THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



361 



case a large foul circle aiouiul their 

 dead bodies. So few came out, and 

 these invariably diseased, that I nat- 

 urally came to the concl ision that the 

 living (;()lony was in a hopeless con- 

 dition, and would soon be finished by 

 spring dwindling. 



Reflection has led me to some new 

 views about wintering bees, which I 

 will proceed to state as briefly and 

 simply as possible : I have cohie to 

 the conclusion that it is the aged bees 

 that get the diarrhea, and when tliey 

 cannot follow their instinct, and go 

 outside the hive to die, they neces- 

 sarily die in-doors. This befouls the 

 hive, and results in an unwholesome 

 state of things, which cannot but in- 

 juriously affect the entire colony. If 

 this be so, it forms a strong objection 

 to cellars and bee-houses, which keep 

 the bees closely contined in darkness, 

 preventing the old bees going outside 

 of the hive to die. 



I have positive evidence that the 

 great bulk of my bees never saw the 

 outside of their hives for five months. 

 What, then, becomes of the objection 

 to out-door wintering based on the 

 danger of bees flying in unsuitable 

 weather and being" lost V They have 

 sense enough not to go out in extreme 

 cold weather, just as they have sense 

 enough not to eat pollen when it is 

 not necessary or beneficial for them 

 to do so. 



I still believe that I overdid the 

 matter of ventilation in the case of 

 both my hives, although I think even 

 the defunct colony might have sur- 

 vived if the bees could have gotten at 

 their stores, liut the colony that did 

 so well had only half the ventilation 

 given the one that succumbed. 

 Another winter I shall give less air 

 than I did to the one that survived. 

 A.s I stated in my last article, I agree 

 with Mr. Heddon that bees require 

 but little air in winter; but I would 

 lay it down as most important, that 

 what they get must be pure, uniform, 

 and absolutely unfailing. The less 

 air they have, the quicker they will 

 smother, if at any time the supply is 

 exhausted. 



Here is revealed, at least to my 

 mind, the mistake of those who win- 

 ter bees in chaff hives on the summer 

 stands, and depend for ventilation on 

 the summer-passages. These are 

 usually more or less contracted, and 

 easily closed by ice, frozen snow, or 

 dead bees. Cyula Linswik and her 

 sister succeed on this plan because 

 they make a point, one or the other 

 of them, of going through the apiary 

 every day and seeing that the passages 

 are open. This involves a large 

 amount of trouble, which can very 

 easily be avoided. I now believe that 

 if hives are raised a little from their 

 stands, and have an inch auger-hole 

 in each bottom-board, the ventilation 

 will be all-suflicient ; and I think it is 

 important to have it vertical instead 

 of horizontal, because it conforms to 

 that law in nature by virtue of which 

 perfect ventilation takes place on the 

 principle of an endless-cliain air-cur- 

 rent. I am further satisfied that ver- 

 tical ventilation is the true method of 

 discliarging damp air, which naturally 

 settles with the heavier gases to the 



bottom. I still see an advantage 

 about my hoi)per-plan, because it 

 allows deail bees and powdery excri'- 

 tions to tall, and gives an idex to the 

 actual condition of the colony, so far 

 as these signs can do it. If I had a 

 large apiary I would certainly have 

 some hives with the hopper attach- 

 ment underneath, so that from the 

 condition of these I could judge of 

 the rest. 



I have referred to the dry powdery 

 ridges as one indication of good win- 

 tering. It is yet an open question 

 what this dry powder is. I have sup- 

 posed it to be the winter excrement 

 of bees. Prof, Cook denies this, and 

 proclaims it completely disproved, be- 

 cause, on dissection, no dry feces have 

 been found in the intestines of bees. 

 But, has what I would call a hiber- 

 nating bee ever been dissected y A 

 hibernating bee remains in the 

 hive, snugly esconced, until the win- 

 ter is over and past; then the hiber- 

 nating condition ceases, and with it 

 the evacuation of dry feces. If, as I 

 showed in my last, this dry powder is 

 not excrement, it is waste matter 

 dropped when the bees are feeding in 

 winter, and as it consists largely of 

 pollen, it proves that bees instinctively 

 reject that article of diet when it is 

 not good for them. " Let me put it 

 on record," as Mr. Heddon is fond of 

 saying, that my bees deposited this 

 dry powder all the time they were 

 wintering well, and that there was 

 not a speck of diarrhea or filth in 

 either hive. The hive of the colony 

 that came through in such perfect 

 condition, had, perhaps, a tablespoon- 

 ful of dead bees and several table- 

 spoonfuls of dry powder as their win- 

 ter debris. 



Let me add that my good colony 

 has not " spring dwindled " a bit. It 

 has gone on from strength to strength, 

 gives tokens of early swarming, and 

 is A No. 1 in all respects. " One swal- 

 low does not make a summer," but 

 " ab uno disco omnes," (From one, 

 learn all), is a proverb not to be des- 

 pised. 



Speedside, Ont. 



For ibe American Bee Journal. 



Central Michigan Convention. 



The spring meeting of this Associa- 

 tion was held at Lansing, on May 12, 

 with quite light attendance, owing to 

 the unusual lateness of the season, 

 and the fact that everybody was in 

 haste to begin spring work. The 

 members present reported 198 colo- 

 nies wintered, of which 126 were alive 

 in the spring. 



The first topic discussed was, "How 

 can we prevent robbing?" Mr. Brown 

 said if a colony was weak and with- 

 out a queen, he preferred it should be 

 robbed, as the bees would go with the 

 robbers and strengthen the colony. 

 Robbing is most common in autumn. 

 A bee-tent used at that season of the 

 year will entirely do away with it, 

 and also prevent stinging. The tent 

 should be feet in length, (i feet high, 

 and 4 feet wide, with wire gauze on 

 the sides and cloth above and at the 

 ends. 



In reference to the use of a drone- 

 catchei, Mr. Brown said he puts in 

 comb that has no drone-cells, and thus 

 prevents the reaiing (jf drones. He 

 had adopted the plan of wintering his 

 bees by burying them in the ground. 

 He had not lost a colony, despite the 

 severity of the past winter. 



The question of wintering was dis- 

 cussed with animation. Prof. Cook 

 reported success in cellar wintering; 

 he allowed each colony about 20 lbs. 

 of honey. Mice had caused consid- 

 erable damage the past winter. 



Mr. John Lee put 3:i colonies into 

 winter quarters in the cellar, and 

 found 20 alive. 



Mr. Ash worth had put up 14 colo- 

 nies in large dry-goods boxes, two or 

 three hives in a box, making a bridge 

 to give them access to the entrance, 

 and filling the space in the boxes with 

 sawdust. All came out in good con- 

 dition. 



Tlie election of officers resulted as 

 follows : President, J, Ashworth, 

 Lansing ; Vice-Presidents, John Lee, 

 Eaton covmty ; .Stephen Perry, Ionia 

 county, A. 15. Gregory, Clinton coun- 

 ty ; A. Curtis, Shiawassee county ; 

 Secretary, E. K. Wood, Lansing; 

 Treasurer,N()rman Goodnoe, Lansing. 



The next meeting will be held at 

 Lansing on the second Thursday in 

 November. 



For the American Bee JourcaL 



Bees in the Cluster, Hibernation, etc. 



E. B. SOUTHWICK. 



Query, No. (58, involves a statement 

 made by me a short time since, and 

 also about two yfars ago. at which 

 time I gave my "reasons, and conse- 

 quently did not think it worth while 

 to repeat them ; but I will give a few 

 now. I find the bees on the outside 

 of the cluster, when very cold, quite 

 stupid for some distance into the 

 cluster, thus showing their inability 

 to take honey from those inside, and 

 feed the outside ones ; and the perfect 

 inability of those outside eating, if 

 food were handed to them. But the 

 bees on the inside are warm and 

 active, and when they get filled with 

 honey, they will be more than nat- 

 urally warm, and, of course, seek a 

 cooler location, and consequently 

 take their place on the outside. This 

 feeding part of the bees by the other 

 part, would show a continued work of 

 some and continued idleness of the 

 rest, which is not natural with the 

 bees. 



Mr. W. r. Clarke thinks that my 

 statement, that ''bees do not hiber- 

 nate," is no argument. Well, if he 

 had dismoiuited, and carefully read 

 before and after that statement, he 

 would have seen what every observ- 

 ing bee-keeper must see — the truth of 

 the statement. Had I filled a page of 

 the Bee Jouhnal about it, and hid 

 the idea in a multiplicity of words, it 

 would have been considered argu- 

 ment. 



Another corresi)ondent,ou page 123, 

 asks " How does he know V" and says 

 that when we are looking for facts we 

 want what a man knows, not what he 



