THE AMERICAJM JiEE JUUKJNAL. 



39 



State Entomologist for Illinois, with 

 his well trained assistants, can be in- 

 duced to undertake the matter, and, 

 if so, there is every reason to hope 

 that rapid progress will be made. 



It gives me pleasure to acknowledge 

 that since mv proposed investigation 

 of the subject of foul brood became 

 known, many kind words of interest 

 and encouragements have been re- 

 ceived, and some offers of practical 

 aid. In both ways I have none to 

 thank more heartily than the efficient 

 Secretary of the Michigan State Bee- 

 Keepers' Associat ion. 



Champaign,^ Ills. 



For the American Bee JoiirnaL 



A Would-be Discoverer. 



JAS. m'neill. 



On page 440 of the last volume of 

 OUanings, Rev. ^V. F. Clarke heads a 

 lengthy article in which he announces 

 his assumed discovery of the hiber- 

 nation of bees, with " The wintering 

 difficulty solved at last. Hoorah !" 

 and on page 4-38 of the Bee Journal 

 for 1884, in commenting on the title 

 of a corresponding article, he says : 

 " But there is no use in giving a small 

 name to a big idea, which I firmly be- 

 lieve the one I have struck, to be. 

 For several years it has been im- 

 pressed upon my mind that I should 

 some day make a great discovery in 



bee-keeping 



I find it very difficult to write with 

 that calm dignity and equanimity 

 which beht a literary man. In fact 

 my band quivers with a tremulous 

 excitement, so that, as the Editor can 

 plainly see. I do not write with my 

 usual steady chirography. I feel very 

 much as Galileo did when the true 

 theory of the universe dawned upon 

 him." 



Such an introduction as this, to the 

 sober facts of his discovery, is nat- 

 urally calculated to arrest the atten- 

 tion of the bee-keeping world, and 

 hold it in bristling expectation. For 

 we very naturally suppose that, in the 

 face of all that has been written on 

 the wintering problem— in the face of 

 the fact that a score of worthy inves- 

 tigators have thought that tliey had 

 solved it, till the crucial test of ex- 

 perience had disproved ttieir theories, 

 —he who would thus announce his dis- 

 covery would be sure of his position 

 beyond a peradventure ; and that it 

 would be the result of careful and 

 prolonged experiments in which ob- 

 servations, tested and re-tested, in- 

 variably pointed to the same result. 



But what do we find V Simply this : 

 That while lying on his bed one niglit, 

 racked with rlieumatic pains, his 

 mind went back to the days of his 

 youth, when he was engaged in clear- 

 ing up a bush farm. In the midst of 

 his reverie, the question occurred to 

 him : " Do you ever remember cut- 

 ting down a tree in which a colony of 

 bees had been winter-killed ?" and 

 immediately came the response— 

 "Never." Then and there became 

 to the conclusion that the true princi- 

 ple of wintering bees lay hidden in a 

 hollow-tree trunk. Then the word 



" hibernation " Hashed across his 

 mental vision, and his grand discovery 

 was: made. , , 



What of the alleged fact which led 

 to this discovery that bees winter 

 well in a tree trunk V The testimony 

 of many bee-keepers is that a lioUow- 

 tree trunk gives no more assurance of 

 safe wintering to a colony of bees 

 than an ordinary bee-hive. What of 

 the alleged fact that bees hibernate V 

 He quotes instances where quietness, 

 small consumption of honey, and ex- 

 cellent condition of bees in the spring 

 would favor tlie opinion that the 

 dormant state is the natural condition 

 of bees in winter ; but he furnished 

 no demonstrable proof that bees 

 really do hibernate. 



But again : Suppose it be proved 

 beyond a peradventure that bees 

 hibernate, how will the knowledge of 

 this fact help us to solve the winter- 

 ing problem V Have we not still to 

 learn how to make them hibernate V 

 There is no point in the wintering 

 difficulty upon which bee-keepers are 

 so generally agreed as upon the im- 

 portance of quietness. While the 

 cellar, the clamp, chaff-packing, up- 

 ward ventilation, downward venti- 

 lation, no pollen, etc., have each their 

 champions who have contended 

 bravely for their particular theory, 

 the end and aim of all the different 

 methods of wintering bees, is to 

 make and keep them quiet during the 

 period when they are confined to the 

 hive. Now, in my opinion, it does 

 not make an iota of difference whether 

 you call tliis much-desired winter- 

 condition of bees quietness or hiber- 

 nation, the same difficulties are en- 

 countered in discovering the essential 

 conditions of success in either case. 



Mr. Clarke thinks that a shaft of 

 air beneath the cluster is the essential 

 condition of successful hibernation. 

 This opinion may. or it may not, be 

 true. It has yet to stand the test of 

 repeated and extensive experiment. 

 It may supply a link in the chain of 

 the essential condition, or it may be 

 discarded as unimportant. If it shall 

 prove, as Mr. Clarke thinks it is, the 

 Ariadnean clew to the wintering dif- 

 ficulty, it will then be time enough for 

 him to write in the grandiloquent 

 strain in which he has already writ- 

 ten ; and though we might still smile 

 at his inflated enthusiasm, we would 

 accord him his due meed of praise, 

 and hail him as a great discoverer. 

 Hudson, <x N. Y. 



of them, that made by Gen. Adair, of 

 Kentucky. 



What Gen. Adair claimed as a 

 " New Idea," and for which he named 

 the hive, was not its length, but the 

 principle of having the brood-nest in 

 one end of his hive, with the store- 

 combs or surplus-arrangements be- 

 tween the brood and the entrance of 

 the liive, so the bees were obliged to 

 pass through or around the surplus- 

 arrangement whenever they entered 

 the hive. The terms "New Idea 

 Hives," and " Long Idea Hives " are 

 unquestionably used incorrectly, and 

 a dictionary should only use them to 

 call attention to their incorrect use, 

 and to give the correct terms in their 

 d1<icg. 



Mr. Phin, in his introduction, com- 

 mences with the following truthful 

 and timely words : " Not only is our 

 language governed bv our ideas, but 

 our ideas, thoughts aiid reasoning are 

 too often governed by our language.' 

 This being true,how necessary is it that 

 no implement or anything else used 

 in our business should be called by 

 names which give no idea whatever 

 of their real uses, especially, of all 

 books, in a standard dictionary. 

 Williamstown,c$ Iowa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Correct Apicultural Nomenclature. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



On page 50 of Prof. Phin's " Dic- 

 tionary of Practical Apiculture," in 

 his definition of the term " New Idea 

 Hive," he gives what should essen- 

 tially have been given under the term, 

 "Single-Story Hive, "or"Long Hive," 

 either of which are much more proper 

 than the terms which he gives. I do 

 not understand that the term, " New 

 Idea Hive," has ever been j)roperly 

 used to mean simply all forms of long, 

 single-story hives, but only one form 



For the American Bee JoumaU 



Champlain Valley, Vt-, Convention. 



The Champlain Valley Bee-Keepers' 

 Association held its annual meeting 

 in Middlebury, Vt., on Thursday, 

 Jan. 8, 1885. It was called to order by 

 President H. L. Leonard, and the 

 minutes of the last annual meeting 

 were read and adopted. 



A committee of three was appointed 

 to propose questions for discussion. 

 The following officers were elected for 

 the ensuing year: President, H. L. 

 Leonard, Brandon, Vt. ; Vice-Presi- 

 dent V. V. Blackmer, Orwell; Sec- 

 retary, R. H. Holmes, Bridport ; and 

 Treasurer, J. E. Crane, Middlebury. 



Eleven of the members present re- 

 ported 1,409 colonies, spring count, 

 1 634 fall count, and 29,708 pounds of 

 comb honev, and 2,200 pounds of ex- 

 tracted hoiiev, as last season's crop. 



The following question was then 

 discussed : " What is the best man- 

 agement to prevent swarming V" 



The President said that he had suc- 

 ceeded in preventing swarming by 

 cutting out all the queen-cells; but 

 his experience in this liad been limited 

 to one season, and he did not know as 

 it would always prove successful. 



Mr. V. V. Blackmer said that he 

 had succeeded in retm-ning second- 

 swarms, and in his experience they 

 had all staid after cutting out all the 

 queen-cells. 



This question was then asked : 

 " What is the first cause of swarm- 

 ing ?" Mr. J. E. Crane thought that 

 it was the impulse to increase, which 

 is implanted in all creatures. 



" Is fall-gathered honey suitable tor 



wintering bees V" ,u ^ -^ i j 



Mr. J. E. Crane said that it had 



been stated that honey which would 



not crystallize was not good for bees ; 



but it did not follow that it was good 

 i^ it did crystallize. 



