if)oS. 



American ^ee Journal 



The colonies which had permeable 

 ceilings and absorbents in the cover 

 were in almost every mstance fonnd 

 healthy The moistnre had found its 

 way into the soft absorbents, and in 

 some cases we found the forest leaves 

 positively soaked and moldy, where 

 thev had been left on for a tew days 

 after the tliaw. The heat of the hive 

 and of the sun had combined to create 

 sufficient heat to cause this mold. 



We can very readily reason out the 

 different results above mentioned. In 

 an ordinary winter the moisture which 

 freezes over the cluster is not of suffi- 

 cient amount to soak the bees, and when 

 a fairly warm day comes, bee-keepers 

 will notice this moisture running out at 

 the entrance. This is a good sign us- 

 ually It shows that the bees are 

 warming up. But when the confine- 

 ment is of as long duration as during 

 the above-mentioned winter, the mois- 

 ture is condensed in so large a quan- 

 tity that it drips everywhere as soon 

 as' the thaw comes, and the bees, al- 

 ready lodged with their excrements, 

 are rendered absolutely helpless. • If 

 absorbents are used, chaflf, forest leaves 

 (we give the preference to these be- 

 cause they are handy), shavings, wool- 

 en rags, old carpets, etc., there is no 

 loss of heat and yet the Iiive remains 

 dry. Hence a greater comfort for the 

 bees, which in a bad winter amount^ 

 to the difference between life and 

 death. 



If an upper ventilation is given, 

 the moisture passes off, but at the same 

 time quite a portion of the heat pro- 

 duced passes out also and only the 

 strong colonies can survive. 



Now as to entrance ventilation at the 

 bottom of the hive, everybody knows 

 that bees must have breathing air. If 

 a heavy snow comes, a large entrance 

 will prove useful, for it is less read- 

 ily obstructed. Loose snow is not to 

 l)c feared, air circulates through it. 

 But if the snow thaws to a certain 

 degree, the water produced may freeze 

 and tightly shut the entrance, when 

 the colony is in danger of smotliering. 



A very large amount of lower ven- 

 tilation will in a measure make up for 

 the lack of upper ventilation or ab- 

 sorbents, but this is had at the ex- 

 pense of honey consumption. I have 

 seen colonies in ordinary box-hives go 

 through a very hard winer without 

 any bottom-board at all, the hives be- 

 ing simply set upon 2x4 scantlings 

 laid flat. But only exceedingly vigor- 

 ous colonies could stand such condi- 

 tions, and I have no hesitancy in say- 

 ing tiiat I would not sleep soundly dur- 

 ing winter nights, if I knew that a part 

 of my bees were thus exposed. 



From the above, the reader will read- 

 ily sec why 1 have come to the conclu- 

 sion that the worst method of wintering 

 bees is to have a narrow, reduced en- 

 trance, and an absolutely water-proof 

 ceiling. 



Hamilton, III. 



Helping the Sale of Honey 



C. MIl.l.KR. 



Dr. G. Bohrcr has an article on page 

 305 thai I have read with much interest. 



I am there asked to read again the arti- 

 cle by Rev. R. B. McCain, page 241, 

 which I have done. To be sure, L)o<. 

 tor, he emphasizes the point that one 

 need not fear adulteration of comb 

 honey, and the whole drift of his arti- 

 cle is toward making the reader think 

 comb honey a thing greatly to be de- 

 sired ; and the second reading leaves me 

 still thinking your article "a pretty good 

 antidote" to his, leaving the reader of 

 both articles to think, "Well, what good 

 to be sure that there is no adulteration 

 of comb honey, so long as there is dan- 

 ger of harm from eating wax, and a 

 possible danger of poison on the comb. 

 I don't care to eat poison, even in small 

 quantities ; so no comb honey for me." 



Your second paragraph I have read 

 over a number of times. If I under- 

 stand you now, "the poison that the bees 

 invariably expel upon the sliglitest jar 

 or disturbance of the hive," is spread 

 over the bees, and in some way they 

 get it on their feet, and from their feet 

 onto the campings, but most likely it 

 never reaches the honey in the cells at 

 all. I confess this is entirely new to 

 me, and I suspect there are others as 

 ignorant as I, who will, with me, de- 

 sire to know more particularly how the 

 poison gets onto the bodies of the bees 

 and not into the honey. My first un- 

 derstanding, from your previous arti- 

 cle, was that the bees sprayed the poison, 

 although you didn't say so, and perhaps 

 I had no right to make such a guess. 

 What you now say seems to bar out 

 any such view. If I understand you 

 noWj the poison is without doubt "spread 

 over the bees" in such a way that there 

 is no likelihood it gets into the honey. 

 I don't see how that would be unless 

 the bees wipe their stings on the bodies 

 of each other. If there is any other 

 explanation, I should be glad to have it. 



Your fifth paragraph reads, "You ask 

 me how I know that bees invariablv 

 thrust out their stings, and that poison 

 is expelled upon any jar of the hive. 

 In reply I will say that I have seen 

 it so often that I feel fully justified 

 in arriving at such a conclusion." And 

 you seem to wonder that I haven't seen 

 the same thing. Well, Doctor, in the 

 thousands and thousands of times I've 

 seen hives jarred, I never yet saw a 

 bee thrust out its sting and wipe oflf 

 the poison upon its neighbor's back or 

 feet. It ought to be easily seen if it is 

 constantly occurring, and yet I've never 

 seen it. Not once. If you have seen 

 it every time there was the slightest 

 disturbance of the hive, then it must 

 be that my locality is different from 

 yours, or else I am a very dull observer. 

 If in any way I have a wrong notion 

 as to your view, I shall be glad to be 

 righted, with apologies for my obti'.se- 

 ncss. 



On page 241 you tell about bees get- 

 ting onto the combs and not into the 

 honey, and in the next paragraph, if I 

 understand you correctly, you say you 

 have endeavored to give "actual stale- 

 iiienls * * * * which can bring no harm 

 to tlic sale of the products of our in- 

 dustry," hut on the contrary, along with 

 knowledge about extracted honey, "the 

 sale of honey will increase beyond any 

 demand heretofore known." Now, Doc- 

 tor, if I have a reasonable understand- 



ing of the English language, the one 

 who reads that will understand you to 

 say that an increase in the sale of 

 honey will come from a general knowl- 

 edge of what you give as fact; .'ibout 

 poison on the comb, and I asked yon 

 on page 270 to tell us ho7V this would 

 be. You quoted the question, on page 

 305, and reply in Italics, "I never said 

 your facts." Well, / iicz'cr said you did; 

 and what you mean by those words in 

 Italics I'm sure I don't know. 



I think you must have misunderstood 

 my question, for it isn't like you lo 

 dodge a question, and you certainly have 

 given no reply to my question as 10 

 hoiv tlicre will be an unprecedented de- 

 mand for honey coming from a spread 

 of your "facts." Instead thereof, af- 

 ter quoting my question, you reply that 

 the pure food law will increase the sale 

 of honey. No one probably will dis- 

 pute that; at any rate, it is a view com- 

 monly current. But what I should like 

 to have you tell us is how the sale of 

 honey is going to be helped by spread- 

 ing your belief. Just now I'm not dis- 

 cussing whether that belief is correct. 

 The whole drift of what you have writ- 

 ten is to laud extracted honey and to 

 disparage comb — your very last spn- 

 tence on page 305 is a fling at comb 

 honey — and I don't dispute your right 

 to do this ; but when you say that 

 you are thereby helping to increase 

 the sale of honey, I am anxious to 

 know just ho7V a general belief that 

 there is a possible danger of poison on 

 cappings, and a possible danger from 

 eating wax, is going to help the sale of 

 honey by a single ounce. Please give 

 us the answer to that, Doctor." 



Marengo, 111. 



How to Secure Good Prices 



for Honey Even in Years 



of Bountiful Yields 



Read at the Detroit National Convention 

 BY 0. I,. HERSHISER. 



If an unusually large quantity of any 

 commodity is produced, and is thrown 

 upon any particular market in a lump, 

 tlie price will necessarily fall, owing to 

 competition and the eagerness of hold- 

 ers to realize on their goods. 



If such unusually large quantity of 

 the commodity is distributed in such 

 manner as will supply localities that 

 have had an under-production; or if 

 the disposition of the same is spread out 

 over a considerable length of time, 

 keeping a portion of it out of the mar- 

 ket until a .season of scarcity, if neces- 

 sary; or if new markets are created 

 by reason of increased activity in dis- 

 covering as many as possible of the lat- 

 ent avenues of consumption, directing 

 aS it were, the product into new chan- 

 nels, and creating a need where need 

 was before unfelt. lliere is no need 

 greatly to reduce prices in order to sell 

 the goods. 



I wish to apply the aliove propositions 

 directly to lioney-production and con- 

 sumption. If the apiarist is so fortu- 

 nate as to have produced a large crop 

 of honey, he should get busy in search 

 of new markets. If his crop is 50 per- 



