THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



'STii 



Explanatory — The figures before the 

 uamea imiicate the mimberof yeiirs that the 

 person has kept bees. Those aitek, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring 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 immed: 

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

 ♦Owest; and this 6 northeast; VD northwest; 

 °^ southeast; and P southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



Fur the American Bee JoumaL 



What Causes Bee-Diarrhea? 



8— W. Z. HUTCHIN.SON, (SO). 



On page 325, Mr. Doolittle reviews 

 my article upon the above subject, by 

 quoting one-half of my closing sen- 

 tence. This is like attempting to 

 make comb foundation with only one 

 die. Two dies, or both halves of this 

 sentence, are needed to get more than 

 a one-sided impression. lu fact, so 

 far as solving the wintering problem 

 is concerned, the latter half of the 

 sentence Is the more important. The 

 ■whole sentence reads as follows : 

 "Perhaps this (the mistake) is in 

 attempting to keep bees out of their 

 native clime, without recognizing and 

 complying with the changed condi- 

 tions." Keeping bees out of their 

 native clime does not produce diar- 

 rhea ; it is keeping them there with- 

 out complying with the changed con- 

 ditions. During the past cold winter 

 many bees have wintered perfectly in 

 tlie far North ; if like causes produce 

 like effects, and keeping bees out of 

 their native clime produces bee-diar- 

 rhea, then all of the bees out of their 

 native clime should have perished. 



Mr. Doolittle says : " Let some one 

 produce a case of bee-diarrhea with- 

 out confinement." Something causes 

 bee-diarrhea. Frequent fliglits are 

 an antidote for the disease. Wlien 

 bees enjoy frequent flights, the dis- 

 ease cannot develop, because the ef- 

 fects of the cause are removed so 

 quickly. A ship sinks in the ocean 

 because it leaks. If the water be 

 frequently pumped out, so that it 

 does not become " overloaded," it will 

 not sink. Let the pumping cease for 

 a sufficient length of time, and the 

 vessel will sink, and why ? Is it be- 

 cause tlie water is not piimpeQ out, or 

 because it runs in y In bee-keeping 

 we cannot " pump " when we please 

 so we propose to " stop the leak." Mr. 

 Heddon writes me that on April 19, 

 he took from his cellar more than r;o 

 colonies that had been confined 151 

 days. The combs and covers were 

 damp and moldy, but the liees were in 

 perfect health ; his white shirt-sleeves, 

 the white liives and covers failed to 

 show a particle of disciiarge of any 

 kind. The bees were as slim as in 

 the fall. We have had many, many 

 such instances where bees were con- 



fined as long a period as it will ever 

 be necessary to confine them, with no 

 traces of diarrhea ; hence, when the 

 cause of bee-darrhea is removed, 

 when we " comiily with the changetl 

 conditions," we can truthfully say, 

 confinement does not cause bee- 

 diarrhea. 



Mr. Doolittle quotes from Mr. 

 Demaree's and Mr. Tinker's writings 

 to show that. " the trouble is wholly 

 incident to long, cold weather." If 

 this is true, then why are some bees 

 dead and some alive in spots all over 

 the country ? 



Mr. Doolittle wishes to be put on 

 record that confinement, long enough 

 continued, will always result in diar- 

 rhea, no matter what the food, pro- 

 vided the bees do not starve. This 

 is, of course, only assertion, and, 

 even should it prove true, it would be 

 of no practical value, as we have no 

 desire to confine our bees more than 

 .5 or G months ; and it has been proved, 

 time and again, that they can be con- 

 fined that length of time with not a 

 trace of diarrhea. 



Mr. Doolittle says : " To those who 

 claim that the food has all to do with 

 it," etc. Will Mr. D. please name 

 any one who makes this claim V 



it seems strange that neither Mr. 

 Ileddon, myself, nor many others can 

 get a case of bee-diarrhea when the 

 l)ollen is practically all removed, and 

 Mr. Doolittle succeeds so readily. 



Mr. Ileddon writes me that the 

 word pollen should not be confound- 

 ed with bee-bread : that bee-bread is 

 one form of pollen— a form that he has 

 demonstrated that the bees will not 

 touch if the temperature is kept high 

 enough ; that this newly demonstrated 

 fact, regarding the effect of tempera- 

 ture upon the consumption of bee- 

 bread, settles nine-tenths of the dif- 

 ficulty alone ; and that when he (Iled- 

 don) discloses bis promised system of 

 bringing bees out in a starving con- 

 dition in the fall, the honey being 

 sold, bee-keepers will find the feed- 

 ing process simply economy and fun. 



Lastly, Mr. Doolittle says : " If we 

 would be sure that no pollen or meal 

 is in 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." In reply to tliis I would'say 

 that I know of an instance in which 

 more than 100 colonies were wintered 

 in a damp cellar upon thin sugar 

 syrup, which was fed so late that the 

 bees sealed scarcely any of it, and did 

 not evaporate it to full honey consis- 

 tency, yet the bees came out in the 

 spring in splendid condition. 

 Rogersville, d Mich. 



erally attributed to leaving too manv 

 frames in tlie hive, thus giving the 

 bees too much space to keep warm. 

 A few colonies starved to death for 

 want of stores ; a few perished from 

 dampness, and a few from diarrhea. 



The question, " Whicli is the most 

 profitable to produce, cimib or ex- 

 tracted honey ?" was discussed, and 

 the majority seemed to favor ex- 

 tracted honey. 



On tlie subject of marketing honey 

 to the best advantage, the President 

 thouglit that the first thing to be done 

 was to put it up in neatly shaped 

 packages, nicely labeled, but not too 

 large ones. lie preferred glass cans, 

 as they could always be sold for what 

 they cost, while people did not care 

 to pay for tfns. Mr. DeCew liad tried 

 glass and tin cans, labeled with his 

 name, and found that the people pre- 

 ferred to buy honey in glass packages. 

 Mr. Ilolterman believed glass was the 

 best, as the package could be sold for 

 what it cost ; but for shipping a long 

 distance, he would recommend tin. 

 lie thought small packages were 

 preferable. 



After discussing other important 

 questions, it was decided that the 

 meetings of the County Bee Keepers' 

 Association be held at Cayuga, Nelles' 

 Corners, .larvis and Ilag'ersville ; and 

 that the next meeting be held at 

 Jarvis, on Sept. 2o, 1885, at 11 a. m. 

 £. C. Campbell, iSec. 



TOT the American Bee Journal. 



Black Bees, Bee-Pasturage, etc. 



BYRON HAMS. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Haldimand, Ont., Convention. 



The Haldimand Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation met at Nelles' Corners, Out., 

 on May 29, 1885. The minutes of the 

 previous meeting were read and ap- 

 proved. 



Reports from 29 members showed 

 .547 colonies last fall and 392 this 

 spring. The cause of loss was gen- 



On Sept. 16, 1884, 1 received an Ital- 

 ian queen and placed her in a hive of 

 black bees, destroying the black 

 queen on the same day. To-day (June 

 8) I find a few black bees coming out 

 and going into this sam^ hive, thus 

 making them about 8 months old. I 

 find, upon examination of my hives 

 to-day, that each frame in the brood 

 department contains from two to five 

 pounds of honey, all having been 

 gathered within the past tv\'o weeks. 

 Black locust yielded a wonderful 

 amount of honey for two days. Honey 

 locusts are in bloom now, and are 

 very rich in nectar. The northeastern 

 part of this county (Audrain) is cov- 

 ered with white clover which blooms 

 from May 20 until frost. We have 

 also a fine autumn honey-flow from 

 Spanish-needle, which grows and 

 blooms in great abundance all over 

 this county. I had one colony of 

 blacks which gathered 60 pounds of 

 surplus Spanish-needle honey in two 

 weeks. AVe have plenty of wild plum 

 and crab-apple to start bees booming 

 early. 



I believe that my bees are preparing 

 to diet principally on bee-bread, next 

 winter, as I have never before seen half 

 as much in the combs. Next winter I 

 am going to fill two hives chock-full 

 of combs containing bee-bread, and 

 two others with pure honey and siigar 

 syrup, and see for myself what the 

 difference will be. 



Bees wintered well in this neigh- 

 borhood. A neighbor of mine lost 2 



