244 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Fastening Combs in Frames. 



"Querj-, No. 51. — What is the best and 

 cheapest way to tasten combs in the frames 

 when transferring bees? If they are fastened 

 with wire will it have to be removed?— S. H. J. 



.James IIeddon says: " First, cut 

 the comb to lit the frame snugly, and 

 run tliorns through brad awl holes 

 previously made in the frame. Sec- 

 ond, if they are fastened with wire, it 

 should be removed." 



G. M. DooLiTTLE replies as follows: 

 " Melt two parts of beeswax with one 

 part resin, and with a brush dipped in 

 the melted mixture, apply in several 

 places where the. comb comes in con- 

 tact with the frames. A few drops 

 poured from a spoon will answer the 

 same purpose." 



Prof. A. J. Cook remarks tlius : 

 "First, sticks tied or wired at tlie 

 ends. Second, it must be removed." 



G. W. Demaree says: "I prefer 

 a good article of wrapping twine to 

 fasten combs in frames. Do not wrap 

 the twine round and round, for if the 

 bees chance to cut the twine in one 

 place, the whole will give way. Let 

 each ' band ' be independent of the 

 other." 



W.Z.Hutchinson remarks thus: 

 " If pieces of combs must be fastened 

 into frames, wires are as good and 

 cheap as any fastening, and it is ad- 

 visable that they be removed." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker answers thus: 

 "The best way is not, perhaps, tlie 

 cheapest, since to get tlie combs in 

 the frames nice and straight, tliere is 

 no better way, I think, than to use 

 thin, narrow strips of wood a little 

 longer than the frames are deep on 

 opposite sides of tlie comb, and fas- 

 tened at botli ends with tine wire, 

 llemove it at the end of two or three 

 days." 



The Amalgamation of Bees. 



Query, No. .52.— Why was such a thing; as 

 bee-diarrhea unknown when we had nothing- 

 but the black or German bees? May not 

 amalgamation have more to do with it than 

 cold, pollen, or the so-called honey-dew? 

 Our winters were as cold then as now, and 

 the bees had all the pollen they wanted.— 

 Gorsuch, Pa. 



G. M. Doolittle replies as follows: 

 " Bee-diarrliea was known with the 

 German bee, as Quinby told us of it 

 in his book, before the Italian and 

 other races came to this country." 



Dad ANT & Son remark: "Bee- 

 diarrhea was not unknown ; but the 

 very men who introduced improve- 

 ments and foreign bees, discovered 

 tiie disease and the remedies, or rather 

 the preventives." 



Prof. A. J. Cook answers thus: 

 " Diarrhea teas known. The winters 



were not as cold. Pure black bees die 

 as badly as Italians or hybrids." 



W. Z. Hutchinson says : " This 

 is a false assumption. Black or Ger- 

 man bees having no traces of any 

 other blood, have suffered from the 

 diarrhea." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker replies as follows: 

 " Bee-diarrhea is not a modern af- 

 fection with bees by any means ; but 

 in this country the clearing up of so 

 much of the timber (whicli has been 

 the natural wind-break) has resulted 

 in the climate being relatively colder 

 now than .50 years since. When bee- 

 keepers siiall recognize the fact that 

 cold is the prime cause of our winter 

 losses, we shall get down to success- 

 ful wintering, and not before." 



G. W. Demaree remarks thus: 

 " The trouble known as diarrhea in 

 bees is caused by continement beyond 

 the endurance of the bees. Ttie trouble 

 is wliolly incident to long cold 

 weather, and is more mechanical than 

 diseasedness. Of course, many things 

 may conspire to shorten or lengthen 

 the struggle for existence. Bad food, 

 damp, unwholesome quarters, weak 

 constitution, etc., may make tlie 

 struggle short, and the reverse of 

 these may make the hanging on to 

 life long and tedious. But tlie end 

 will come if there is no return of the 

 sunshine— no ' flash ' of tlie ' wing ' in 

 the balmy air. All tliese detriments 

 to bee-life have existed for ages, and 

 bees had diarrhea years ago, just as 

 they liave it now; but less was said 

 about it then, because less was known 

 about bees." 



James IIeddon replies as follows : 

 " The querist is in error in his propo- 

 sition. Bee-diarrhea is as old as bees 

 existing in northern latitudes. I have 

 known pure German colonies in loca- 

 tions where no others had ever been 

 known, in old-fashioned box hives, to 

 be nearly all swept away with the 

 disease. New countries do not afford 

 nearly as much autumn-pollen as old 

 ones." 



II. R. Boardman remarks thus : 

 " The question is not founded on fact. 

 Sucli a thing as bee-diarrhea was 

 known before tlie introduction of the 

 Italians, or • improved bee-keeping,' 

 and bees were affected by it the same 

 as now." 



Fall and Spring Weight. 



Query, No. 53.— The liquid portion of the 

 stores consumed by bees in winter, is very 

 satisfactorily accounted for in the replies to 

 Query No. 20 ; but it is shown, on pases 5.5 

 and iiti, b.v evidence which cannot be im- 

 peached, that bees often consume very large 

 quantities of pollen while in conflnenient, 

 and yet remain perfectly healthy. It is hard 

 to believe that the indigestible portions of 

 all this pollen, together with thQ waste tissue 

 caused by extensive breeding, can be i-e- 

 tained for months in the intestines. What 

 becomes of ii ?— A Subscriber. 



Prof. A. J. Cook says : " Those 

 who have bees that breed extensively, 

 in winter, in the cellar, where the 

 bees cannot tly, are respectfully urged 

 to send me some of the bees for exam- 

 ination. Do bees rear much brood ? 

 Is it not possible that in preparing 



food for larvaj.they extrude from the 

 moutli some of the matter V The lit- 

 tle pellets in the hives are from the 

 mouth, as I have shown. Can it be 

 they spit out the debris?" 



W. Z. Hutchinson remarks thus : 

 "I fail to see with Subscriber, that 

 there is positive evidence on pages 55 

 and -56, that bees often consume veiy 

 large quantities of pollen when incon- 

 Hnement, and yet remain perfectly 

 healthy. When ths pollen and waste 

 tissue accumulates to a sufficient de- 

 gree, diarrhea is the result." 



Dr. G. L. Tinker says: "This 

 has been one of the disputed questions 

 having a practical bearing upon the 

 wintering problem. We are now able 

 to answer it (thanks to the careful 

 researches of Mr. S. Cornell) intelli- 

 gently. Bees in winter continement 

 under favorable conditions void their 

 feces in the hive ! The indigestible 

 portions of the pollen consumed, and 

 the tissue waste, are regularly evacu- 

 ated from them as so much excrement. 

 The very interesting experiments of 

 Prof, Cook, leading him to hold oppo- 

 site views, are inconclusive. I wish 

 here to score another fact tliat pollen 

 is a perfectly healthy winter diet for 

 bees. When in the near future it 

 shall appear that good, sound pollen 

 is essential to the best results in win- 

 tering, as there is now every reason 

 to believe, we shall get out of an egre- 

 gious error that has in its short day, 

 caused more care and done more mis- 

 chief than any we are likely to come 

 in contact with hereafter." 



G. M. Doolittle remarks thus : 

 "I do not allow that it is proven on 

 pages .55 and .5P tliat bees without 

 brood eat pollen, but on the other 

 hand, the proof is positive that many 

 colonies starved to death with plenty 

 of pollen in the hive. The pollen 

 found in the intestines remained there 

 from the fall previous, as Prof. Cook 

 has lately found plenty of pollen in 

 the intestines of bees wintered wholly 

 on sugar syrup, without pollen. 

 Where no diarrhea or brood is pres- 

 ent, all the jioUen in the intestines 

 is easily carried from one flight to an- 

 other, hence it has no direct effect 

 regarding the difference between fall 

 and spring weight." 



James IIeddon says : " My reply 

 to the same question (Query No. 20), 

 is according to the best light I have. 

 I deny that it is shown on pages 5-5 and 

 sa, that bees consume large quantities 

 of pollen in confinement, and yet re- 

 main perfectly healthy. I believe that 

 bees can breed in conflnement and re- 

 main healtliy, as that is proven on 

 pages .55 and -56 ; but the pollen is not 

 consumed by the workers ; it is han- 

 dled by them and consumed by the 

 brood. There is something here that 

 none of us clearly understands, I 

 think." 



tS~ The Te.\as State Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion will be held on Thursday and Friday, 

 May 7 and 8, 188,"), at the apiary of Judge W. 

 H. Andrews, at McKinney, Tex. All inter- 

 ested in the advancement of apiculture, are 

 earnestly requested to be present and make 

 this amemorablemeetingof the .-Vssociation. 

 W. R. Howard, Sec. 



