362 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



thinks. Now, I will suggest that all 

 bee-keepers write what they really 

 know about bees, aud not what they 

 believe or think. 



Mr. Hutchinson says that bees 

 never have the diarrhea without con- 

 finement. I once made a number of new 

 colonies and heedlessly neglected to 

 give all of them honey. In a tew 

 days I noticed that some of the hives 

 were being spotted around the en- 

 trances. I e.vamined the colonies and 

 found them entirely out of honey. I 

 gave them a supply, and all went on 

 right again. No confinement there. 



Sherman,^ Mich. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Is the Pollen Theory Proven True? 



S. A. SHUCK. 



gained so much of a hold in the minds 

 of so many scientific apiarists. Give 

 me bees that will partake of diluted 

 honey or sugar syrup, and a tempera- 

 ture below <.i(P, and I feel confident 

 that I can produce diarrhetic symp- 

 toms in less than three hours at any 

 time of the year. After these symp- 

 toms have been produced, all that is 

 necessary to create an aggravated 

 case of the disease, is to confine the 

 bees a few hours, or at most a few 

 days, without a flight. 



If the advocates of the "pollen 

 theory" can explain how or why pollen 

 can cause diarrhea in a few hours, I 

 shall be glad to have them do so ; and 

 in turn, I will endeavor to tell how 

 diarrhea can be produced by the 

 handling of the bees. 



Liverpool,*© Ills. 



It appears that the opponents of 

 the " pollen theory " have almost en- 

 tirely ceased to oppose it. The ques- 

 tion now arises, have the theorists 

 established their claims, so their 

 " theory " becomes a fact ? Or, have 

 the opponents been so successfully 

 out-generaled in argument that they 

 have failed for want of sufflcient 

 facts, to sustain their position ? In 

 either case the theorists have the 

 victory. 



It is doubtless a late and unhopeful 

 hour for any one to attempt to oppose 

 the " pollen tlieory,'' but " never too 

 late to do good." If 1 understand the 

 theory correctly, it stands now upon 

 these two principles: 1. The fecal 

 discharaes of diarrhetic bees always 

 contains pollen. 2. Bees fed exclu- 

 sively on a sugar diet never have 

 diarrhea. 



I wish to ask why the cause of diar- 

 rhea has not been attributed to the 

 watery element, whicli is always pres- 

 ent inthe discharge of diarrhetic bees 

 instead of pollen V Bees do not col- 

 lect and store water in their combs 

 for winter use, yet this watery nature 

 of the discharges of diarrhetic bee.s. is 

 the very element that determines 

 whether or not they have the diar- 

 rhea. If bees spot tlieir hives and 

 combs, they have the diarrhea ; if 

 they do not spot their hives or combs 

 they have no diarrhea, is the universal 

 verdict. 



When an apiarist has taken every 



E article of honey and jjollen from the 

 ive. and placed in its stend pure 

 sugar syrup, can he with any degree 

 of consistency or good common-sense, 

 expect his hives or combs to be dis- 

 colorecj y If his bees should die with 

 the diarrhea, how should he be able 

 to determine the fact, when there 

 could be nothing but sugar syrup 

 (thick or thin) upon which he could 

 base his conclusions V To assume 

 that the discovery of a preventive of 

 bee-diarrhea (as those who are using 

 sugar for winter food are wont to do), 

 proves the pollen theory, is assuming 

 too much, as in this case it may be 

 seen that the cause may be removed 

 without ascertaining just what it is. 



I have produced diarrhetic symp- 

 toms in bees so often during the sum- 

 mer months that I am surprised that 

 the " pollen theory " shouhl have ever 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Railroad Classification and Rates. 



S. C. BOYLSTON. 



In compliance with the instructions 

 received from the late Bee-Keepers' 

 Congress at New Orleans, i\nd in 

 accordance with promises made by 

 me at that time, I went to Atlanta, 

 Ga.,and on May 27, 188-5, appeared 

 before the Rate Committee of the 

 Southern Railway and Steamship As- 

 sociation, and advocated the cause of 

 the bee-keepers of America. 



The Rate Committee is composed 

 of the following : 



Virsil Powers, Gen'l. Commissioner. Atlauta.Ga. 



Sol. Haas. Traffic Manager, Associated Kys. Va. 

 & the C.'xrollDas. Richmond, Va. 



E. R. Dorsey. G. F. A.,Ga, R, R. Co., Augu8ta.Ga. 



W. H. Slanford, Q. F. A., Old Dominion S. S. Co., 

 New Yorli, N. Y. 



J. R. Ogden, Q. F. A., B. T. V. & G. R. R., Knox- 

 ville, Tenn. 



Geo. R. Knox, G. F. A., N. & C. R. R., Nashville, 

 Tenn. 



H. Collbran, G. F. A., C. N. O. & T. P. R. R. (Cin. 

 So.) Cincinnati, O. 



S. B. Pickens, G. K. A., So. Ca. R. R., Charles- 

 ton, S. c. 



Jas. L,. Taylor, G. F. A., S. F. & W. R. R., Savan- 

 nah. Ga. 



G. A. Whitehead, G. F. A., Central R. R. of Ga., 

 Savannah, Ga. 



J. M. Culp, G. F. A., L. & N. R. R., Louisville, Ky. 



The freight rates and classifications 

 prepared by this committee extend 

 over the entire section of country 

 south of the Ohio and east of the 

 Mississippi rivers, with very few 

 trifling exceptions ; and also, by steam- 

 ships ihrough all the Southern ports 

 to New York and the principal cities 

 in New England. Also from Chicago. 

 Peoria, Fekin and Havana of Illinois, 

 and St. Louis, East St. Louis, Cincin- 

 nati, Jeft'ersonville. Louisville, Evans- 

 ville. and the otlier Ohio and Missis- 

 sippi river points, to the principal 

 cities of the South ; from which local 

 rates obtain, but the supplies will 

 hereafter be quoted on a uniform 

 classification, and the rates may be 

 named from all your principal points 

 to anywhere in tlie Soutli from the 

 Potomac and the Ohio to the Gulf. 

 Texas and trans-Mississippi points 

 are not included. Rates from the Ohio 

 to points east, north and west, are 

 also not included. 



The Committee granted all I asked, 

 after some hesitation and argument ; 

 and here is the classification : 



Bees in hives (carrier's risk), twice 1 at class; 

 (owner's risk), 1st class. 



Bee-hives, empty (setup), Ist class. 



Bee -hives, knocked down (crated). A class. 



Bee-hives, knocked down (car load). 5c. per 1(X) 

 less than class A. 



Bee-smokers, bo.xed, 1st class. 



Honey in barrels or kegs (carrier's risk), 5th 

 class : owner's risk, Hth class. 



Honey in izlass or tin, boxed (carrier's risk), Ist 

 class ; owner's riskTSd class. 



Honey in corah, boxed (carrier's risk), Ist class ; 

 owner's risk, yd class. 



Honey extractors, era ted (carrier's risk), 1st class. 



Honey section-boxes and frames in crates and 

 boxes, 3d class ; owner's risk, 4th class. 



Wax-extractors, crated or boxed, 1st class. 



Wa.x comb-foundation, l!d class. 



Now, I may not have named all 

 that is desired, but I send a copy of 

 the last classification and rate sheet 

 published, and our products and sup- 

 plies will appear in the next publica- 

 tion of classifications, and these rates 

 will apply. For instance: Chicago to 

 Charleston, 1st class is $1.4.5 per 100 

 pounds, and 0th class is 59 cents. If 

 any will intimate wherein I have not 

 got the rates low enough to justify 

 their ideas, or those of our fellow- 

 bee-keepers, I will try farther. 



Let the bee-keepers take these 

 classifications (when I get them I will 

 send .50 for the purpose to the Editor 

 of the Bee Journal, from whom 

 they may be had upon application), 

 and apply to the railroad authorities 

 at their "nearest Head-Quarters, not 

 to the Station Agent, and do not ask 

 to have their products put in the 

 same classes as I have them, but 

 show to these gentlemen that the 

 Southern Roads have classified honey 

 and syrup at equal rates ; bee-hives as 

 empty boxes ; bee-hives, knocked 

 down, same as box and barrel mater- 

 ial in shooks ; section-l)oxes the same 

 as wooden butter-plates; and then 

 they will have it on the same platform 

 as I have proposed and obtained from 

 the railway authorities here. 



Our tin" cans, glass bottles, and 

 other supplies are already classified. 

 I have possibly omitted something, 

 but I do not think that I have. If I 

 have not done exactly what I prom- 

 ised, let me know wherein I have 

 failed, and I will try once more. 



Charleston, o+ S. C. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Swarming Problem. 



n. W. FUNK. 



I notice that the swarming prob- 

 lem is again receiving the attention 

 that it deserves, but among all the 

 given valuable methods of preventing 

 or controlling swarming, I find none 

 that can be depended on to a cer- 

 tainty. Where extracted honey is 

 produced with the liberal use of an 

 extractor, or plenty of comb and foun- 

 dation, it is comparatively an easy 

 matter to get along ; but where comb 

 honey of first quality is desired, it 

 takes considerable judgment to know 

 what is the best thing to do. Bees 

 seem to be possessed of but one idea 

 at a time. Most bee-keepers have ob- 

 served that those colonies worked for 

 comb honey, that do not swarm, store 

 more and of finer quality than those 



