164 



THE BEE-KEEPiJttS' REVIEW. 



ter the convention was over, by request of 

 the Association. In the second place, I was 

 not discussing every phase of the winter prob- 

 lem, or at least I did not so intend, but I do 

 say now that after having lived in the world 

 for nearly fifty years, and having been a 

 reasonably close observer of matters in 

 which I have any interest, I am thoroughly 

 satisfied that about all there is to the " win- 

 ter problem," so called, is plenty of the right 

 kind of foodin the right j^lace. Friend H. 

 calls the confinement "unnatural." I can 

 see no more reason why it is unnatural than 

 are the icy surroundings of the polar bear ; 

 it is perfectly natural for bees to cluster in 

 the winter, and, as they have lived for thou- 

 sands of years in climates much colder than 

 that of the United States, one would reason- 

 ably conclude that they would have become 

 acclimated by this time, even though this cold 

 climate is not their native habitat. So I would 

 think that if the doctrine of the " survival 

 of the fittest " has any foundation in fact, 

 they long since would have adjusted them- 

 selves to their enviroments, if not interfered 

 with by the artificial methods of men. 



Here is just where the trouble comes in, 

 and the only way to attain perfect success is 

 to get as near to the natural condition of 

 things as possible. This was what I was 

 trying to bring out in my talk at the N. A. 

 Diarrhoea is not "natural," but an abnormal 

 condition brought about by man's artificial 

 methods, hence, it would have no place in 

 the discussion of a natural method of win- 

 tering. I may say just here that I have nev- 

 er known a case of bee diarrhoea where bees 

 had plenty of healthy accessible food. The 

 bees of Missouri may have died extensively 

 of this disease at some time in the past, but 

 it hasnot been during my ten years' resi- 

 dence in the State. I may as well confess, 

 however, that I do not claim to know much 

 about bee diseases, for all of my knowledge 

 in this direction has come from others, 

 through books and personal contact : for I 

 have never been troubled with any kind of 

 disease among my bees. 



Friend H. seems to be very emphatic about 

 the sugar cake in his climate, as he says, " I 

 know Mr. Abbott is not correct in his con- 

 clusions and statements." If I were not 

 discussing a theory, rather than engaged in 

 a personal controversy, I would remark in 

 the language of the famous Josh Billings, 

 " It is better not to know so much than to 

 know so much that is not so." Now, if 



there is any merit at all in the sugar cake, it 

 is peculiarly suited to a cold climate, and 

 the further north one goes the better it would 

 be. It would not do at all in the south where 

 bees can fly almost every day, but where 

 bees are compelled to cluster for a long 

 period in order to keep themselves warm is 

 where the sugar cake tells, i have been ex- 

 perimenting with this sugar cake for the 

 last five years, if not longer, and I have nev- 

 er known a colony of bees to die in the win- 

 ter or become diseased in any way where 

 they had a sugar cake directly over the clus- 

 ter, and the upper part of the cluster came 

 in direct contact with the sugar. If any one 

 else has a different experience, let him or 

 her speak out, and not simply assume an air 

 of superior knowledge, and say I know it is 

 not so. 



There are a large number of people on this 

 continent, and many of them have been do- 

 ing a deal of thinking about bees, who have 

 not been in the habit of putting their 

 thoughts on paper. 



Friend H. seems to think that the heat of 

 the cluster will move lengthwise ; well, it 

 may up in Michigan, but that is not the 

 natural course which heat takes in Missouri. 

 He says, "It is stopped right there among 

 the bees, that would be a good reason for 

 using shallow frames." Now, this is what 

 most of it does do, as I shall show a little 

 further on, but this is no reason for using 

 shallow frames. H. R. Boardman, in an ar- 

 ticle in Glecmings has touched on some vital 

 points in the discussion of the subject, and I 

 quote from his article. He says, " I have 

 more than suspected that a plain box hive, 

 of the old type, with the combs built securely 

 to the sides and all around, furnishes better 

 conditions for wintering than the modern 

 movable-frame hive." I agree fully with 

 this statement. I have no doubt but there 

 would be less mortality among the bees if 

 they could all be wintered in box hives about 

 one foot square and four or five feet high. 

 Not long ago I saw a picture, in an old 

 Cyclopaedia of Agriculture, of just such a 

 hive. It was the kind used in Poland at the 

 time the book was written. If a hive of this 

 kind could be utilized for bee-keeping after 

 modern ideas and methods, then I surely 

 should favor such a hive. Mr. B. in enlarg- 

 ing on the merits of a square hive says fur- 

 ther, "At the beginning of cold weather the 

 brood will all be hatched. This will leave 

 ^he lower part of the combs empty, upon 



