196 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



New Phenomenon. 



Query, No. 42.— I liavo 200 colonies of 

 bees iu winter quarters. Ninety are in one cel- 

 lar and 40 in another. Both cellars have been 

 kept too cool, the mercury yroinj,*- below the 

 freezing point at times. The old cellar, which 

 contains the 40 colonies, is very dry; the 

 new one is very damp. The other i:JO colo- 

 nies are out-doors packed in different ways. 

 Being: somewhat favorably impressed with 

 the pollen theory. I took all the bee-bread 

 and honey away from over ' 2 of the colonies. 

 I placed in the cellars and left out-of-doors 

 those having- both natural and susrar stores. 

 Ver.v early in the winter. I noticeil a peculiar 

 uneasiness among- the bees in all the colonies 

 in-doors and out, and both those with natural 

 and sugar stores, all alike. This inilividual 

 mortality has kept right on to a fearful ex- 

 tent, until now many colonies are reduced to 

 just a handful of bees, and some of these 

 small clusters are frozen solid. They appear 

 to be dead. Are they hibernating*;' I fear I 

 shall loose more than 'i of my colonies. A 

 friend writes me that this curious phenome- 

 non is also to be seen among his and his 

 neighbor's bees. The dead bees fr()ni the 

 Bugar-fed, polleidess colonies are not dis- 

 tended; ver.v few of them containing any 

 matter, and those that do, present onl.\- a thin 

 watery, white, sweet liquid. The dead from 

 the colonies with natural stores, contain the 

 ordinary darkish, fecal accumulations in 

 grreater or less degree, and some of these 

 colonies on natural stores have the diarrhea 

 badl.v, and cannot possibly survive. What I 

 wish most to know, is, what is this new (to 

 mel phenomenon ?— Angola. Mich. 



Pkof. a. J. Cook says : " I give it 

 up. Only one of the trio named above 

 — cold— seems called upon to speak in 

 this case. I should like to see the 

 bees, when perhaps some reason would 

 appear." 



W. Z. Hutchinson answers thus: 

 " I can throw no light upon this ; it is 

 evident that the bees are dying from 

 something besides diarrhea." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE replies as follows: 

 " From the description. I can see only 

 one cause for the trouble, and that is 

 the old-age theory, as advanced years 

 ago in the Bee Journal, Tlie bees 

 are dying one by one of old age, in all 

 cases where diarrhea is not present. 

 Where this is present the bees will 

 wear out sooner under the uneasiness 

 caused by diarrhea, than younger bees 

 woidd." 



Dadant & Son answer as follows : 

 " A cool cellar is the best place lo kill 

 bees. Tlie bees frozen solid art! dead. 

 Tliere are several causes which Rill 

 tlie Itees — too m ich water in tlie syrup, 

 bad honey, too long confinement, some 

 disturbance in winter, etc." 



Dk. G. L. Tinkek says : " The at- 

 tentitm of bee-keepers has several 

 times been called to the fact that 

 sugar stores are not perfectly safe for 

 liees to winter upon, even where there 

 is no pollen allowed. \\'here cold is 

 the prime cause of the uneasiness as 

 with the colonies here mentioned, we 

 may have death of the colonies both 

 with and without diarrhea. It is no 

 'new phenomenon' at all, but has 



been noted before, substantially. This 

 query presents a clinching argument 

 against the pollen theory that I wish 

 to call particular attention to, viz : 

 that restlessness may exist in a colony 

 independent of the presence of pollen. 

 Bees in large chaff hives contracted 

 on .5 or 6 brood-combs are safe enough 

 far north, on good natural stores, as 

 they are also in single-walled hives, 

 with side-packing of line chaff, in this 

 locality ; but cellar wintering must be 

 considered risky below 40'^ with any 

 kind of stores." 



Jame.sHeddon remarks thus: "The 

 same evil (a new one) that appears at 

 work in query No. 4o, seems also at 

 work here. Evidently there is no 

 diarrhea among your bees which are 

 deprived of nitrogenous matter. Is it 

 going to prove that there is another, 

 and hitherto unknown, cause for ex- 

 tensive m.ortality in winter ? Is it 

 true, that, after finding the cause of 

 bee-diarrhea, and removing it, that 

 such removal is to show up another 

 heretofore unknown, or at least un- 

 complained-of, cause of winter mor- 

 tality among bees V It is something I 

 do not understand. I think that bees 

 never hibernate. I hear of more cases 

 like the above." 



What Ails the Bees? 



Query, No. 43.— Something ails the bees 

 in this locality, and they are dying in great 

 nvimbers. Some bee-keoiu-rs have lost all 

 they liad. I have lost •;"■ ripliinii-s and 1.5 nu- 

 clei. They were jpackcd Willi ebaff and straw 

 on their summer sturuls, and began to die at 

 the commencement of cold weather. Their 

 abdomens were tilled with a yellow stih- 

 stance, until large colonies were reduced to 

 mere handfuls, and then all died with plenty 

 of honey in the hives, and no signs of bee- 

 diarrliea. The past has been a poor honey 

 season here, and all the honey that the bees 

 gathered was red. the larger part of it being 

 honey-dew or bark-louse lioney. In the cold- 

 est weather the Vices would rush out of their 

 hives in a pell-mell niainier. tly in the air 

 until the.v were chilled, and then they would 

 fall to the ground and die. Old hee-men sa.v 

 that the bees have the bee-cholera. Is there 

 any such thing as bee-cholera ? I would like 

 to nave some light as to what is the matter 

 witli my bees. They have had three good 

 aights since Dec. 1,"), 1884.— Carlisle. Ind. 



G. M. DooLiTTLE says : " The de- 

 scription stiows the symptoms of bee- 

 diarrhea, as bees have "it here, although 

 the querist says that they give no 

 signs of it. The abdomen being lilled 

 with a yellow substance, and their 

 rushing from the hive pell-mell, are 

 certainly signs of diarrhea. You do 

 not say whether or not there was any 

 brood in the conilis. Such is always 

 present with my colonies in cases of 

 diarrhea." 



James IIeddon replies thus: "I 

 do not know the cause of the death of 

 your colonies, but I think that some 

 factor besides diarrhea, is woiking 

 against them. Fecal accumulations 

 of nitrogenous mailer, does noldeslroy 

 whole colonies in winter, before such 

 accumulations have reached that point 

 at which the bees soil the interior of 

 their habitation." 



Dii. G. L. Tinker answers thus : 

 " See answer to No. 19, page 116. jMy 

 belief is, that well-ripened honey-dew 

 or bark-louse honey is perfectly safe 



for bees to winter upon. The trouble 

 in this case probably came from late- 

 gathered sweets." 



]\Iessks. Dadant & Son reply : 

 " The cause is ' bad honey.' " 



W. Z. Hutchinson says : " If there 

 is no discharge there is certainly no 

 diarrhea, and it is something else that 

 ails the bees." 



Prof. A. J. Cook replies thus : " I 

 think that this is a clear case of bee- 

 diarrhea. Poor honey, severe winter, 

 and quite likely pollen, could all take 

 part in the explanation. I predict 

 that this will be a winter remarkable 

 for its losses all through the North. 

 I also suggest that good cellars will be 

 at a premium next spring." 



Producing Comb Honey. 



Query, No. 44. — How many standard 

 Langstroth frames should a strong colony 

 have which is run e.vclusively for comb 

 lioney ? After prime swarms issue, which 

 are the best to produce comb honey, the new 

 or the old colonies V — Easton, Pa. 



H. R. Boardman says: "A hive 

 of the capacity of H standard Langs- 

 troth frames I think is large enough 

 for the production of comb honey. 

 The prime swarm is the one to be re- 

 lied on for surplus, as it contains, or 

 should contain, the principal part of 

 the workers," 



Dr. C. C. Miller replies thus : 

 " Eight is a good number. To the 

 latter part of the query I would say 

 that it depends upon the manage- 

 ment." 



Pkof. A. J. tvOOK answers thus: 

 " I should say eigtit. With the proper 

 management, the new colony." 



G. W. Demaree remarks as fol- 

 lows: " I think that it depends much 

 upon the locality. In my locality 10 

 frames are better than a less number. 

 If after-swarming is prevented with- 

 out exhausting the parent colony, the 

 latter excels iu the way of surplus; 

 in my apiary, at least." 



W. Z. Hutchinson replies as fol- 

 lows : '' I sliould have enough to fur- 

 nish combs for the broodnest, no 

 more. I have found 8 siiflicient. If 

 the honey harvest is of short duration, 

 after the swarm issues, the new col- 

 ony will be the best for the production 

 of honey ; if the honey-How continues 

 for a long time, the old colony will do 

 the most work." 



G. M. DOOLITTLE says : " I should 

 use but 7 for the strongest colonies, 

 and •') or G for those not so strong. As 

 to which is best for comb honey, the 

 prime swarm or the parent colony, de- 

 pends largely upon the location and 

 the management. I have secured the 

 best yields from the parent colony." 



James Heddon replies as follows : 

 " Where I am to keep my hive of the, 

 same capacity, all the year round, I • 

 prefer 8 standard Langstroth frames 

 for the brood-chamber. That depends 

 upon the size of the swarm vs. the 

 size of the colony left, and more than 

 that, upon the period and duration of 

 the surplus honey harvest." 



