I 



182 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



During all these experiments the 

 loss of bees has been coiisideiable, 

 owin? to flight from the hive, and 

 their clingine to the thermometer 

 when drawn from the hive. One of 

 the colonies has become uneasy, and 

 shows signs of bee-diarrhea. With 

 bat one experiment, I find that this 

 once quiet colony maintains a tem- 

 perature of 7.5'-, and if the weather 

 does not soon give a chance for 

 flight, they are ruined. I think that 

 brood-rearing is being rapidly pushed 

 forward, but I cannot well examine 

 to see. 



By the above it will be seen that 

 bees must burn much fuel at such 

 times when the weather is as it has 

 been during the past five weeks, in 

 order to warm the temperature from 

 16^' below zero up to 63° above. This 

 fuel is, of course, honey, where sugar 

 syrup is not furnished. The question 

 now arises in my mind whether all 

 of us who are recommending out- 

 door wintering, are not losing in dol- 

 lars and cents, by the extra amount of 

 honey which must be consumed over 

 cellar wintering ; for surely it cannot 

 take as much fuel to warm a tempera- 

 ture of 45'^ to 6.=) ', as it does one of ]Cfi 

 below zero to the same point. 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Diarrhea— Harmonizing Theories. 



WM. BALLANTINE. 



Some years ago Mr. Ileddon ad- 

 vanced the somewhat startling tlieory 

 that pollen (the natural food of bees), 

 was the cause of all our " winter's 

 discontent." Some were surprised at 

 its boldness, others were struck with 

 its novelty, while some were tempted 

 out of curiosity to investigate it.' It 

 has been weighed in the balance and 

 found wanting. But has no good re- 

 sulted from itV Far from this; it 

 has been the means of eliciting some 

 truth. 



Prof. Cook has given a miasi-en- 

 dorsement of the so-called pollen 

 theory. He thinks that colonies des- 

 titute of this nitrogenous food will 

 winter better than those which have 

 it. But iMr. Doolittle thinks that the 

 cause of bee-diarrhea is when colonies 

 are breeding, and wlien the young 

 bees are prevented from having a 

 fliffht. This he has sustained by cer- 

 tain ob.servations made at various 

 times in his own apiary. I believe 

 that there is a moiety of truth in this, 

 although I have never observed the 

 phenomenon. 



Beasoning from analogy, we are 

 brought to the conclusion that insects 

 as \\?\\ as other animals, have their 

 intestines full of a peculiar kind of 

 matter, that miist be voided shortly 

 after birth to secure the healthy and 

 vigorous action of the system. This 

 matter is technically known as meco- 

 nium. An infant, a calf, a colt, and 

 even a lamb, will not thrive until this 

 passes oti. Is it then not a fair in- 

 ference to say that the young of bees 

 must, in like manner, have an oppor- 

 tunity to void this excrement to in- 

 sure health and vigor V 



Let us next endeavor to harmonize 

 the theories of this trio of bee- 

 savants. 



It is a well-known principle that 

 bees cannot breed without pollen. If, 

 then, there is no pollen in a colony, 

 breeding is out of the cjuestion. This 

 being the case, according to Mr. Doo- 

 little's theory, there will be no diar- 

 rhea, because there are no young bees 

 to suffer. This will chime in with 

 Prof. Cook's experience. With him, 

 colonies winter better that have no 

 pollen, and consequently no breeding. 



Mr. Ileddon finds that some of his 

 colonies are dying with diarrhea, and 

 discovers that all so affected have 

 pollen ; he has not made the observa- 

 tions of Mr. Doolittle, but infers that 

 pollen is the true cause of the bee- 

 mortality. His inference, though 

 wrong, in charging the whole evil 

 upon the pollen, which is as innocent 

 of producing the death of his colonies 

 as Vennor's theory of thi& being a 

 mild winter was in producing the re- 

 verse, is, nevertheless, to a certain 

 extent, in harmony with Mr. Doolit- 

 tle's theory, which inevitably recog- 

 nizes the presence of pollen. 



If truth has thus been elicited, Mr. 

 Heddon has assisted, Prof. Cook's ex- 

 perience has corroborated, and Mr. 

 Doolittle's observations have con- 

 tributed much to its discovery. These 

 men are, then, not unlike the three 

 princes in the Arabian tale, who were 

 enamored with a fair lady, each being 

 severely wounded with Cupid's ar- 

 rows. 'The object of their affection 

 being herself unable to decide the 

 question, by making a choice, it was 

 agreed that the three princes should 

 travel for a year, in any portion of 

 India, of their own selection, and the 

 one who would secure the greatest 

 benefit for himself and mankind in 

 general, would be the happy party. 

 One procured a piece of carpet of so 

 potent a power that it would trans- 

 port its owner and others w-liom he 

 permitted to sit upon it, to any part 

 of the globe desired. Another pro- 

 cured an eye-glass that would enable 

 its owner and others to see any ob- 

 ject wished. The third procured an 

 apple of such divine power as to heal 

 every one however diseased, that 

 would but smell its perfume. Hav- 

 ing all three met at the expiration of 

 the time, at the place agreed upon, 

 each confident of being the victor, 

 one happened to look into the glass, 

 and saw the object of his affection in 

 the agonies of death. This lieing an- 

 nounced to the other two, the posses- 

 sor of the wonderful apple exclaimed: 

 " If I only were there I could cure 

 her in a moment." The owner of the 

 magic cloth said, " All right ; let us 

 three just sit down on this cloth and 

 we will be there instantly." They 

 did so, and by the application of the 

 apple, the ol)ject of their love was 

 immediatelv restored. But the ques- 

 tion who the happy one should be, 

 was just as undecided as ever. The 

 one with the glass claimed that if it 

 had not Iteen for it, they would have 

 remained ignorant of the sickness of 

 the princess ; the one with the cloth 

 asserted that it was instrumental in 

 bringing them to her assistance; 



while the one with the apple of mar- 

 velous virtue, claimed that the other 

 things were good, but if it had not 

 been for his apple, the princess would 

 have died in tJieir presence. 



So Messrs. Ileddon, Cook and Doo- 

 little are all entitled to some credit, if 

 we have at last found the truth on 

 this subject; but if we have not dis- 

 covered it, progress is made. Let Mr. 

 Heddon proclaim any and every bold 

 and novel view that his fertile and 

 imaginative mind can suggest ; and it 

 will be tried in the crucibles of hun- 

 dreds of philosophical minds, and 

 purged from its dross. If it contains 

 the millionth part of a grain of truth, 

 it will be eliminated and carefully 

 added to the already accumulated and 

 fast-accumulating treasury of bee- 

 science; if it does notcontain a single 

 atom of truth, it must and will be 

 rejected. 



Sago,0 Ohio. 



Northeastern Convention. 



Tlie sixteenth annual convention of the 

 Northeastern Bee- Keepers' Association 

 was held in the Citv Hall at Syracuse, N. 

 Y., on Jan. 21-2.3, 1885. 



FIRST DAY. 



The convention was called to order at 

 1:30 p. m. liy President Root, and after the 

 calling of the roll, the Secretary read the 

 minutes of the last meeting, which were 

 adopted. The Treasurer then made his 

 annual report, showing a balance on liand 

 of S43.:59. On motion, this report was ac- 

 cepted. 



On motion of the Secretary,it was agreed 

 that all the committees slioiild report on 

 the morning of the 23d. The Secretary 

 appointed Silas M. Locke as reading clerk. 

 An essay on "The Coming Bee," by 

 James Heddon, was then read and dis- 

 cussed. 



" Is stimulative feeding profitable and 

 practical ?" It was the general opinion 

 that l)ees should not be stimulated to un- 

 due activity in early spring, as it causes 

 them to breed too rapidly and waste while 

 on the winK,in search of water,etc. Differ- 

 ent methods of IVfdiug were described, 

 and the coMvcnt.icm seemed to favor plac- 

 ing the food inside of the hive, in prefer- 

 ence to feeding in the open air. All agreed 

 that it was beneficial to feed the bees be- 

 tween fruit-bloom and wiiite clover. 



" Will it pay to sow or plant for honey?" 

 It was generally concluded, that it would 

 pay, espei'ially on poor land, to sow for 

 bee-jiastiuage ; and abundant evidence 

 was given to prove that Alsike clover not 

 only yielded well as a honey-plant, but 

 also made a line quality of hay. 



Bee-keepers were advised to set out as 

 many basswood trees as possible. They 

 thrive best hv streams of water, or in a 

 somewhat moist soil, but will grow in al- 

 most any good soil. They should be set 

 out almost 10 feet apart. One of the mem- 

 bers spoke in favor of the > ellow locust, 

 as it comes into bloom between fruit and 

 clover bloom, and also was very valuable 

 tor posts. Mr. Vandervort got honey 

 Irom the pea-vine or while clover. The 

 farmers in his locality pronounce it excel- 

 lent for hay. „ . , j. 



"Spring dwindling." A number of 

 causes were suggested, such as poor win- 

 tering, which caused diseased bees ; a 

 poor quality of honey for winter food ; a 

 lack of sufficient winter stores, properly 

 placed ; an undue consumi>tion of food, 

 during winter ; unusual activity in early 

 spring, caused by distnrbing the bees 

 (which was considered detrimental), and 



