THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



357 



Explanatory.— Tlie figures before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous sprinjf and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the centre of the State named: 

 6 north of the centre ; 9 south ; 0+ cast ; 

 *0 west; and this 6 northeast; x> northwest; 

 o» southeast; and ? southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



ror me American Bee JoumaL 



Sour Honey, larval Bees, etc. 



16— Q. M. DOOLITTLE, (40—80). 



I notice on page 291, that Prof. Cook 

 is surprised at my statement on page 

 260, that " Honey only swells as it be- 

 comes damp," and that the swelling 

 can only be " brought about by either 

 cool, damp weather, or non-circulation 

 of air, or both." He then asks, "What 

 about fermentation V" and answers 

 the question by saying, " Honey in 

 the comb, or when extracted, is almost 

 sure to ferment in a cool, damp at- 

 mosphere." Now, I cannot see any- 

 thing for the Professor to be sur- 

 prised at, for his statement is almost 

 exactly the same as mine, as I say 

 farther on in my article, " that if the 

 dampness remains, the whole will be- 

 come a sickening, souring mass," 

 ■whicli implies, or at least I supposed 

 it did, fermentation. In any event it 

 is the cool, damp atmosphere that 

 causes the trouble, for if this were 

 not present nothing of the kind would 

 take place. 



This is identical with the cold in 

 our wintering troubles. Were the 

 cold not present, there would be no 

 confinement, and pollen, breeding in 

 confinement and honey-dew would 

 play no part in this matter. Had 

 that barrel of honey, which exploded 

 at the Bee Journal office, been 

 placed in a warm room with one head 

 left out, as I recommended, it would 

 never have soured or fermented. 

 What I was after was that' cold and 

 dampness tended toward making our 

 honey uninviting and unsalable ; 

 while a warm, dry atmosphere tended 

 to put a " gilt edge " on our pro- 

 duct. 



Prof. Cook and others should bear 

 in mind that I did not have the ad- 

 vantages of a good education, etc., 

 which they did, hence, I am not capa- 

 ble of expressing my views as clearly, 

 and it is only by their being dressed 

 up by our indulgent editor, that they 

 are presentable at all. My articles 

 are only written in the hope that they 

 may benefit my fellow-bee-keepers 

 along the line of practical apiculture, 

 thus helping to lighten their burdens 

 of life, as" my burdens liave been 

 lightened by the help I have ob- 

 tained from the writings of others. 



r-OLLEN AND LAKVAL UEES. 



On page 232, ^Mr. Rutherford seems 

 to think that I am wholly wrong in 

 my ideas that the larval bee is fed 

 anything which may represent pollen, 

 and says there is quite a difference 

 between my statements found on 

 pages .5 and i,S4. I had never supposed 

 that pollen was fed " raw " to tlie 

 larval bee, although, perliaps, page 5 

 thus expressed it. In this, Prof. Cook 

 fell into the same error of expression 

 in his Manual, as did also some of ttie 

 others which I quoted as supporting 

 my views in the matter. But these 

 errors of expression do not alter the 

 facts which we are trying to get at 

 when we understand each other. We 

 now understand that the food of the 

 larva; is chyme, myself and others 

 claiming that such chyme is a compo- 

 sition of pollen, etc. (see what Mr. 

 Heddon says on page 244), while Mr. 

 R. savs it is an "animal secretion." 

 Now,'I wish to give Mr. R. a " nut to 

 crack ■ by asking what the substance 

 is which "resembles pollen, foimd in 

 the intestines of the young bee just 

 emerged from the cell '? also what was 

 it I found on the glass spoken of in 

 my garden (see page byi If the young 

 bee has "no matter to void," as he 

 tells us on page 60, why do they thus 

 void matter V and why do the young 

 drones hatching out of section honey- 

 boxes (as probably nearly every api- 

 arist has seen them), after taking the 

 sections to the honey-room, foul the 

 nice capped honey with their voidingsV 

 I am no scientist, but it seems to me 

 if I were, I would not call the state- 

 ments of any one " imaginary," and 

 then give no explanation of what is 

 seen nearly every day in the apiary. 

 As Prof. Cook, on page 299, endorses 

 Mr. R's article, perhaps he also will 

 tell us what it is that these drones 

 and voung bees void. I wish to thank 

 Mr. R. for bringing this matter up, 

 for I trust that thereby all of us will 

 gain new light, on what Mr. Heddon 

 says on page 244, " none of us clearly 

 understand." 



BEES UNDER THE SNOW. 



On page 219, Mr. Mitchell writes of 

 having good success in wintering bees 

 under the snow, and I see that others 

 recommend the same thing. Here is 

 something I do not understand. I 

 have been obliged to try this plan 

 nearly every sv inter for the past 12 

 years with a few colonies, owing to 

 the snow drifting in unexpected 

 places, and I have not had a single 

 colony so covered with snow come out 

 in good condition, while the loss from 

 this cause will average fully % of all 

 so drifted under. If the snow stays 

 on for only a week or so, no harm re- 

 sults from it ; but if long continued, 

 the bees get uneasy, thereby getting 

 too Wiirm, meli ing the snow all around 

 the hive, which results in brood rear- 

 ing to such an extent that the vitality 

 of the colony is impaired, which re- 



the colony too much heat of a damp 

 nature arisiig from the earth, vvliich 

 produces the bad effects realized by 

 many in this vicinity. As my hees 

 are both summer aud winter, kept 

 within 4 inches ot the ground, 1 wish 

 to ask those who are successful in 

 winteiing liees under the snow, how 

 far the hives are from the ground. 

 Borodino,© N. Y. 



The Northeastern Convention. 



VimtiMUcd fviim pane ts:i. 



Upon assembling on Thursday at 

 7 p, m.. President Root in the chair, 

 the first topic presented for discussion 

 was : " The advantages and disad- 

 vantages of making colonies queen- 

 less to prevent swarming." 



Mr. Doolittle said that he liad not 

 attempted making colonies for any 

 such purpose, and did not believe in 

 it as far as his locality was concerned. 

 He had taken queens from colonies, 

 aud such queens had worked vigor- 

 ously storing lioney, and when the 

 queen was put back, the colony would 

 work vigorously in carrying stored 

 honey into the boxes, and in bringing 

 in new honey from the field. The re- 

 marks of Mr. Doolittle seemed to be 

 endorsed by Messrs. Elwood aud Bet- 

 singer. 



Mr. Locke presented a very ingen- 

 iously-constructed instrument for 

 measuring the length of a bee's 

 tongue.calledthe Bee's Tongue Regis- 

 ter. He hoped to be able thus to dis- 

 cover the bees having the longest 

 tongues, and from these it would be 

 best to rear future stock, and thus 

 obtain an improved race that would 

 secure honey from tlie largest range 

 of plants. The instrument was 

 heartily commended and endorsed by 

 the convention. 



Mr. King, of New I'ork, presented 

 a sample of a reversible frame, and 

 another sample of such reversible 

 frame was shown by Capt. Hethering- 

 ton. Mr. H. had tried the experiment 

 of reversing rrames to induce the 

 bees to carry up honey from the bot- 

 tom of the brood-frames into the 

 boxes, but had not been as success- 

 ful as a Michigan bee-keeper. 



Mr. Todd, of Philadelphia, pre- 

 sented an instrument showing that 

 liquid spheres of equal size pressing 

 against each other with equal pres- 

 sure would produce hexagonal figures 

 of mathematical accuracy, the angles 

 of which will be identical with those 

 in the honey comb : the instrument 

 was examined with great interest, as 

 it seems to sliow that the bees in the 

 manufacture of comb only follow a 

 great law of nature. 



jNIr. Clark presented a report of the 

 committee on the constitution and by- 

 laws, and the following amendments 

 were adopted : 



Art. 1. This association shaU be known aa the 

 New York StHte Bee-Keepers' Association lound- 

 ed by Mos-s Quinby in IKHK. 



Art. '2. Eacli county or district convention here- 



suUs 111 a weak colony, ana generally, I after hem in any part of tins state, simii be en- 

 death. Mr. W. A. House, a bee- ---■ -"'- „.. ....^ 



keeper of large experience, living in 

 this county, thinks that the cause is 

 owing to the hives setting close to the 

 ground from which (ground) the snow 

 soon thaws the frost, tiiereby giving 



titled to three deieKntes to the St ite Society- 

 Art. 4. The offi.-ers of this as^ocintion shall con- 

 sist of a President. Vice-President, Secretary and 

 Treasurer, who shall constitute the executive 

 committee, ami whose duties shall be those usually 

 assigned to such officers, and their term of ofBce 

 shall be one year, or until their successors shall be 

 elected. An honorary V'^ice-Presiiient shall alao 

 be appointed from each county of this State. 



