THE AMERICAIS BEE JOURNAL. 



503 



and equally as palatable as comb 

 honey, then its sale will be found to 

 be equally as easy and fully as proQt- 

 able. 



It is not over-production that has 

 caused a glut in the market, but 

 rather the circulation of stories detri- 

 mental to the character and quality 

 of tiie goods (and in many cases I fear 

 there is too mucli truth in these 

 stories). The remedy lies with us. 

 Let us tlien see to it tbat we apply it, 

 and offer nothing save what is tirst- 

 class in everv respect. 



If I understand the pollen theory it 

 is tliis : Pollen is tlie prime cause of 

 bee-diarrhea, and diarrhea the cause 

 of a very large percentage of winter 

 losses. Is tliis correct V In my own 

 apiary, consisiing of from 5 to 50 col- 

 onies, wintered on the summer 

 stands, on natural stores, with no care 

 whatever in the matter of keeping 

 pollen out of the hives, I have never 

 lost a colony from disease, and I have 

 kept bees for 19 years. Were the 

 pollen-theory correct, I should have 

 lost many colonies ; of this tliere can 

 be no doubt, for it is the only logical con- 

 clusion that can be arrived at from a 

 pollen-theory premise. I have this 

 very season produced bee-diarrhea in 

 a colony that had nothing whatever to 

 feed upon but granulated sugar syrup. 

 Of one thing I am certain : if care is 

 taken to properly prepare bees for 

 winter, their God-given natural stores 

 will be found as safe as any that man 

 ciin invent. 



Foxboro,ot Mass. 



For tne American Bee JonmaL 



Wind-Breaks, Covers, etc. 



C. A. HATCH. 



On page 471 of the Bee Journal, 

 W. H. Stewart says that .J. C. Hatch 

 has lost all of his bees, blown over by 

 a tornado. This is entirely wrong. I 

 have no fault to find with Mr. S. ; he 

 is perfectly innocent in the matter, 

 for it was so reported in our local 

 paper at the time. It is only another 

 instance of an over-zealous reporter's 

 anxiety to report something sensa- 

 tional. I own one-half of the bees 

 mentioned, and my brother (.J. C. 

 Hatch) does the management of 

 them, and owns the other half ; and 

 to the best ot my knowledge there 

 was not over four hives upset by tlie 

 wind, but sliade boards and eyery 

 scrap of covering down to the enamel 

 cloths, were taken off from nearly 

 every one and sent in every direction, 

 exposing the combs to the direct 

 mercy of the wind and rain. Serious 

 results miglit have followed had not 

 brother and father hastened to the 

 rescue and restored the covers as good 

 as it was possible in a drenching rain. 

 No serious results followed either the 

 upsetting or wetting that the bees got. 

 So mucli in exp.anation. How much 

 easier it is to set a falsehood going 

 than it is to overtake it with the 

 truth. 



As to Mr. Stewart's fence break, I 

 have no doubt it would protect the 

 hives if it were made strong enough, 

 but nothing short of a stone wall 



would stop a tornado, and other 

 things besides wind are to be thought 

 of, the shutting off of all circulation 

 of air bv liigli fences, and tlie reflected 

 heat of" the sun from them would 

 make the heat unbearable in summer. 

 Tornadoes are so infrequent that it is 

 hatdly worth while to attempt to pro- 

 tect against them, as what would 

 make us at all safe against them, 

 would make it very burdensome at 

 otlier times while at work with the 

 bees. 



I use a shade board 30 inches by 24 

 inches, similar to Mr. Ileddon's style, 

 on my hives, and no weights, and 

 very seldom have one misplaced. The 

 ground occupied by my hives (about 

 7-5) slopes sliglitly to the north, and is 

 some protected ijy shrubbery on the 

 west, consisting of raspberry bushes, 

 and my dwelling on the southwest. 

 My shade-boards are made of 1-inch 

 pine, nailed to 1 J^x2J^ inch white elm 

 cleats. I have some made of %-inch 

 pine, but they are too light, and need 

 a weiglit. Tlie cleats are nailed on at 

 ■such a distance apart that when one 

 rests on tlie hive the other just conies 

 off at the other end. If the shade- 

 board is put on sloping to the west, 

 and tlie down cleat snug against the 

 hive, it gives it something of a " bite" 

 on the hive, which helns to hold it. 

 This protects it against the direction 

 of most of our high winds. 



Itaca, P Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Pollen Theory. 



.JA3IES HEDDON. 



If Mr. Shuck's article, on page 470, 

 did not call into question else besides 

 the wintering problem (so much hav- 

 ing already been written upon that 

 topic), I should not reply to it. 



He first says that " Mr. Heddon's 

 experiments are the only features in 

 this discussion that appear as facts in 

 favor of this theory," ignoring the 

 fact that Mr. Fradenburg, Prof. Cook, 

 and others have given similar reports. 

 He then says that I define nitrogen 

 as bee-bread. I define bee-bread as 

 replete with nitrogen. I claim that 

 nitrogenous food, if taken, will cause 

 a fecal accumulation. I also claim 

 that exertion— activity — calls for and 

 causes the bees to partake of the 

 nitrogenous food — bee-bread. This 

 accounts for the well-known fact that 

 fecal accumulations form so rapidly 

 during summer, or just after a spring 

 flight; and the reason why the short 

 cold snaps that come after our bees 

 have been working a few days, so 

 quickly develop diarrhetic symptoms. 

 I hope 1 liave now made the pollen- 

 nitrogen matter clear. 



Mr. S. would like to know where a 

 normal condition of the bees' intes- 

 tines ceases, and disease begins. I 

 will try to inform him. Intestinal 

 disease begins when tlie fecal accu- 

 mnlations reach beyond the point that 

 causes the bees to desire to void such 

 accumulations. All who are familiar 

 with the cleansing flights of bees, will 

 recognize the point referred to. 



Mr. Shuck says that a blow to the 

 pollen theory is found in the fact that 



many healthful colonies show a 

 larger per cent, of pollen in their ex- 

 creta than tliose suffering most 

 severely from diarrhea. I deny this, 

 and demand tlie proof before it passes 

 in as evidence one way or the other. 

 This strong and convenient statement 

 must be based upon reports of sup- 

 posed dry feces. 



But liere is the strongest argument 

 of all, as Mr. S. says : " If I can show 

 that large apiaries are being wintered 

 successfully on natural stores, one 

 year after another, and that, too, in 

 communities where from -50 to 75 per 

 cent, of the bees of other apiaries are 

 lost during severe winters, I wish to 

 ask what more is necessary V I ask 

 him to explain what were the differ- 

 ent causes to the different effects. 

 Why has not he, or some one enter- 

 taining his ideas, given us some light 

 by which we, too, could succeed ? It 

 is true that at all times just such ex- 

 ceptional cases of sate wintering have 

 occurred in the midst of death and dis- 

 aster. The " pollen theory " was born 

 among just such facts ; being born in 

 the midst of such conditions, it lives 

 and grows among them. Did Mr. S. 

 imagine that I did not know of these 

 facts long before I published my con- 

 ceptions of the cause of our winter 

 scourge ? 



He says that my position is not ten- 

 able as long as there is a single in- 

 stance of successful wintering with 

 natural stores on record. Does he 

 know that all honey contains^ nitro- 

 gen '? and that there is no honey that 

 contains so little nitrogen that bees 

 cannot survive upon it, and come 

 forth alive in the spring, and succeed 

 in building up to good colonies, which 

 he calls ''successful'!"' Has he ever 

 seen a colony of bees wintered suc- 

 cessfully in the highest sense of the 

 terra V 



We are all dealing with bee-diar- 

 rhea—fecal accumulations. I kept 73 

 colonies in a damp, cold cellar for 151 

 days without the least perceptible 

 accumulation of feces ; and I feel sure 

 that I can do it at will. I believe that 

 it can never be done on any natural 

 stores secreted in my honey area. 

 This settled the question of bee-diar- 

 rhea with me. That settles the whole 

 question of wintering bees, for we 

 need not lose them by any other 

 cause— casualties and experiments 

 excepted— in this locality. What I 

 have mentioned as true here, I believe 

 to be true in most locations. 



According to ilr. Shuck's reasoning, 

 I can disprove all other supposed 

 causes of winter losses, and even 

 cold. A farmer living, east of here 

 saved his entire apiary, all exposed 

 out-doors. A Kalamazoo bee-keeper 

 lost none that were packed— all out- 

 doors. Mr. Boardmaii, Dr. Southard 

 and others winter bees " successfully" 

 on honey-dew. Mr. Boomhower al- 

 ways succeeds, and uses no ventila- 

 tors, and says : " All ventilators to 

 bee-cellars are a damage, and amount 

 to nothing." The same gentleman 

 succeeds in wintering bees in damp 

 cellars ; so does Prof. Cook and many 

 others. According to Mr. Shuck's 

 method of reasoning, we have an 

 effect without any cause. 



