Octolier, 191?.. 



(Merican Hee Journal I 



^ ^ 



A TYI'K AI. AlIARV IN THE MOUN'IAENS OF THE SOUTHEAST. 



I'm somewhat raw in the matter of ex- 

 periments. 



"The greater difference between up- 

 per and lower temperatures when the 

 cellar was closed was doubtless due to 

 the absence of circulation of air." 



"I doubt whether the absence of 

 mold on combs is influenced by light 

 in the cellar. Your cellar is excep- 

 tionally dry, and I should expect this 

 to be the important factor since the 

 combs in a hive are certainly in a dark 

 enough place for mold to thrive were 

 other conditions right for its growth. 

 The inside of a hive outdoors is dark 

 enough for mold to grow." 



I interviewed, separately, three ex- 

 perienced house-keepers, asking "What 

 causes mold ?" Two of them answered, 

 " Dampness." The third said, " Damp- 

 ness and heat." Neither said a word 

 about darkness. I don't know as much 

 as I thought I did. 



"Why do bees consume more stores 

 at higher temperatures ? I find this 

 statement in " Fifty Years," and also 

 in this article and that is soniething 

 which does not harmonize with our 

 theories (may be the theories are 

 wrong). 1 should like to have you 

 present the data available on this point 

 as it is one of great importance, and 

 has not been generally claimed. In 

 your experience of 1902-8 (page 316, 

 " Fifty Years "). the bees were kept out- 

 doors until Dec. 8, and doubtless con- 

 sumed stores rapidly before you took 

 them in. Mr. Demuth says the spring 

 of 1903 began warm, and bees reared 

 brood abundantly. (See Gleanings edi- 

 torial for 1903, page 375.) It then be- 

 came quite cold, and the bees died rap- 



idly. (See also editorial in Gleanings, 

 1904, page 432.) Has this greater con- 

 sumption continued since 1903-4 ? 

 What about the quality of stores dur- 

 ing the two winters, 1902-3 and 1903 4 'f 

 If by chance they were partly honey- 

 dew or otherwise inferior that might 

 account for increased consumption." 



Dr. Phillips, you ask too many ques- 

 tions. And you make them too hard. 

 I supposed I was entirely orthodox in 

 assuming that when the point of great- 

 est quietude was found, any rise above 

 that temperature was followed by a 

 corresponding increase of activity, and 

 consequently by increased consump- 

 tion of stores. When the cellar be- 

 comes very warm, the bees become 

 very noisy. That is one of the times 

 when the activity of the bees cannot 

 only be heard but seen. They are a'! 

 stirred up and run all over the hive. Is 

 it not generally held, at least of late 

 years, that bees consume more stores 

 in the South than in localities not too 

 far up in the North ? 



As to whether the greater consump- 

 tion has continued since 1903 4, it is a 

 hard thing to be positive about the 

 amount of stores consumed. I have 

 no exact data, but I feel pretty sure 

 that it has continued, and that last win- 

 ter, 1912 13, the bees consumed as much 

 in stores as in any former year, and 

 they wintered in fine condition. So far 

 as I know, stores and conditions were 

 all right, only it would have been per- 

 haps better if the cellar had not been 

 quite so warm. 



I do not know that my bees have 

 had any honey-dew in winter since the 

 furnace was put in. 



Marengo, 111. 



Notes on European Bee-Keeping 



BY C. 1'. DAllANT. 



WE have now been two weeks in 

 Switzerland, and I am writ- 

 ing this letter on the desk of 

 our good friend Mr. Gubler, 

 editor of the Bulletin D' Api- 

 culture, who is also the manager of the 

 Orphans' Home of Neuchatel, and has 

 some 50 boys in his care. The Home 

 is a country farm at the foot of a 

 mountain, in a delightful spot, within 

 less than a mile of the Lake of Neucha- 

 tel, a beautiful blue sheet of water 

 some 25 miles long. Here is also an 

 apiary of some 60 colonies, run for 

 honey production ; extracted honey of 

 course. There is no demand for comb 

 honey, and a school teacher of Mont, 

 who has three large apiaries, told me 

 the other day that section honey was 

 difficult to sell on account of its higher 

 price. Since the cost of production is 

 greater on comb honey, they cannot 

 afford to sell it as cheaply as the other, 

 and the economizing Swiss consumer 

 prefers to buy the extracted honey. 



It is most probable that the reason 

 of the preference here of the Swiss 

 bees over the Italians, lies in the dif- 

 ference of the climate. One can read- 

 ily perceive a most striking change, 

 even in a few hundred feet within 

 Switzerland. For instance, the road 

 from Geneva to Lausanne and beyond, 

 along the sunny shores of Lake Leman, 

 is surrounded on all sides by vineyards, 

 in shelves one above the other as far 

 as the eye can reach. A few miles be- 

 yond Lausanne the railroad line to 

 Berne turns northward and crosses the 

 tunnel of Cornallaz, 1617 feet in length, 

 and you find yourself on the opposite 

 slope of the mountain, among pastures 

 and woods without a trace of vine- 

 yards. It is too cool there for grape 

 production. However, apiaries abound 

 in the villages and by the farm houses; 

 not large apiaries, but clusters of 2 to 

 10 hives; all modern frame hives; 

 sometimes sheltered in a house apiary, 

 but oftener simply protected by a 

 tinned roof. 



Those Swiss bees are accustomed 

 evidently to the cool climate, and are 

 more careful than the Italian bees, 

 who, I am told, start too early for the 

 field and remain too late, thereby often 

 falling chilled to the ground not to rise 

 again. Here, at Boudry, at this warm 

 period of the year, the middle of Au- 

 gust, I have been able to go about in 

 such clothes as 1 wear in Illinois in 

 November. Often in the evening, 

 about sunset, a cool breeze, which they 

 call the "joran," blows suddenly from 

 the mountain, and would appear to us 

 Americans as a decided indication of a 

 morning freeze. But no frost comes, 

 and the next day is again pleasant. 



During the two weeks past, we have 

 been visiting slopes, from the warm 

 vineyards above mentioned to the 

 snow peaks that never lose their white 

 coat. Mr. Bertrand, former editor of 

 the "Revue Internationale," who has 

 entirely retired from active life, invited 

 us to his home in the mountain, at 

 Gryon, and we spent 3 delightful days 

 there. I have forwarded a view of his 

 chalet, which will appear in the Bee 

 Journal. From there you can see the 



