138 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Mar. 



WHAT 36 WEAK COLONIES DID. 



I started in the spring with 3t very weak swarms. 

 I had old combs to supply 15 or 20 new swarms. I 

 ended up in the fall with 88 swarms; sold 5, put 83 

 Into winter quarters in fair condition, not over- 

 stocked with bees, but, I think, with plenty of honey. 

 I sold 1500 lbs. of comb honey, and from 15 double 

 hives I extracted 1000 lbs., making in all the yield of 

 2500 lbs. of honey. My extracted honey I put in one 

 and two lb. jars; sold at home market for 16 and SO 

 cts. per lb. wholesale; retailed at 20 and 25 cts. 



Dr. John Maxson. 



Whitewater, Walworth Co., Wis., Feb. 1, 1882. 



DIARRHCEA, OR DYSENTERY — WHICH ? 



I notice in several of our bee journals a dis- 

 cussion of the dysentery question. I have looked in 

 vain for a characteristic symptom of dysentery. 

 While it may be true, that a "rose by any other 

 name would smell as sweet," yet dysentery and 

 diarrhoea are different diseases. The first is a spe- 

 cific disease, and has a specific cause; and If we may 

 judge by analogy with the human species, must 

 have an atmospheric or bacterian cause. Diarrhcea 

 may be caused by over-distention, improper food, 

 poor ventilation, exhaustion from starvation, un- 

 natural food, etc. Would it not simplify this dis- 

 cussion, in attempting to find out the cause and 

 remedy of this disease that is decimating our apiar- 

 ies, by calling it diarrhoea, and then looking for the 

 cause in some improper food or condition of the bee? 

 We can readily understand how over - distention, 

 moisture, fermented honey, or bee-bread, or their 

 being compelled to live on bee-bread, might produce 

 diarrhcea; but we are not ready to adopt the " clc 

 iiouobacterian theory," that the above-named causes 

 must generate bacteria, and thus be a cause of dys- 

 entery — at least until the microscope demonstrates 

 that the disease is dysentery. I make these re- 

 marks in aid of the diagnosis and cause of the 

 disease. Give us the cause, and the remedy will be 

 found. W. R. S. Clark, M. D. 



Bluffton, Ind., Feb. 6, 1882. 



A good point, friend C. ; and the idea of 

 it, as I see it, is whether the bees have some- 

 thing like the smallpox that is catching, and 

 might be cured by vaccination (?), or wheth- 

 er it is something like the troubles we have 

 in the summer, when we have been impru- 

 dent in eating green stuff and the like. I 

 would suggest, that, as it seems pretty well 

 conceded now that a healthy person is much 

 less liable to take even contagious diseases, 

 our treatment of the bees would be pretty 

 much the same in either case; viz., to keep 

 them in the best health possible by having 

 many bees, much pure food, and pure air. 



BEES AND GRAPES. 



We publish the following by request : — 



At the annual meeting of the North-Eastern Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, the question of bees punctur- 

 inggrapes was brought up. This is important among 

 bee-iieepers. and it is one over which legal difficul- 

 ties have often been threatened. It was the unani- 

 mous opinion of all present, that honey-bees never, 

 under any circumstances, puncture tiie skin of a 

 grape. Tests have been repeatedly made, and in no 

 case has any bee evpr been known to toucti a grape 

 that was not punctured. Black ants are the ene- 

 mies of the grapes. Two bills were introduced in 

 the •"'alifornia Legislature to do away with all bees 

 on this account. A CMreful examination, and an ex- 

 tended debate, proved that there was not a single 

 case of bees puncturing grapes. The society placed 



itself on record on the matter by adopting the fol- 

 lowing resolution: — 



Rksolved. After due investigation of well-known and numer- 

 ous cases, the Convention unanimously asserts, that the honey- 

 bee never punctures the skins of perfect grapes or any other 

 fruits; but that the sucking of juices from fruits is only from 

 tliat which has been punctured by other insects, birds, or natu- 

 ral causes. By Okder of Committee. 



The above may be true ; yet I am inclined 

 to think bees are of more "annoyance to the 

 grape-growers, sometimes, than one would 

 gather from it. When cross-examined in 

 the recent Krock and Klasen case, I was 

 asked to mention substances that bees could 

 bite through. I mentioned cloth, stout ma- 

 nilla paper, etc. And why not the skin of 

 the grape also V was the next question. Be- 

 cause bees get through cloth and paper by 

 pulling out one minute fiber at a time ; 

 whereas the grape-skin is smooth, and pre- 

 sents no fiber at all. A bee's mandibles 

 would slide and slip over the smooth grape- 

 skin in spite of any thing he could do. My 

 impression is, his only chance with a per- 

 fectly sound grape would be to make a start- 

 ing-point right at the stem. If he could get 

 the least taste of the juice there he would 

 probably be able to insert his tongue where 

 the juice came out, and he would then soon 

 make way with the whole berry. 



WINTERING TWO COLONIES IN ONE HIVE. 



I put away 42 swarms last fall. I looked through 

 a few of them to-day, and do not find any brood yet; 

 26 of them are on summer stands, and the rest in 

 cellar. I think those in cellar are doing best. I be- 

 lieve I shall put some more in cellar yet. My bees 

 are in the Mitchell hive — 2 swarms in one hive, with 

 division-board in the middle. I do not like that way 

 of wintering. When they Hy out they are apt to crowd 

 one end, and leave the other with not enough. I got 

 a tested queen from J. B. Haines, Bedford, and have 

 Italianized all my stocks from her, so you see I am 

 all ready for queen-raising. As far as pure drones 

 are concerned, those in my own apiary are Italians, 

 as are most of the bees in this neighborhood. I 

 guess my queen is one of Doolittle's kind, for all the 

 queens that I raised early enough to be tested pro- 

 duced all three-banded workers. James Forbes. 



Macedonia, Summit Co., O , Fob. 6, 1882. 



I believe yours has been pretty nearly the 

 general experience, sooner or later, in regard 

 to wintering two colonies in one hive, friend 

 F. One hive for each colony or nucleus 

 seems to be the linal decision. 



PLUCK AND TACT. 



I have 31 colonies, all on summer stands in mova- 

 ble-frame hives (Langstroth). Some of my neighbors 

 are watching my bee-keeping with considerable in- 

 terest. They like the old way best, and call modern 

 bee-keeping fooling or tinkering with bees. As we 

 have had two such poor honey seasons, no surplus 

 at all hardly, they begin to think thev are about as 

 well off as I am; but they miss it badly, as some of 

 them (in fact nearly all), 2 or 3 years ago had three 

 times as many bees as I had, and now it is just the 

 reverse, only more so. Some have only a lot of old 

 gums to show. The first good honey season we 

 have, I'll "bet" I'll make them open their eyes, for 

 I think I know my "biz," and have got the pluck 

 and tact to put the bees through. J. W. Lamb. 



Prllsville, Verm. Co., 111., Jan. 28, 1882. 



Friend L., if were you I would make 



