THE AMERICAISI JBEE JUURNAL. 



23 



Mr. Howes wis'-ed to know whether it 

 would l>« sail- lor winter stores. Tlie 

 Doctor replied tliat liis bees had for win- 

 ter stores what they stored of it in the 

 body of the hive, and that he was waiting 

 anxiously for the result. 



Mr. Edmiston said that he understood 

 by Prof. Coolc's writings that tiiere are 

 two Icinds o( lioney-dew, some which is 

 ohtalned from apliida", which is good for 

 winter stores, and that obtained from the 

 baric-louse, which is some different, vary- 

 ing in color and taste, and he was doubt- 

 ful whether it would do for winter .stores, 

 but he would not be afraid to risk it. As 

 to the bark-louse, Prof. Cook thought that 

 they would nottrouble long, as they would 

 soon be destroyed by their enemies. 



Mr. Overmyer said that it would be al- 

 most certain destruction to the bees if it 

 were undertaken to winter them on this 

 honey-dew. Last year his bees gathered 

 some of it and ha<l it for their winter 

 stores ; and the result was that in one 

 apiary he lost 1-54 colonies (lut of 1.59, and 

 in another, 89 out of 117. His bees gath- 

 ered large quantities of it during the past 

 season. It occurred in his locality in 

 mid-summer, and again later in the sea- 

 son. The best use that he could find for 

 it was to feed it to the bees and keep them 

 bred up strong. He had done so with 

 his bees, and they were in line condition. 



Mr. Howes asked how we were to pre- 

 vent its being mixed with nice, white 

 Jioney, as some writers call it "abomina- 

 ble stuff," and not fit for hogs to eat. 



Mr. Overmyer said tliat the " stuff " 

 should be extracted, and the bees fed with 

 good .syrup for winter, to insure their 

 safety. 



Foul brood was the next subject dis- 

 cussed. Dr. Stevenson asked whether the 

 ■disease really was so prevalent as gen- 

 ■erally supposed to be. 



Mr. Edmiston then gave a description 

 of the treatment which he employed in 

 ridding his apiary of the disease several 

 years ago, stating the necessity of being 

 very careful while handling a diseased 

 colony, and to thorouglily disinfect every- 

 thing used about it, by boiling thoroughly, 

 using salicylic acid to disinfect the hands, 

 smoker, etc., and also using the acid in 

 the food which is fed the bees just after 

 changing them into a clean hive with 

 frames of foundation. He also thought 

 that not more than one jierson in fifty 

 would succeed in curing the disease at the 

 first trial, and some would never cure it. 



It was decided to hold the next annual 

 meeting at Adrian, Mich., on the last 

 Wednesday in November, 188.5. 



Sixteen of those present represented 785 

 •colonies, spring count, and l.'iso, fall 

 count, and obtained 397 pounds of bees- 

 wax, 10,0.5(5 pounds of comb honey, and 

 17,1.59 pounds of extracted, being an 

 average of -^4 2-3 pounds per colony. The 

 price received for comb honey was 15 

 cents per pound, and for extracted, U^ 

 •cents per pound. 



The annual dues received not being 

 sufficient to pay expenses, it was deculed 

 to change tlie membership fee from 35 

 cents to .50 cents. The convention then 

 adjourned to meet as above stated, unless 

 the executive committee should decide to 

 hold a spring meeting. 



A. M. vjAxdee, Sec. 



F. W. Gilbert, Pres. 



For the Ainerlfun Hee Juurnal. 



Hibernation, Bee-Diarrhea, etc. 



C. W. DAYTON. 



^" The seventb annual meeting of 

 the Nebraska State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation will be held at Tecumseh, 

 Neb., on Wednesday, Thursday and 

 Friday, Jan. 14, 1.5 and IB, 188.5; the. 

 first session beginning at 3 p. m. on 

 the Uth. Notices will be posted in 

 the Tecuniseli de|iots, stating the hall 

 an whicli the meeting will be held. 

 M. L. Trester, Sec. 



Although I consider hibernation, 

 as portrayed by Mr. W. F. Clarke, to 

 be a grand feature in the successful 

 wintering of bees, yet I am unpre- 

 pared to believe that hibernation 

 alone will lessen the number of our 

 winter losses, as I believe that hiber- 

 nation will prolong the lives of bees 

 only so long as they remain healthy, 

 and that the ill-health of a colony of 

 bees may be brought about by condi- 

 tions which are greatly favored by 

 the hibernating condition. 



From the gradual appearance of 

 moisture where a uniform tempera- 

 ture is maintained, one might be led 

 to infer that the moisture commenced 

 to condense in the cooler portions of 

 the hive as soon as the bees began to 

 hibernate ; sometimes being so slow 

 in its action as to require weeks, if 

 not m'onths, to become readily visible 

 to the naked eye, but at length cover- 

 ing the combs with water within 2 or 

 3 inches of the cluster of strong colo- 

 nies. The cause might be attributed 

 to the decreasing heat of the cluster, 

 or too large a brood-chamber. 



It is my idea that we have tempera- 

 ture in winter sufficient, and that it is 

 only a question of its continuance as 

 to when we may have nearly a hive 

 full of frost, let the hive be occupied 

 by a pollen or a sugar fed colony. As 

 9 colonies out of ten having their 

 combs well tilled with stores cluster 

 on the lower parts of the combs, yet, 

 in time, frost or water will occupy 

 the combs at the side, if not directly 

 above the cluster, and during a warm 

 spell of weather, when the bees awake 

 for regalement, there will be a job of 

 house cleaning, which will manifest 

 itself in bee -diarrhea, should the 

 weather not be favorable for flight. 

 Such conditions are brought about on 

 the same principle that a chimney 

 may become nearly filled with frost 

 during a spell of low temperature in 

 winter, and when it is warmer the 

 frost melts. Again, a colony may 

 hibernate for a couple of months and 

 the combs may become cold, except 

 in close proximity to the cluster, and 

 without a change of temperature the 

 bees may be awakened by disturbance 

 or hunger, meanwhile sending 

 draughts of warm air amongst the 

 combs, which will immediately cover 

 them with moisture. 



When bees having diarrhea are 

 supplied with- pure stores, we do not 

 find them evacuating those worm-like 

 masses described by Mr. W. M. Wood- 

 ward on page 622 of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for 1884, but it is a liquid con- 

 taining about the same amount of 

 solid matter that composes the ex- 

 creta of healthy bees. While bees 

 may die from the effects of over-load- 

 ing the intestines with healthy ex- 

 creta, which is produced by the con- 

 sumption of food composed largely of 

 refuse substances, colonies thus af- 

 flicted do not emit a diarrhetic odor, 

 nor present to the hand, wl\en held 

 abovo them, the cold and clammy 



sensation described by Mr. A. E. 

 Kohnkc on page 324 of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for hS84. 



The belief that the intestines of a 

 bee cannot become loaded without 

 disease, and that that disease is diar- 

 rhea, will notaccord with nature, and 

 must be the result of too hasty con- 

 clusions. Hence, it requires experi- 

 ence in order to distinguish the dis- 

 ease. An illustration of this may be 

 found on page 6.51 of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for 18.S4, where bees were con- 

 fined at a time when there is more 

 excrementitiotis matter produced in 

 two days than during four months' 

 confinement after the active labors of 

 the season are ended. While the gen- 

 eral conditions described possess 

 nothing pertaining to diarrhetical dis- 

 order, the condition of the artificially 

 confined colony bemg assisted by in- 

 digestion, as caused by excitement, 

 furnishes an imperfect specimen of a 

 diarrhetically aiiected colony, and the 

 effect would have been of a similar 

 character had pollen been excluded. 



The condensation of moisture and 

 the accumulation of fecal matter are 

 plain and fixed philosophical facts ; 

 but why cane sugar is more of a safe- 

 guard against moisture-drinking than 

 honey and pollen; is, I believe, not so 

 well understood. Possibly the result 

 of an experiment, which I tried last 

 fall, may throw some light on that 

 point : 



From a normal colony without 

 brood in an observatory hive, the 

 sides of which were darke^ned by 

 hinged doors,! removed all the combs 

 but four ; next I satisfied myself that 

 the four combs contained no honey«or 

 pollen, and as it was after all of the 

 flowers had been killed by frosts, it is 

 probable that there was none gath- 

 ered. Then I fed them .5 pounds of 

 thick sugar syrup, aud substituted for 

 a cover to the hive a board having a 

 weather-check clear through it, and 

 coming directly over the centre combs. 

 After a few pleasant days we had a 

 week or so of cloudy and rainy 

 weather, and as it rained there was a 

 continual dropping from the cover 

 upon the bees, which, as could be 

 seen through the glass, were clinging 

 to the combs, turning Ijlack and per- 

 fectly quiet, and appearing much as 

 they do when hanging on the outside 

 of the hive during a shower in the 

 swarming season. When they flew, a 

 few days afterward, there was no 

 visible distention or disease. 



At the time of the flight I inserted 

 between the two middle combs, a 

 comb containing a small patch of 

 capped brood, but no pollen or honey. 

 When it rained again, the bees re- 

 mained quiet at first, but afterward 

 became greatly aggravated and in- 

 clined to sting. When they flew, two 

 days afterward, they appeared as 

 though loaded with honey, the evac- 

 uations were copious, and with but 

 few exceptions, nearly transparent, 

 and there was the characteristic odor 

 of prevalent diarrhea. The last part 

 of the experiment was repeated once 

 aud the first part twice with the same 

 results. An imtried experiment 

 should differ from this in the substi- 

 tution of pollen for brood, and as bees 



