THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



117 



upon a colony of bees that is worth 



wintering." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies as fol- 

 lows : " The only objection to the 

 low ground is that the cold air settles 

 into the hollows, and 1 think that I 

 should prefer the low ground. The 

 laws of atmospheric drainage should 

 be understood ; there may be some 

 outlet for the cold air in the low loca- 

 tion." 



James Heddon remarks thus : " 1 

 would prefer the low location (sup- 

 posing no trouble from water), but so 

 far as successful wintering is con- 

 cerned, this is one of tlie ' great ' fac- 

 tors in the problem. They will live 

 or die in either place." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE says : " I should 

 choose the low location every time, 

 tor various reasons ; prominent among 

 whicli are, the temperature at the low 

 location will average the warmest in 

 early spring, less oees will be lost by 

 high winds, and the laden bees will 

 travel down hill rather than up hill." 



Bees Affected with Diarrhea. 



and diarrhea would have been impos- 

 sible." 



1)K. G. L. Tinker answers as fol- 

 lows : " Tliis query presents an argu- 

 ment against allowing a colony to 

 have more winter stores than what is 

 barely necessary to bring it through, 

 or until it can be overhauled and sup- 

 plied with fresh stores. A large 

 amount of stores predisposes to brood- 

 rearing at all times, while a colony 

 shortof stores never breeds very much. 

 Late fall and early winter brood-rear- 

 ing, without doubt, may cause diar- 

 rhea, the young bees causing most of 

 the uneasiness and the breaking of the 

 cluster. Early spring brood-rearing 

 appears to be a normal occurrence, 

 and the young bees then produced are 

 usually able to fly out before great un- 

 easiness occurs. To save them, see 

 answer to No. 24." 



Cluery, No. 23 — I put i:i7 colonies into 

 my bee-cellar on Nov. rid, 1884, all in good 

 condition with plenty of honey. I did not 

 feed any sugar syrup last fall, and now H of 

 the heaviest ones have the diarrhea. Only 

 these 6 have brood. They have been quiet 

 all the time, and the tmpcrature has been 

 steadily at 44°, for I go to see them every 

 day. What can I do to save them? They 

 are old bees that are atfected, and in the I'M 

 colonies there was no brood, for I was care- 

 ful to look them over when I put them in. 

 Why is it that some of them have the diar- 

 rhea and others do not have it '/ — Racine.Wis. 



Dr. C. C. Miller answers thus : 

 " See that the cellar is well ventilated, 

 and perhaps by a little lower tempera- 

 ture." 



.J. E. Pond, Jk., says: "I appre- 

 hend that all of us would like a posi- 

 tive and certain answer to this ques- 

 tion. I should myself, for one, and 

 would pay a good price for it, too." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE replies thus : 

 " The querist answers the last ques- 

 tion by saying that ' only these 6 have 

 brood.' The brood caused the bees 

 to eat pollen, and form it into chyme, 

 which was passed around for food. It 

 is doubtfnl whether anything can be 

 done to save the bees, where diarrhea 

 begins thus early." 



W. Z. Hutchinson remarks thus : 

 " When bees have the diarrhea in 

 midwinter, it is almost, if not quite, 

 impossible to save them ; and I can 

 only suggest, as an experiment, that 

 the bees be given a flight, artificiallv, 

 by carrying one colony at a time into 

 a warm room, taking away their combs 

 of honey, and giving them dry, clean 

 combs, and changing their food to 

 cane sugar. I would put soft candy 

 over the frames and cover it so that 

 the bees can cluster upon it. The 

 greater degree of heat generated by the 

 heaviest colonies, may have induced 

 brood - rearing and consumption of 

 pollen. Had there been no nitroge- 

 nous food in the hive, brood-rearing 



First Symptoms of Bee-Diarrhea. 



cillery. No. 24 — What should be done 

 with a colony of bees in winter quarters in 

 the North, when the first symptoms of bee- 

 diarrhea appear, if the colony is out-of-doors 

 or in the cellar ? To make the answer com- 

 plete, state what should be done in mid- 

 winter when Hight is impossible, later, when 

 occasional flight is possible, and in early 

 spring before any pollen is to be found. — 

 Solon, Maine. 



Prof. A. J. Cook answers thus : 

 " If tlie temperature in the cellar was 

 above 48° Fahr., I should cool it. I 

 have given bees a flight in a warm 

 room, but this is some trouble. I have 

 known this to be done several times. 

 Very often the colony will do very 

 well even if left alone." 



J. E. Pond, Jr., ssiys: "It would 

 require a long article to give the in- 

 formation desired in this question, 

 and even then the answer would be 

 largely theoretical." 



Messrs. Dadant & Son reply as 

 follows : " Keep the bees warm and 

 leave them alone until a warm day 

 comes. The more you will disturb 

 them in cold weather, the worse it 

 will be. We would give the same 

 answer to No. 23." 



Dr. C. 0. Miller advises the fol- 

 lowing : " Do all you can to keep the 

 temfjerature of the cellar right, and 

 especially to have the air of the cellar 

 pure, and perhaps contracting the 

 space of the brood-nest, if not already 

 done." 



W. Z. Hutchinson remarks thus : 

 " As an experiment, I would try 

 giving the bees a flight by carrying 

 them into a warm room, giving them 

 clean, dry combs, and putting a soft 

 candy over the frames, covering it up 

 so that tbe bees can cluster upon the 

 candy. If bees continue to show signs 

 of diarrhea after they can have an oc- 

 casional flight, I would change their 

 combs and food as above." 



James Heddon replies thus ■ "Not 

 sayhig what can or cannot be done, I 

 will say that, practically, the best 

 thing to do. is to give up that colony, 

 and study the cause and prevention 

 that may prevent the disease during 

 the next winter. In this locality, I 



have never made any practical success 

 in devoting time to saving colonies 

 that had diarrhea in mid-winter." 



G. M. DOOLITTLE says: "After 

 trying all plans of cure, 1 now let them 

 alone, for it is only a waste of time to 

 fuss with them. If a warm day occurs 

 and the bees are not too badly re- 

 duced, a flight should be given them 

 by shoveling snow from the hive, or 

 removing them from the cellar ; yet 

 for all this the bees will generally be 

 dead before June, if they have the 

 diarrhea bad enough to spot the combs 

 and the inside of the hive." 



Dr. (4. L. Tinker answers thus : 

 "It is much like trying to gather up 

 ' spilt milk ' to try to save a colony of 

 bees with diarrhea when flight is im- 

 possible. In the one case care should 

 be taken not to spill the milk, and in 

 the other, to properly prepare the bees 

 for winter. Where it is possible, I 

 would advise raising the temperature 

 of the interior of the hive to facilitate 

 transpiration and the expulsion of 

 moisture, by placing a thick, all-wool 

 mat over the frames. If in a cellaij 

 raising the temperature to 48"^ or .50° 

 by artificial heat, together" with free 

 upward ventilation, may aid the bees 

 to find relief. Later on, when occa- 

 sional flights are possible, I would 

 contract the brood-chamber and give 

 better protectiouT If the honey in 

 the combs was thin, I would give good 

 sealed honey or ' Good candy.'" 



Bees Breeding Without Pollen. 



<liiery. No. 25 — Will bees breed without 

 any pollen in the hive ?— Chesaning, Mich. 



Jajles Heddon answers thus: "No. 

 If there is no bee-bread in the cells, 

 and no floating pollen in the liquid 

 food, no." 



Dk. G. L. Tinker says : " No." 



VV. Z. Hutchinson replies thus : 

 " Bees cannot rear brood without 

 nitrogenous food, and there may be 

 enough in some honey to enable the 

 bees to rear brood to a very limited 

 extent." 



G. M. Doolittle remarks as fol- 

 lows : " I believe that they will, to a 

 certain extent, where their food is 

 honey. If sugar syrup is the only food, 

 I think that no brood will be reared." 



Dr. C. C. Miller replies as follows: 

 " I think that they will not commence 

 breeding without pollen, and continue 

 but a snort time when it is taken 

 away." 



Prof, A. J. Cook says : " Never," 



J. E. Pond, Jr.. answers thus: 

 " As a rule, bees will not breed with- 

 out pollen or some substitute. Some- 

 times honey will be found to contain 

 a larger proportion of floating grains 

 of pollen than at other times ; at such 

 times a little brood will be started, 

 but not enough to prove of much value. 

 I have tested the matter to some ex- 

 tent, and found that brood-rearing 

 ceased when I removed the pollen, 

 and started up again when I replaced 

 it." 



