326 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



microscope. Prof. Cook thinks that, 

 perhiiDs, the bees that I sent liim, in 

 whose intestines he found plenty of 

 diseased excrement, but no pollen 

 husks, might have collected meal late 

 in tlie fall, which would act the same 

 as pollen regarding brood-rearing and 

 diarrhea. For these three reasons, if 

 we would be sure no pollen or meal 

 was ill the hive, we must wait about 

 our preparations for winter until it is 

 so late in the season that the syrup 

 fed could not be sealed over; in 

 which case it would be worse than 

 plenty of pollen. 



1 could give other reasons, but the 

 above are abundantly sufficient to 

 convince any candid mind that what- 

 ever else is said of the pollen theory, 

 it is annihilated as far as practica- 

 bility is concerned. 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



Fur the American Roe Journjil. 



Bee-Notes from Mississippi. 



OSCAH F. BLED.SOE. 



My experience gained during the 

 past" winter teaches me the valuable 

 lesson that bees need shelter both for 

 winter and summer here in the South 

 — in winter, from the sudden changes 

 and severe spells; in summer, from 

 the extreme lieat. Hence, I have 

 erected sheds for my hives. They 

 face south— the hives under them in 

 two rows, one facing south the other 

 north. The sheds are tall enougli to 

 enable me to walk under them — are 

 covered with boards, and are open ex- 

 cept that the north side has planks 

 nailed on for three feet high begin- 

 ning one foot from the ground. 



Each shed holds 2o hives. My bees 

 thus have all the protection they need 

 in winter and summer. In summer.as 

 the sun becomes perpendicular, the 

 south side hives have perfect protec- 

 tion from its heat, while enjoying its 

 warmth in early spring. In winter, 

 the space between the rows of hives 

 is to be filled with straw or leaves— 

 thus enabling the bees to economize 

 food and heat, and come out stronger 

 and swarm earlier in the spring. Sly 

 bees suffered considerably during the 

 past winter, a number of' nuclei hav- 

 ing perished, though no full colony 

 failed to come out well. 



Hetween the sheds described above, 

 I plant peach trees and strawberry 

 plants. The peach trees furnisli some 

 shade, though not enough to impede 

 the (light of the bees. The straw- 

 berries are planted in checks — 2 feet 

 apart — and ttie ground is kept per- 

 fectly level and free from weeds by 

 the use of awheel garden-cultivator. 

 The fruit produced pays me for keep- 

 ing my grounds in perfect order. I 

 enjoy looking around my apiary and 

 beholding at the same time beautiful 

 yellow Italian bees, Hne Charles 

 Downing or Wilson strawberry-plants 

 and (.'liinese ("ling or early ]!eatrice, 

 or Early Hale peach-trees loaded with 

 fruit. Is there any oilier inusuit that 

 can conbine so much of tlie lustlietic 

 in it as bee-culture, and at the same 

 time the "utile cum duke"' to an 

 equal extent? 



Taking it all in all, I am encour- 

 aged in bee-culture here in the South, 

 and propose to push it to as large re- 

 sults as I am capable of doing. 



Grenada, 5 Miss. 



Honey Crops of California. 



The following is taken from the last 

 weekly bulletin of prices by Messrs. 

 O. B. Smith & Co., of San Francisco, 

 Calif., which will doubtless be inter- 

 esting to many : 



Number of cases received in this market during 

 the past six years: 



DATE. 



January 



February... 



March 



April 



May 



.luDe 



July 



August 



September . 



October 



November . 

 December. . 



1879 1880 1881 18S2 1883 1884 



1,640 

 2,419 

 1.273 

 943 

 398 

 232 

 32 

 IIU 

 115 

 261 

 711 

 308, 



295 

 22 



128 

 44 



7.37 

 2.952 

 2.808 

 4.»-3 

 7.027 

 3,323 

 2,160 

 2,404 



Totals 8.442 26,783 10,6o8 14.489:13,804 34,265 



1.7.58 

 989 

 334 

 771 

 131 

 202 

 663 

 833 

 1,428 

 1,661 

 998 

 901 



176 



ts 



430 

 684 

 213 

 6(i9 



1,(I,W 

 2,613 



l»5 

 3'.6 

 34 

 300 

 287 

 631 

 948 

 !,lril 



3,592, 3,1 



2.7601 2,446 



1.0681 l,2.-.:i 



1,183 1 679 



167 

 144 



230 

 254 

 69(1 

 2,047 

 4,01)9 

 6„S.'*7 

 1I),2()H 

 5 140 



4,:ki 



Receipts in barrels and kegs for the past Ave 

 years: 



Receipts from January 1st, 1885, to date: 10.664 

 cases and 4') barrels. Exports for the past 6 years 

 by sea and land from >an Fiancisco, and by rail 

 from interior points have been : 



Of last years shipments overland 1,033,R40 lbs. 

 were sent from San Francisco, l,:il4,:if>o lbs. from 

 Lns Antjeles, and :i.4tMi lbs. from Sacramento. 



E-xpoitsfor iKH.5todate, by sea, 5, mil cases and 

 9:i barrels from San Francisco: by rail, e.YClusive 

 of shipments since March Ist, 474,7(M) lbs. 



Since the first of June, last, receipts have been 

 44,3(16 cases, and 4h5 barrels. Allowing one-third 

 of the cases to have been comb honey, we have the 

 following showing in pounds: 



Extracted— 2D.3ol cases 



Extracted- 4.S5 barrels 



t'omb— 14,676 cases 



Shipped by rail from interior 



Total 



Pounds. 



3,622,130 

 174.600 

 880.500 



1,641,4,50 



6,318,670 



The above total does not include 

 stocks consumed or still held in the 

 interior, or shipments by sea from 

 Southern coast points. These are un- 

 known quantities, and presumalily 

 larger than ordinarily, on account of 

 last season's heavy yield. There is 

 knowledge, however, of over 4,000 

 cases being shipped directby sea from 

 the Southern coast. Assuming the 

 unknown quantity the past season, to 

 be no more than it was in 18.SH, last 

 year's yield is shown to be 4,931,130 

 lbs. in excess of the preceding season, 

 or nearly tive times as large, and is be- 

 lieved to be the heaviest crop ever 

 gathered in Cnliforiiia, the only yield 

 approaching it in volume being that 

 of 1878. 



Prices the past season have ruled 

 low. The wholesale range on extrac- 

 ted may be stated as having been 3 



and 5 cts. Some sales of common 

 were made under 3 cts., and a little 

 extra choice has been placed at a frac- 

 tion over o cts. The main range of 

 values on comb honey was ■> and 10 

 cts., although early in the season as 

 high as 14 cts. was realized for some 

 of very fancy quality. There is no 

 way of arriving at stocks still on hand 

 here and in the interior, but judging 

 from the large quantity produced and 

 the low prices which have been cur- 

 rent, it is not unreasonable to presume 

 that there is a considerable amount of 

 last year's honey remaining in the 

 State. 



Advices as to the coming crop, al- 

 though a little conliicting, in tlie main 

 are to the effect that the yield will be 

 light. Even though the amount of 

 honey produced this season be unusu- 

 ally small, prospects are not encour- 

 aging for Tery high prices, as sugar is 

 to-day lower than it has ever oeen, 

 and other articles with which honey 

 has to come into competition, are all 

 abundant and cheap. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Ventilation and Temperature. 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



The best thanks of all intelligent 

 bee-keepers are justly due to Mr. 

 Heddoii for his article on " The Win- 

 tering Problem," on page 213, which 

 I have read, reread, and deeply 

 studied with great interest. Never- 

 theless, I am obliged to confess that 

 it has not converted me to what is 

 now technically known as the " pol- 

 len theory." What a difference one's 

 stand -point makes in looking at a 

 subject! While Mr. Heddon is re- 

 joicing over his article as a clear 

 demonstration of his " pollen theory," 

 here am I puffing away at the pipe of 

 contentment over it, and saying to 

 myself, " IIow completely it all dove- 

 tails in with the theory of hiberna- 

 tion !" And this, notwithstanding 

 Mr. Ileddon joins in chorus with 

 Prof. Cook and Dr. South wick, and 

 oracularly declares, " Bees never 

 hibernate !" 



By the way, how is it that Mr. Iled- 

 don has been able to find out so fully 

 the condition of his bees, and report 

 it in time for the Bee Journal for 

 April S V In the arctic region where 

 I live, there has not been a day since 

 November when bees could tly freely. 

 Talk about bees doing well in a uni- 

 form temperature of 45-1 The mer- 

 cury has hardly once reached that 

 point here, in the shade, all winter. 

 Only twice has it gone beyond that 

 ligure, in the sun, since Jan 1. On 

 both occasions, my bees came out, 

 sniffed the outer air a little while, 

 and beat a hasty retreat into their 

 hives— those of them that could man- 

 age to get there. I had only 2 colo- 

 nies to experiment with ; one of them 

 succumbed to the last cold spell in 

 Manth— the other is alive, but in a 

 bad condition with diarrhea, and will, 

 no doubt, " spring dwindle " to noth- 

 ing. In my anxiety to give plenty of 

 ventilation, and not counting on so 

 severe a winter, I overdid the air-sup- 



