THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



187 



These strips slide tlirougli the tin 

 stirrups at eitlier the top or the bot- 

 tom of tlie frame as ilesired. Tlie 

 hoop-iron being bent squarely down- 

 ward, its end rests on the shoulder of 

 the hive, tlius obviating tlie necessity 

 for metal rabbets to the hive. Ttiis 

 attachment adds greatly to the 

 strength of the corner of the frame, 

 at the same time it is reversible. 



The advantages of reversible frames 

 I conceive to be these: 1. They en- 

 able us to get them full of comb 

 solidly attached to both top and bot- 

 tom bars — a very great advantage 

 when handling heavy frames of honey 

 in warm weather, as in extracting. 

 2. When the bees are disposed to 

 crowd the queen by putting honey in 

 the top of the brood-frames, by" re- 

 versing the frames, we may induce 

 the bees to carry the honey to the sec- 

 tions above where we want it ; we 

 thus secure the honey we want, and 

 room for the most prolitic queen. I 

 presume they carry the honey above 

 because their instinct teaches them to 

 keep their honey above the brood. 

 The same attachment being applied 

 to the wide frames ought to enable us, 

 by reversing the sections, to get them 

 solidly tilled with honey. 



Now, as to bee-food : There are at 

 least three points of vital importance 

 about winter food for bees : 1. Quality 

 of food. 2. Time of feeding. 3. 

 Quantity of food. The food sliould 

 be the best of honey, or syrup made 

 from pure cane-sugar (I use the best 

 grade of granulated sugar dissolved 

 in cold water). The time of feeding 

 should always be early enough in the 

 fall for the syrup to be put into the 

 cells, ripened and sealed over ; in this 

 locality I sliould say, before tlie mid- 

 dle of October. The quantity, 1 think, 

 should be 2-5 pounds per colony. I do 

 not think that if a colony is properly 

 hived it will consume half this amount 

 during an average winter (at least 

 mine do not), but they can use it all pro- 

 fitably during early spring breeding. 



In this latitude I think it best that 

 all colonies shall have enough pollen 

 for early brood-rearing, in order that 

 the colonies may be sufficiently strong 

 for the white clover harvest. We 

 need a large number of careful ex- 

 periments to detergiine certainly 

 whether colonies having pollen of 

 their own gathering stored in the 

 hive, or those fed with rye meal in 

 February and March, or tliose having 

 to wait to gather spring pollen in or- 

 der to begin brood- rearing, shall be in 

 the best condition for the June honey- 

 flow. My own experiments thus far 

 indicate that to have pollen of their 

 own gathering in the combs is much 

 the best, and next best is to feed 

 rye meal in February and March. My 

 experiments on this subject have been 

 but few, liaving had only 12 colonies 

 one winter and 24 the next, and these, 

 of course, are too few to settle the 

 matter in favor of any methcxl. The 

 coming spring I shall be prepared to 

 report from much larger numbers. 



Belonging to the subject of bee- 

 food, is the question of the best form- 

 ula for food for shipping queens. 

 After having tried various formulas, I 

 think that used by Mr. IJenton is bet- 



ter than any of which I have any 

 knowledge. Indeed, the purity of its 

 ingredients, and the method of its 

 preparation cannot fail to produce a 

 perfect queen-food. With proper food 

 it has now been demonstrated that 

 queens will live in queen-mailing 

 cages at least from 4 to 6 weeks. I 

 have received queens through the 

 mail which, after ttieir journey of 

 thousands of miles, were in perfect 

 health and prime condition. 



It seems to me that in a perfect 

 hive and perfect food lies the solution 

 of the wintering problem. I think 

 that it would be of exceeding interest 

 and value to have reports from the 

 large field of correspondents, of their 

 experience in wintering in chaff hives; 

 and underthishead I include alldouble 

 walled hives, whether packed with 

 chaff, sawdust, or shavings. 



Fountain City,o+ Ind. 



For tne iR-merlcan Bee Journal. 



Pollen and Brood-Rearing. 



13— WALTER HAKJIER, (29— .56). 



As my observations so far have 

 made me a believer in the pollen 

 theory, I would like to suggest some 

 questions which Mr. Doolittle's arti- 

 cle, on page 134, seems to call for. 

 Mr. D. describes an experiment with 

 a colony having brood in all stages, 

 considerable pollen, but no honey, 

 and how the bees fared for the next 

 few days, eating the eggs first, then 

 the larvfe, next the more developed 

 brood, and last of all the pollen. We 

 see by this that bees loathe to feed on 

 pollen alone, and will often starve 

 first, as proven by Mr. D. in his ex- 

 periment spoken of in the first column 

 of the same article. 



Mr. I), says that from ttiese obser- 

 vations he has formed the opinions 

 wliich he had heretofore given, that 

 old bees only partake of pollen in the 

 form of chyme. Mr. D. tells us what 

 this chyme' is made of, and if he is 

 correct, as I do not doubt, it was im- 

 possible for the bees to make chyme 

 in either of the cases spoken of after 

 the honey was all consumed. Now, if 

 old bees will not or cannot eat pollen 

 unless it is digested for them and 

 formed into chyme, what bees make 

 the chyme for the brood in the spring, 

 when a colony has been without brood 

 for six or seven months (as I believe 

 they often are), as there can be none 

 but old ones in the hive V I believe 

 that old bees can make it, and that 

 they will also often eat pollen rather 

 than starve when there is no brood in 

 the liive, for I have had what I would 

 consider conclusive proof, one case 

 only a few days ago which resulted in 

 diarrhea and death. 



Mr. D's answer to Query No. 28, 

 gives rise to other questions on the 

 same subject. His answer is; "Brood- 

 rearing resulting in pollen, in the 

 form of chyme, being eaten by the 

 Ijees whicli gave them the diarrhea." 

 Now, as bees will often have the diar- 

 rhea without all the material for 

 making chyme, I do not think that it 

 (chyme) will give it to them, es- 

 l)ecially as the most indigestible 



parts of the pollen have been retained 

 by the bees in tlie making of it, and 

 tliis, I believe, is what brings on the 

 trouble ; besides, bees do not make 

 chyme for the general use of the col- 

 ony, but for rearing lirood. I do not 

 know that there is any difference in 

 the disease, whether caused by eating 

 pollen for tlie want of something bet- 

 ter, or by making of chyme for brood- 

 rearing ; however, I think tliat the 

 latter requires our most earnest con- 

 sideration, because in the first, it 

 matters not whetlier bees starve or 

 die with diarrhea, except that when 

 they die of this disease they leave the 

 hive in a filthy condition. 



I believe that the pollen theory has 

 come to stay, and that those who say 

 that it must go. have something to 

 learn yet, as well as the rest of us. 

 If they would consider that there are 

 so many diiferent kinds of pollen, and 

 also that there must be many stages 

 of preservation and decomposition, 

 they would begin to see that we had 

 only begun to handle the subject, in- 

 stead of getting rid of it as easily, ap- 

 parently, as one would thirst, by tak- 

 ing a drink of water. In my opinion 

 it is not so easily dealt with. I do not 

 believe that confinement will cause 

 the disease, but it will aggravate it as 

 well as will cold. If you turn to page 

 377 of the Bee Journal for 1884, it 

 will be seen that my bees were con- 

 fined for 174 days (the longest con- 

 finement, I think, ever reported), and 

 they came througli with no sign of the 

 disease ; but I believe tliere was little 

 or no breeding in all that time, as the 

 small amount of food consumed, and 

 other observations noted at the time, 

 would indicate. 



The above-mentioned differences in 

 the condition of pollen, as well as the 

 difference there may be in the condi- 

 tion of the bees themselves, I think 

 will account for so many disagreeing 

 on the subject. In conclusion! would 

 say that I do not wish to attack any 

 particular article or person, for it is 

 the truth that I am after, and if lean 

 help to get it, I shall be satisfied. 



Manistee,'o Mich. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1885. 

 Apr. I.- 

 Apr. S.- 

 Apr. S.- 

 Apr. S.- 

 Apr. 11, 

 Apr. 23, 

 Apr. -23, 

 Apr. 25.- 

 Apr. 28.- 

 May 4.— 

 May V.- 

 May 19.- 

 May 28. 

 June 19. 

 Deo. 8— 



Time and place of MeetiitQ. 



-N. B. Kentucky, at Walton, Ky. 



G. W. Cree, Sec, Covington, Ky. 

 -N. Ind. and S. Mich., at Goshen, Ind. 



F. li. Putt. Sec. Goshen. Ind. 

 -N. E. Kansas, at Hiawatha, Kans. 



L. C Clark. Sec, Granada. Kans. 

 -N. W. Indiana, at Laporte, Ind, 



A. FaUnestock, Sec, Laporte. Ind. 

 ,— Wahash t'ounty, at Wabash, Ind. 



Henry Cripe, see, N. Manchester, Ind. 

 — Union Ky., at Eminence, Ky. 

 6. W. Oemaree. Sec. ChristiansburK, Ky. 

 24.— Western, at Independence, >Io. 

 C. M. Crandall, Sec. Independence, Mo. 

 -Union, at Earlham, Iowa. 



M. E. Darby, Sec. Dexter, Iowa. 

 -DesMoinea County, at Burlington. Iowa. 

 Jno. Nau, Sec. Middleton, Iowa. 

 Linwood. Wis., at Rock Elm Centre. Wis. 



B. Thomson. Sec, Waverly, Wis. 

 Progressive, at Bushnell, Ills. 



J. G. Norton, Sec. Macomb, Ilia. 

 -N. W. Ills., and S. W. Wis., at Davis. Ills. 



Jonathan Stewart, Sec, Rock City. III. 

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F. A. Palmer. Sec, McBride, Mich. 

 Willamette Valley, at La Fayette. Oreg. 

 E. J. Hadley, Sec. 

 10.— Michigan State, at Detroit. Mich. 



U. D. Cutting, Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



