AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 277 



zoro. No matter how rapid or slow this movement, it causes no " roar ;" only a 

 gentle " murmur." 



Then from whence comes the roaring? When we begin to smoke bees they 

 begin to fan with the wings, and, consequently, begin to roar. If we attempt to 

 blow smoke in at the entrance of the hive, they instantly set up a violent fanning 

 of wings which forces the smoke out again. At the same time there is a roar. They 

 roar also while evaporating honey, because there is a fanning of wings to create 

 circulation of atmosphere. This may be a roar of contentment, but the other is 

 certainly a roar of discontentment, and there probably is- no ear which can distin- 

 guish one from the otlier. 



There also is a fanning of wings to drive out impure air, or, more correctly, to 

 change air, which they may suspect may injure their stores, if not themselves, and 

 which, in truth, it may. 



If the smoker is turned upon a cluster whore the bees are more or less stiffened 

 with cold, they will move their wings very little. To fan would Increase the cold 

 and exposure. Although this is a condition of greater quiet, how could there be 

 one of more discontent, namely, by coupling with it improper stores ? It may 

 require some lapse of time to note the effects of poor food. In fact, it may require 

 a lapse of time to be affected by this changing of positions in the cluster, or the 

 fanning of wings, but all three — poor nourishment, activity and labor — wear away 

 their vitality the same as an unsheltered horse or cow, which must exercise to keep 

 up suf6cient warmth, comes out in the spring thin in flesh. 



Some writer has advanced the idea that bees, when poorly wintered, lose flesh 

 or adipose. Be this as it may, all know that they are sometimes wonderfully short- 

 lived after being removed from the cellar. With the best of stores, and no symp- 

 toms of diarrhea, there gets to be few bees in the colonies, and they are supposed to 

 have dwindled because of old age. Low temperature of the cellar may keep the 

 bees in the hives, but pure air prevents the desire to fly out. 



In case the bees cluster closely in the center of the brood-nest, the rest of the 

 hive contains cool air, without being drawn in by respiration. At the point where 

 the cool air and the warmth of the cluster meet, condensation on the combs of honey 

 takes place. Sealed or unsealed, water gets into it and ferments, and the bees con- 

 suming it, brings disease. 



In a right temperature, the bees do not cluster compactly, but stand upon all 

 parts of the combs containing honey, and the air that is drawn into the hive is at 

 once freighted with respiratory impurities, and forced out again. 



Nearly all colonies which we find to have starved, are also found to have been 

 the driest, cleanest and strongest in the lot. Not having much stores, it was more 

 likely to be covered with bees, which protected it from the condensation of moistura, 

 and preserved their good condition. Florence, Calif 



XHE PRESENT OUXEOOK— MARKETING, ETC. 



BY B. TAYLOR. 



In early spring the season of 1894 promised to be one of the best in many 

 years for bee-keepers. The weather was favorable, and one of the main stand-bys 

 for honey — white clover — abounded everywhere. There were frequent copious 

 rains, and we were justified in predicting an old-time yield. But after all these 

 cheering signs, drouth set in at the beginning of summer, and at this date (July 

 31st) yet holds sway. There has been but one moderate shower for many weeks, 

 and the commonly green grass of our lawn is in some places as dead and brown as 



