THE AMERICAIi BEE JUURNAL. 



55 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Consumption and Sale of Honey. 



A. D. STOCKING, (65—80). 



Having read Mr. Ilecldon's article on 

 page 75() of the Bee Jooiinal for 

 1884, I ain induced to present a few 

 thoughts brought out by its perusal, 

 for the study and investigation of all 

 producers of honey. I will not quote 

 any of his article, but simply ask all 

 to read it. He has often referred to 

 the over-production of lioney, the de- 

 pression of the honey market, and to 

 farmers, mechanics and others going 

 into tlie bee-business ; but will he or 

 any one tell us how the keeping of a 

 few bees by the farmers, mechanics, 

 and others for their own use or pleas- 

 ure, affects the general market ? How 

 much is his own market affected by 

 those who keep a few bees in his own 

 county y Can he tell what per cent. 

 of the farmers and others in Cass 

 county produce honey and put it upon 

 the market ? What percentage of the 

 farmers, etc. of the county do not pur- 

 chase nor consume one pound of honey 

 in a year ? and tell us why they do 

 not V 



I may be wrong, but I will venture 

 the assertion that not 15 per cent, of 

 "the farmers, carpenters and small 

 children, together with invalids and 

 widows," of Cass county, keep bees i 

 and also that not 30 per cent, of all 

 the people of the county buy or use 

 honey. Of course I cannot speak cor- 

 rectly for his section, but I know that 

 in this part of the country there is 

 not nearly this percentage of the peo- 

 ple who produce or use honey. Would 

 it not be well to look into tlie causes 

 why so small a percentage of the peo- 

 ple are consumers of honey and to try 

 and induce them to become such 'i 

 The dullness in the honey market is 

 not due so much to over-production 

 as to under-consumption. There are 

 good reasons for this non- consumption 

 of honey. There are but few farmers 

 who keep bees or live near towns 

 where honey is kept for sale, and there 

 are but few towns where it is kept for 

 sale. Where there is any effort made 

 to introduce it for general consump- 

 tion, it is generally looked upon as a 

 luxury, and not as a necessary article 

 of food. If the people could be edu- 

 cated to look upon honey as a really 

 necessary article of food and medi- 

 cine, and also that it is one of the 

 cheapest, the market for it would be 

 such that the present production 

 would not nearly supply the demand. 



It is true that the bee-papers are 

 doing all they can to bring this about, 

 but a small proportion of the people 

 read them. This subject should be 

 presented to the people through the 

 medium of the country press, and its 

 sale should be pushed, as the sale of 

 all other goods is, through the hands 

 of dealers and grocerymen generally. 

 Put honey into all the country tovi'ns 

 and cross-roads where there is a 

 tradesman and bring it to tlie notice 

 of the people through the country 

 papers, and by means of circulars and 

 Leaflets, until the trade is establislied, 

 and then it will take care of itself. 



When the producers of honey take 

 this course to establish a market for 

 their honey, they need have no fears 

 of over-production, nor of too many 

 going into the business. 

 Ligonier, o+ Ind. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Winter Notes for the Apiary. 



J. M. HICKS. 



It will be to the advantage of the 

 bee-keeper to see that all other farm- 

 stock, such as horses, cattle, sheep 

 and hogs, are not allowed to run at 

 large in the same yard where the bees 

 are located. Keep the snow from the 

 entrances of the hives which have 

 been left on the summer stands. If 

 they are not well covered, I would 

 suggest that a good cover be placed 

 over each hive, and also that boards 

 be set up in front of the hives so as to 

 keep the snow and beating rains off of 

 them. 



It will pay the bee-keeper to see 

 that all dead bees are kept cleared 

 away from the entrances of all hives, 

 so that the bees may have free egress 

 when a favorable opportunity for fly- 

 ing presents itself. 



Now is a good time to look after the 

 hives that the bee-keeper expects to 

 use during the next season ; and if he 

 has no good movable-frame hive, in 

 which he can manage his bees success- 

 fully, I would advise him to procure a 

 sample and make all he may need for 

 1885. As a matter of economy, it is 

 best to have all hives well painted 

 with two good coats of paint thor- 

 oughly mixed with pure linseed oil, as 

 soon as they are made. Almost any 

 color will answer. 



Battle Ground, ~o Ind. 



For She American Bee Joumat 



Tree-Trunk Hibernation Theory. 



W. J, DAVIS. 



When Mr. W. F. Clarke promul- 

 gated his "tree-trunk" hibernation 

 theory, I really thought that he was 

 indulging in an apiarian pleasantry ; 

 but enough has been written to as- 

 sure me that at least some of the 

 writers on that subject are in earnest, 

 and really believe that a colony of 

 bees does during certain seasons of 

 the year, become torpid, in which 

 condition they neither eat nor breathe 

 until a certain degree of warmth 

 arouses them to activity ; and I am 

 led to believe that this is the popular 

 idea of hibernation. 



On page 23, Mr. Dayton says : 

 " From a gradual appearance of mois- 

 ture when a uniform temperature is 

 maintained, one might be led to infer 

 that the moisture commenced to con- 

 dense in the cooler portions of the 

 hive as soon as the bees began to 

 hibernate;" on the same principle, 

 I suppose, that some claim that dead 

 bees generate moisture in the hive. 



That the ants of cold latitudes pass 

 the winter in a state of stupor, is a 

 fact established by observation ; that 

 they thaw out, revive and live is also 



a fact ; but that a colony ever becomes 

 torpid for any considerable length of 

 time and afterward revive and live, 

 is simply nonsense. But, " according 

 to \Vebster," hibernation simply 

 means " to winter, to pass the season 

 of winter in close quarters, or in 

 seclusion." If this be the accepted 

 definition of tlie term, liibernate, then 

 a colony of bees must of necessity 

 liibernate in all northern latitudes, no 

 matter what are their natural or arti- 

 ficial surroundings. If they pass the 

 winter at all, they have hibernated, 

 that is, if we count each individual 

 colony as a unit. If hibernating is 

 passing the winter in seclusion, and 

 each individual bee is the unit, then, 

 of course, they cannot hibernate, for 

 a colony of bees cannot pass the win- 

 ter singly. Will not :Mr. Clarke find 

 some other term to convey the idea 

 intended by the word "hibernation V" 

 Youngsville,^^ Pa. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



The Pollen Theory Must Go. 



S. CORNEIL. 



The advocates of the pollen theory 

 have been told over and over again, 

 that thousands of stocks* are win- 

 tered every year with an abundance 

 of pollen in their hives, and yet they 

 have no disease. Tlie reply is that 

 "the bees do not have dysentery 

 everv year because they do not eat 

 pollen every year," and without the 

 consumption of "vegetable matter, 

 either in the form of bee-bread or 

 floating pollen in the honey," there 

 can be no diarrhea ; that in some win- 

 ters the cold is so intense, and long 

 continued, that the bees are confined 

 to one place on the combs, until all 

 the honey within their reach is con- 

 sumed, after which they will eat pol- 

 len rather than starve ; that this con- 

 sumption of pollen " takes into the 

 system matter that readily over-loads 

 the intestines," and if they have no 

 opportunity to void on the wing, dis- 

 ease ensues, 



I reply, 1, that several cases are on 

 record, in which, on dissecting 

 healthy bees, confined in winter quar- 

 ters, pollen lias been found in their 

 intestines. Dr. Douhoff and Prof. 

 Leuckhart made such examinations 

 and found pollen in the intestines of 

 the bees, on every occasion except in 

 the month of November. I made re- 

 peated examinations with the micro- 

 scope last winter, when searching for 

 dry fiEces. The bees examined were 

 taken from beneath a woolen quilt 

 where they were very drowsy. I 

 could always find pollen in the con- 

 tents of their intestines, but there 

 was no diarrhea. 



2. I refer those who say that with- 

 out pollen-eating there can be no 

 diarrhea, to the experiment of Baron 

 Berlepscli, described on page .371 of 

 the Bee Jouknal for 1881. He says : 

 " In 1865, for sake of an experiment, 

 I wintered a very strong colony with- 

 out any pollen, "but plenty of honey, 

 and in the spring of 1866 it was the 

 only colony among 70 which showed 

 signs of restlessness and dysentery." 



