pounds 0 of f sugar while the is being heated to the boiling point if there is any question as to the quality of the stores about 10 pounds of may be fed to the bees and will be stored by them immediately above the cluster if this is given in addition to their other stores at the time of packing hives for the winter the bees will feed upon this first and no accumulation of feces will occur while the sugar alorie is abeln being consumed the quantity of the stores should be looked after aswell as the quality much winter loss is due to starvation this is especially ally true when the hives are so inadequately protected that the bees are compelled to produce a great amoun of heat As been stated this has already leads to a proportionate ini in i crease in the con consumption suMP tio n of stores the beekeeper should a aim m to t 0 save his bees rather than bs stores and should provide good food for his colonies as lavishly as insulation for his hives i 4 H i i M M alm |