1885 



GLEaKINGS in l3EE CULtiJKE. 



the past week I have examined the fecal matter in 

 bees dead of diarrhcea, from the apiary of G. M. 

 Doolittle, of New York State. The familiar odor, 

 and the swarms of bacteria, were seen as before, 

 but no pollen g-rains. Here there must have been 

 albuminoids, else there would have been no bacte- 

 ria. Bees get nitrogenous food from other sources 

 than pollen, and quite likely these bees had access 

 to such. Some of these bees sent by Mr. Doolittle 

 had abundance of pollen grains in their intestines. 

 This shows that pollen and diarrhcea are not con- 

 stant companions. 



Again, I received bees from James Heddon, vic- 

 tims to the cold winter, which were fed entirely on 

 sugar syrup. In these bees we find the syrup so 

 entirely undigested that the characteristic sugar 

 odor and taste is very marked. I asked one of our 

 professors, who knew nothing of the matter, to 

 smell of some of the bees. He said, " Tliat is sugar." 

 Cold Irritated the bees. They ate ravenously to 

 stay its dangers, and, failing to keep up a sufficient 

 temperature, died of indigestion. We see, then, 

 that cold with any kind of food may induce the fa- 

 tal malady. In this last case the usual odor of di- 

 arrhoea was entirely absent. Nor was there the 

 excessive distention noted in ordinary diarrhoea. 

 Of course, with nitrogenous food or poor honey the 

 disease would appear sooner, and be sooner fatal. 



The practical conclusions to be drawn from the 

 above are almost self-evident. In the northern 

 part of our country, where very severe and pro- 

 longed cold in winter is becoming the rule, the only 

 safe way is to provide cellars where a uniform tem- 

 perature of about 45° F. can be maintained irre- 

 spective of the outside temperature. ( hatt' irives 

 and winter packing may suffice for tlie most i)art, 

 but will not prove sufficient in our coldest seasons. 



Again, good food, either pure honey or pure cane- 

 sugar syrup, is safest. Not that bees may not win- 

 ter with plenty of pollen, or not that they may not 

 die with no pollen; but from our experiments, as 

 well as what we know of foods and the habits of 

 bees, we can easily believe that food witliout ni- 

 trogenous elements is safest in winter for bees. 



Of course, some colonies of bees, like some men, 

 may possess such an excess of strength and vigor 

 that even cold and poor food may be powerless to 

 work evil. Vet this does not argue against the 

 facts as stated above. 



I have said nothing in this paper as to dampness 

 or ventilation. It is presumable that a dry, pure 

 atmosphere, is best for bees. Yet the fact that I 

 have known bees to winter year after year in very 

 damp cellars, with no loss, and that I once wintered 

 bees in a snowbank, during one of the most disas- 

 trous winters, with the hives tightly sealed with 

 propolis above, and with ice below, and never knew 

 bees to winter better, makes me wonder if we 

 should have to heed moisture or ventilation, in case 

 we secured proper food and exactly the right tem- 

 perature. A. J. ("OUK. 



Agricultural College, Mich., March i:i, 188.5. 



Friend ('ook, I like your opening remarks 

 very much indeed. It strikes right on a 

 point where for some time 1 have been think- 

 ing. Especially has it come liome to me 

 with strong conviction since my visit at the 

 South. The point is this : The difticullies 

 we meet in all our separate industries are in 

 one sense blessings. Our friends in the 

 South (who have no trouble with wintering, 



no trouble with zero weather in their at- 

 tempts to raise fruits and garden stuffs with 

 all these great aids) do not by any means ac- 

 complish as much as we do here wath cur 

 unseasonable zero weather. A zero temper- 

 ature punishes the shiftless ; but to the ear- 

 nest, zealous, thoughtful, liard -working 

 man it is a positive help. Let ns, tlieiK 

 laugh at storms, coming even in the laltt-r 

 part of March, as they do now while I write ; 

 let us laugh at insect enemies, and let us 

 thank God for all these obstacles that only 

 serve to teach us great truths, and to have 

 faith that they come from tlie loving hand 

 of the kind Father above. You s])eak of a 

 uniform tenii)eralnre of about -1.5 degrees. I 

 have mentioned elsewhere tliat the Mam- 

 moth Cave averages about 6o degrees— no 

 difference at all, winter or summtr. Jsnot 

 oo better? I can testify from expeiience, 

 that it is a very comtmtable temperature 

 for working, withotit being encumbered 

 with overcoats or winter covering. The 

 j temperature is not unpleasant to sit down 

 and rest, when you are tired. I i)resume if 

 we go down into old motlier Earth far 

 enough to be free from external influences 

 we can always depend on •« degrees ; and it 

 seems to me'it is not going to be a very hard 

 task to do this. JJats cluster in great num- 

 bers near tiie mouth of the cave, and stay 

 six months witliout food or exercise. "\'ery 

 likely, though, they go in when they are iii 

 flesh", and come oiit spare and leaii. 1 be- 

 lieve J entirely jigiee with the deductions 

 you draw from the valuable e.\i)er'ments 

 you liave given us. 



FEIEND WIGHTS UPS AND DOWNS IN 

 BEE CULTURE. 



HOl'KS NOT in.ASTED, THOVOH THK I.OSSK.S H.AVK 

 UK EX M.\XV. 



IRIEND HOOT:- You may not care ahout my 

 coming, since I have no sunshine to bring 

 you; when, too, you have such an accumula- 

 tion only awaiting their turn in " Blasted 

 Hopes." I did not care so much about my 

 former loss, when, under Mr. King's and Mrs. Tup- 

 pers plan, I had built up a small apiary in the old 

 American hive, because that gave me the opiior- 

 tunity of changing my i)lans and style of hive. 



Years went by, and in the fall of 1880 I had 110 

 colonies, mostly Italians, on the L. frame. I actual- 

 ly sat in my chair under an apple-tree, leaning and 

 musing over the lines: 



" How doth the little busy bee 

 Improve each shining hour. 

 In gathering honey all the day 

 From every opening flower!" 

 Neither did they nor 1 think of the disaster that 

 was awaiting them. By April I had only 17 colonies 

 left. The following year was a good one, and, by 

 the aid of the empty combs, they increased rapidly, 

 when, at the end of the season, I had about 40 colo- 

 nies and IfiOO lbs. of nice section honey. Since then 

 I have been successful, both in surplus and in 

 building up. Also a fine trade has been established 

 for my honey at home. Last fall I had 140 colonies, 

 but no surplus. I united them to about 100, fed them 

 3 bbls. of granulated sugar, packed them with chaff, 

 and to-day I find 5 alive out of 40. From these I 



