THE AMEIUCAJM BEE JOURNAL. 



407 



hives and combs befouled tcnibly; 

 instead thereof I found the combs of 

 the 2 colonies that died, as clean and 

 dry as they well could be, and the 

 remaining 8 colonies in as f;t>t"l ''""" 

 dition as any I have ever seen at that 

 season. The combs were all dry and 

 clean, the bees lively, with no signs 

 whatever of disease, and with a large 

 quantity of young bees and brood. 



In preparing these colonies for win- 

 ter, 1 left all the frames of comb in 

 the hives (ten-frame single-walled 

 Langstroth), putting a woolen blanket 

 on the frames, and tilling an upper 

 story with forest leaves pressed 

 loosely down. I gave all the full en- 

 trance, viz : Sg of an inch, and the 

 whole width of the hives. 



For 16 years I have wintered my 

 bees in Langstroth hives, on the sum- 

 mer stands, with no loss whatever 

 from disease. I have always left 

 tliem their natural stores, and I have 

 never taken any pollen from them 

 During that time I have kept from r-, 

 to 50 colonies, and I de.sire it " to be 

 recorded," that the "pollen theory" 

 is wholly incorrect, so far as my own 

 apiary is concerned. Its originator 

 admits that if the " conditions are 

 right," pollen will not kill bees, or 

 cause disease among them ; this, to 

 me, looks like an admission ; at any 

 rate I tind no disease caused by pol- 

 len in Diy apiary, and have no feitrs in 

 regard to the matter, and so long as I 

 winter my bees without loss, just so 

 long I shall continue tlie practice of 

 the last 16 years or more. 



Foxboro,o+ Mass , June 13, 1885. 



ror tbe American Bee Journal. 



Johnson Co., Ind., Convention. 



The annual meeting of the John- 

 son County Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Franklin, Ind.. on April 

 4, 1885, with President C. H. Hall in 

 the chair. The Secretary's and Treas- 

 urer's reports were read and approved. 

 President Hall then read his annual 

 address on •' The Classic IJee," as 

 follows : 



I bring for your consideration the 

 "classic bee"— with which, in all 

 probability, I am better acquainted 

 than you— the bee of Homer and 

 Virgil, of Athens and Rome. 



Among the earlier students of the 

 habits of the bee are the Greek scien- 

 1st and logician, Aristotle; and 

 Rome's famous poet, Virgil. In this 

 address I shall simply give some 

 things which I have gathered mainly 

 from Virgil, and other sources. 



Honey was an article of diet much 

 esteemed by the ancients, and in 

 more common use than to-day. Sugar 

 was scarce, or entirely unknown then 

 as we know it now, and honey was 

 the main dependence for their sweet. 

 The honey of Mt. Ida, in Crete, and 

 from Hymettus, in Attica, is justly 

 famous for its line quality and de- 

 licious flavor. There was a great 

 abundance of honey in those old 

 classic lands, abounding as thev do 

 in sunshine and flowers, in cliffs" and 

 rocks, in hills and valleys, and having 

 winters so brief and mild. But it is 

 not the famous honey, nor its great 



abundance, nor their splendid appe- 

 tite for it, of which I wish chiefly to 

 speak, nor in which you will tind 

 most to interest you; but rather, 

 their knowledge anil management of 

 the bee and some of their i)eculiar 

 ideas concerning it. For these ('on- 

 ceptions and ideas I am wholly in- 

 debted to Virgil, whom I cordially 

 commend to all who seek for the 

 poetry and praise of the "Classic 

 Bee.'' 



1. Their method of keeping the bee: 

 They were particularly choice of the 

 spot where they should place their 

 colonies of industrious toilers. The 

 hum of the bee should not be marred 

 by any rudeness of sound or uncouth- 

 ness of approach or surroundings. 

 The perfection of the sweet at least 

 made a perfect home of the bee an 

 appropriate object of care and 

 thought. The poet demands that the 

 place shall be one where no wind 

 blows, for wlien the bees, laden with 

 liquid sweetness gathered from a 

 thousand flowers, wearily drops at the 

 entrance of their treasure-house, no 

 rude bhist should sweep them aside 

 and delay their return. Neither shall 

 their place be where the frisky kids 

 may tread down the fragrant flower 

 ami entangle the half-laden toiler, 

 nor " heifer, straying in the plain, 

 spurn off the dews, and bruise the 

 rising herb." The place must be the 

 resort of no lizard with speckled, 

 scaly back, nor shall the woodpeckers 

 and swallows haunt their quiet abode 

 They lay waste and ravage around 

 the hives and catch on the wing tlie 

 honey-laden bee and bear it as food 

 for their young. Springs of pure, 

 sweet water should be near by, or 

 " i)ools edged with green moss, and a 

 gentle rivulet swiftly running through 

 the meads.'' 



There should be close beside their 

 home tlie stately palm and the grate- 

 ful wild olive, on which may gather 

 the circling swarm when forth they 

 leave their old home to seek the new 

 under the guidance of their queen. 

 In the silent pools, and rippling rivu- 

 lets and sweet springs should be scat- 

 tered rocks and logs of willow to 

 serve as places of rest for the wearied 

 bee that pauses in its flight and seeks 

 to quench its thirst. " Around these 

 places let green cassia, and far-smell- 

 ing wild thyme, and plenty of strong- 

 scented savory, flower; and let beds of 

 violet drink an irrigating fountain." 



Their hives are made of hollow 

 bark, stripped, no doubt, from trunk 

 of tree, or huge limb, and having the 

 end covered, it is natural to suppose, 

 with bark, or thatch of straw, or 

 plaited willow. Other hives are made 

 of limber osier woven, no doubt, into 

 shapes pleasing to the eye and gratify- 

 ing to the taste of the observer as 

 well as accommodating to the honey- 

 gatherer. The inlets to these hives, 

 whatever their form or kind, must 

 be small. The cold of winter con- 

 geals the honey, and the heat of sum- 

 mer melts it, and each result alike is 

 dreaded by the bees. The chinky 

 chambers of these hives are to be 

 daubed with smooth mud, and over 

 them thinly are leaves to be scattered; 

 " and suffer not a yew tree near their 



lodges, nor burn in the fire the redden- 

 ing crabs, nor trust them to a deep 

 fen, or where there is a noisome 

 smell of miie. or where the hollow 

 rocks resound on being struck, and 

 the struck image of the voice re- 

 bounds." 



2. Some of their ideas about the 

 bee: They looked upon a colony of 

 bees as a government composed of 

 officers and workmen. The leader of 

 the host was called a " king," and 

 they seem to have had no such con- 

 ception as that it was a female and 

 the mother of the whole cohmy. 

 Virgil says that there are two kinds 

 of " kings '" in the colony ; the one he 

 describes corresponds closely to our 

 queen of to-day, the other, beyond all 

 question, is the drone, which " is hor- 

 ribly deformed with sloth, and in- 

 gloriously drags a large belly." 



Speaking of the roving inclination 

 of the swarms, he gives a rule by 

 which they may be content to remain 

 in their hives— a rule not unknown or 

 unobserved to-day by some. It is, 

 " Do you but clip the wings of their 

 " kings," not one will dare, while 

 they stay behind, to fly aloft, or pluck 

 up the standard from the camp." 



The subjects of the " king-bee " fall 

 into three classes of workmen ; viz : 

 those that work in the wax " build- 

 ing the combs downward,'' those that 

 guard the hive, the stores, the young 

 in their waxen cells, and those that 

 gather from flower and fruit the 

 " clammy honey." Virgil says : "The 

 elder have the care of their towns, 

 and to fortify the combs, and frame 

 the artiiicial cells ; but the younger 

 return fatigued late at night, their 

 thighs laden with thyme; they feed 

 at large on arbistes and gray willows, 

 on cassia and growing crocus, on the 

 gummy lime, and deep-colored hy- 

 acinths. All have one rest from 

 work, all one common labor." 



They thought that the germs from 

 which come the young brood, were 

 gathered from the' hearts of flowers 

 and leaves, borne to the waxen cells 

 and there nourished until matured. 

 " But they themselves," says Virgil, 

 " cull their progeny with their mouths 

 from leaves and fragrant barks ; they 

 themselves raise up a new ' king ' and 

 little subjects, and build new palaces 

 and waxen realms." Some of them 

 also thought that the bee partook of 

 the divine nature, and "that a por- 

 tion of the divine mind, and a heaven- 

 ly emanation may be discovered in 

 bees." 



The instructions to him who would 

 gather the honev from the hive are, 

 " Sprinkled as to you.r .body, gargle 

 your mouth with a draught of water, 

 and bear in your hand before you the 

 searching smoke." They thought 

 that the life of a bee was seven yeirs, 

 unless cut off by some accident, and 

 that one's fortune was good when a 

 colony lived nine or ten years. 



When their colonies all perished as 

 yours and mine have nearly all done 

 during tlie past winter, they have a 

 tradition as to how one may replenish 

 his stock : " A bullock, just bending 

 the horns in his forehead, two years 

 old, is sought out ; while he struggles 

 exceedingly, they close up both his 



