THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



G45 



The trouble may be in the queens. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



This is just what I have often heard 

 of this fall. It seems to be a new 

 malady. As yet I cannot suggest any 

 cause, and so, of course, no remedy. — 

 A. J. CuoK. 



Bees that have been imprisoned 

 between two combs of honey for a 

 length of time present the appeai'ance 

 here described, and act the same.— G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



From the statement in this query, I 

 can only suggest tliat a small swarm 

 may have entered the hive and was 

 used up. But the symptoms as des- 

 cribed rather favor a case of poison- 

 ing. It is not improbable that some 

 of the bees may have gotten at poison 

 and others not.— G. W. Demaree. 



It is impossible to give more than a 

 guess as an answer to this conundrum. 

 Possibly a personal examination 

 might be an aid to a correct solution. 

 The data given is too slight to enable 

 one to solve this problem, as it might 

 be the result of a single cause or of a 

 multiplicity of them.— J. E. Pond,Jr. 



Losing Bees very Fast. 



Query, No. i:$4.— What is wrong with my 

 bees? Tlie strunKest colony tlmt 1 buve is losing 

 bees rery fjist. Early in the morning there are in 

 the hive from 5(1 to UOO old bees dead and dying. 

 1 examined it to-day, but could find nothing 

 wrong. It had four combs of brood in all stages, 

 from the e,^g to capped brood.— W. S. S. 



It may be nothing except the bees 

 dying of old age.— VV. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. 



This is the same as No. 133. Most 

 bee-keepers write me that the af- 

 fected bees seem young, and are 

 black from being bald.— A. .J. Cook. 



There must be a mistake some- 

 where, for old bees do not die in the 

 hive when the weather will admit of 

 their getting out. I should waut more 

 knowledge of the case to give a satis- 

 factory answer.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Queries No. 133 and No. 134 un- 

 doubtedly refer to the same thing, 

 but it is hard to tell the cause. We 

 have seen something similar, though 

 on a smaller scale, but cannot tell the 

 cause as yet. — Dadant & .Son. 



It is nothing strange that a colony 

 should lose that number of bees daily. 

 Just why they do not go off to die, I 

 do not know. Perhaps cool weather 

 is the cause, I do not apprehend any- 

 thing serious.— James Heddon. 



If the colony was for a long time 

 queenless, and a new queen has been 

 lately introduced, the bees may be 

 and probably are dying from old age, 

 before the young ones are able to take 

 their places.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



You do not say how long this state 

 of things has been going on. I have, 

 on a few occasions, known a colony to 

 become demoralized— by reason of the 

 attempt of a stray swarm, to enter 

 their hive, or from an attack from 

 robbers— and become so muddled that 

 they seemed to be unable to recognize 

 each other ; and hence carry on a sys- 

 tematic inquisition and murder among 



themselves for a day or two at a time. 

 — G. W. Demahke. 



Probably nothing serious is wrong 

 with the colony, if only the old bees 

 are found dead and dying. In very 

 populous colonies there will always 

 iae found a few dead bees in and 

 about the entrances of the hives in 

 the morning ; doubtless so many will 

 not be found every morning. Dew or 

 condensed vapor on the alighting- 

 board in the early morning is the 

 cause of the death of many old bees, 

 by their falling on their backs and 

 being unable to arise. I prefer a 

 rough and unpainted alighting-board 

 on tliis account, with one edge beveled 

 and two nails driven in the upper 

 edge to rest on the entrance. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



Convention Notices. 



t^~ The Maryland, Virginia and West Vir- 

 ginia Bee-Keepers' Association will meet in 

 the Court House at Hagerstown, Md., on 

 Oct. 31, 1885, at 10 a. m. D.A.PlKE.Pres. 



IS^ The Progressive Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, of Western Illinois, will meet at Ma- 

 comb, Ills., on Thursday, Oct. 15, 1885. Let 

 everybody come and have an enjoyable time. 

 Good spe.'ikers are expected. 



J. G. Norton, Sec. 



1!^~ The New Jersey and Eastern Bee- 

 Keepers' Association having accepted an 

 invitation to meet with the Mercer County 

 Board of Agriculture, of Trenton, N. J., 

 will hold their semi-annual convention in 

 the Grand Jury Room of the Court House 

 at Trenton, N. J., on Thursday and Friday, 

 Nov. 5 and 6, 188.5, at 10 a. m. A full attend- 

 ance of the members is requested. To all 

 persons interested in our vooation, we ex- 

 tend a cordial welcome. The committee of 

 arraugements have secured hotel accommo- 

 dations at reduced rates. 



W.M. B. Treadwell, Sec. 



^^~ The Western Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will hold its fourth annual meeting in 

 Independence, Mo., on Thursday and Friday, 

 Oct. 15 and Ifi, lHts5. The Association will 

 endeavor to make this the most interesting 

 meeting yet held, and will spare no pains 

 within its means to make it valuable to all. 

 Several of our most prominent bee-keepers 

 have signified their intention to be present. 

 C. M. Crandall, Sec. 



^^~ On account of the great rain on Aug. 

 29. the meeting of the Marshall County Bee- 

 Keepers' Association was postponed until 

 Saturday, Oct. 17, 1885. when a meeting will 

 be held at the Court House in Marshalltown, 

 Iowa, at 10:;iO a.m. Subjects for discussion 

 —"How to winter bees successfully." and the 

 "Care and Sale of Honey." Bee-keepers of 

 adjoining counties invited. J.W.Sanders. 



f^~ The Central Michigan Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in the Pioneers' Rooms 

 in the State Capitol, at Lansing, Mich-, at 9 

 a. m., on Nov. 1'2, 1885. All who have bees 

 or are interested in bee-culture, are invited 

 to attend. E. N. Wood, Sec. 



i^~ The next annual meeting of the 

 Northern Michigan Bee-Keaper's Associa- 

 tion will be held in the Council Rooms at 

 Sheridan, Mich., on Oct. 22 and 33, 1885. A 

 cordiiil invitation is extended to all. 



F. A. Palmer, Sec. 



Z^^~ The 4th semi-annual meeting of the 

 Wabash County Beo-Keepers' Association 

 will be held at North Manchester, Ind., on 

 Oct. 10, 1885, in the G. A. R. Hall, Union 

 Block. First session at 10 a. m. AH bee- 

 keepers are cordially invited to be present. 

 J. Martin, Sec. 



Explanatory — The flguros before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those after, show 

 the number of colonics 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 named: 

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

 •Owest; and this 6 northeast; ^ northwest; 

 o~ southeast; ami P southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Good Reputation, Paper Boxes, etc. 



17— G. M. DOOLITTLE, (.50-100). 



Each year from 1871 to 1877, 1 sold 

 my honey to a honey-merchant resid- 

 ing in Syracuse, N. Y., delivering it 

 there by wagon, so tliat it always 

 arrived in tirst-class condition. As 

 the merchant always took all the 

 honey I had, both extracted and 

 comb, together with all the dark 

 honey, I considered it a good thing 

 for me, and would still think so if I 

 could thus sell my honey now< but 

 alas, death— that great destroyer of 

 all living— took him away early in 

 1878, since which I have not sold a 

 pound of honey in that city. 



However there was one thing that I 

 did not quite like, which was, that he 

 insisted upon my bringing the lioney 

 to him in crates having nothing on 

 them except the weight of the crate 

 and honey ; and when I asked him the 

 reason, he showed me stencil plates 

 bearing his own name and address, 

 and said, "I put my name and ad- 

 dress on every crate of really fine 

 honey which I buy, so as to build up 

 a trade in honey, thus getting a name 

 second to none, for all inferior honey 

 goes without my name. If I allowecl 

 you to put your name on the crates it 

 would not help me any, and as long as 

 you sell to me each year it could be of 

 no benefit to you." After a year or 

 two I saw that bis line of reasoning 

 was correct, for every year gave him 

 a larger range of customers until at 

 the time of his death he handled 

 honey by tons, where he had handled 

 it by the .50 pounds when he began. 



After his death I began shipping 

 honey on commission, and wrote my 

 commission men asking them if they 

 would not allow me to put my name 

 and address upon each crate. To this 

 they objected, but said that they bad 

 no objection to my putting the name 

 on the sections inside tlie crate, if I 

 wished to do so. Accordingly I pro- 

 cured a rubber stamp with the words, 

 " From G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. 

 Y.," upon it as well as a dating ap- 

 paratus good for ten years. I could 

 now in a moment put my name and 

 address on anything I wished, from a 

 postal card up to a bee-hive, and with 

 the date thereon if so desired. Taking 

 the bint given me by the honey-mer- 



