312 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April : 



1905. 



jority of cases we found no traces of fungi but occasionallj there was 

 a little fungus present. Probably the spots have not been caused by 

 fungi and I am unable satisfactorily to account for them. After talk- 

 ing over the matter with our entomologist, Mr. Parrott, I very much 

 doubt that the bees could have caused this trouble. It is contrary to 

 accepted beliefs in the matter. Mr. Parrott will, 1 think, write you 

 on the subject. F. C. Stewart, Botanist. 



And this is the letter of Prof. Parrott : 



Miss Frances E. Wheeler— 



Dear J/adam.—X'poa his return, Mr. Stewart has informed me of 

 your interesting observations upon the work of bees on apples. Simi- 

 lar reports have been made of the work of these Insects upon grapes 

 and other fruits. While it is thought by some that they are able to 

 puncture fruits, it is now generally believed by apiculturists that the 

 bees cannot gain entrance to the fruits except as the skin may be 

 broken by other agents, as wasps and birds, etc. As we have paid 

 very little attention to this group of insects, I have written to Prof. 

 Benton of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, who is 

 a specialist in this line, for his advice. His reply is sent enclosed, 

 i am sure it will be of interest to you. When you are through with 

 this, will you please kindly return it to me? 



P. J. Parrott, Entomologist. 



Accompanying the foregoing documents was a private word from 

 Miss Wheeler, asking that judgment might not be too severe upon her 

 for having arraigned the bees for trial. Why, bless your good heart. 

 Miss Wheeler, instead of having any grudge against you, bee-keepers 

 owe you a vote of thanks for having done them a distinct service. 



It is no light matter to have secured the verdict of two such able 

 men as the botanist and entomologist of the New York Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, not only because of their ability but because of 

 their disinterested position. No matter how much more Prof. Benton 

 may know about bees, there is some danger that having been a prac- 

 tical bee-keeper all his life he might be thought to have a kindly lean- 

 ing toward the bees in rendering a verdict. Professors Stewart and 

 Parrott are outside the ranks of bee-keepers, thus adding weight to 

 their verdict, and we are indebted to Miss Wheeler that they have thus 

 committed their weighty influence on the side of right and the bees. 



I am sure that the sisters will join me in hoping that Miss 

 Wheeler's keen eyes may be further used in watching the busy bees, 

 and that we may often learn something from her as to that watching. 



^ 



Honey as a Bee-Sting- Cure 



That "like cures like " is fully demonstrated by the fact that one 

 of the best cures for bee-stings is honey. As soon as possible after 

 being stung remove the stinger which the bee usually leaves and cover 

 the afflicted part with honey, either in the comb or extracted. If used 

 soon enough it is, as far as I have known, a sure cure. I have an 

 acquaintance who was so badly stung that his arms, face and head 

 and even feet, for he had low shoes on at the time, were literally one 

 immense sting. The honey was applied and the following day he felt 

 no ill effects whatever except a slight weariness.— Allei-ne Lang- 

 ford, in Vick's Family Magazine. 



Indian Cougii Cure 



w. 



. T. Mandy sends the following recipe for a cough cure which 

 he obtained from an Indian woman in Mississippi, and which he says 

 cured him of a cough of 20 years' standing : 



Take Indian turnips and slice them up thin, put into a jar and 

 cover with honey, and then let stand '^ hours. Common turnips will 

 Dose, a tablespoonful before meals and at bedtime." 



do. 



VTiw pasty's 

 dftcrtl^ougl^ts 



=\ 



=/ 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



CAPT. HETHERINGTON AND HIS BEE-KEEPING EXPERIENCE. 



The excellent sketch of J. E. Hetherington by Mr. Elwood shows 

 that the greatest bee-keeper in the world was not so much of a recluse 

 as some of us imagined. Had been President of his State association 

 and also of the National. The fact that we seldom saw him in print 

 and seldom heard of his being at a convention somehow made me 

 assume that he nener did these things. Not a fact. And if any one 

 has set it down as seltishness, or lack of public spirit, that kept him so 

 much out of sight and out of mind among our fraternity, the reading 

 of these live pages from the pen of a personal friend is likely to bring 

 an entire change of opinion. 



A humorist would say that bee-keepers are distinguished by the 

 laark that somehow every one invented everything. Hetherington 's 

 invention of everything rather scoops the rest of us by reason of the 

 fact that he was so early in the field, 1852, and had a very inventive 



mind as well. First man in America to depend wholly on bees for & 

 support. Takes 3,000 colonies, it seems, to give one the title of largest 

 bee-keeper in the world. Somebody will go higher now just for the 

 sake of doing it. Heavy wintering losses he had for some years ; but 

 for the last dozen years his success was quite good. We may remark, 

 by the way, that the cellar-wintering of 3.000 colonies of bees is not 

 exactly the sape problem as wintering 100. To the good is 30 times 

 as much animal heat; and to the bad is 30 times as much carbonic 

 acid gas. More call for ventilation then to sweeten things up. Pages 

 13r-l43. 



NO QUEEN-BEARING SYSTEM IMPROVES BEES (?) 



Oar " Hutch " seems to be running for the office of champion 

 heretic. Not content with contemplating all our bee-papers sealed up 

 in their tombs, he proceeds to say: "There is no system of queen- 

 rearing that will improve a strain of bees." Did you ever; Now it 

 may be that a short-lived and non-proliflc queen will usually transmit 

 to her daughters the good qualities that her parents were endowed 

 with— that is, transmit them without very much loss. I'm not ready 

 to say there would be no loss at all. 'Spects she would not have been 

 short-lived and non-proliflc had she been properly reared. And had 

 she been properly reared I should expect her to lift up a little instead 

 of pulling down a little on the desirable qualities of her descendants. 

 It is quite possible that the upbuilding power of queen-breeding pure 

 and simple may have been very greatly overrated. If that is so per- 

 haps we should be thanking Mr. Hutchinson for calling our attention 

 to it, instead of scolding him for getting a wheel off the track. Un- 

 doubtedly wise observation and selection extended to a large number 

 of colonies amounts to a good deal more than any arts of mere breed- 

 ing. But let us not throw away our dimes becatise gold pieces are 

 worth more. Improvement of a strain of any living creature often 

 gets on very slowly, but also sometimes (we know not why) advances 

 with a sudden long leap, which it is our business to seize and hang on 

 to. We wouldn't be hanging on properly unless we bred in the best 

 method we know. Page 150. 



BEES IMMUNE PROM DISEASE. 



When a fatal disease has had wide range and long prevalence > 

 and individuals never exposed are few or none, nature gradually builds 

 up an immunized strain. Thus, Prof. Harrison says, the sheep of 

 Algiers have become partly immune to the disease called anthrax. He 

 also thinks the bees of Europe have become partlj; immune to foul 

 brood, on the same principle. I don't feel so sure' of that as one 

 might; but it would account very well for so many sure cures brought 

 from over there proving nearly worthless on this side. Page 151. 



DO BEES FREEZE OR STARVE j 



As to those seemingly dead bees on page 163, 1 incline to introduce 

 a third theory to account for death when it actually comes in such 

 cases. They certainly did not starve to death, /or tlieij were not deail : 

 neither did they freeze to death, for the same conclusive reason. But 

 had they been left alone long enough they would have been dead — 

 which cause then? Neither (let us say). Starvation comes from lack 

 of nourishment; and organs thatBave ceased to act do not need nour- 

 ishment — that is, do not come to need it any worse than they did when 

 they ceased to act. Quite likely there is still some little remnant of 

 invisible action somewhere — as long as life remains; but the amount 

 of nourishment needed to support it would be correspondingly small. 

 And one would say (though with some possibility of a big mistake) 

 that it would take weeks, if not months, to starve a thoroughly 

 chilled bee. As to freezing, a bee frozen for two hours is not dead. 

 What more can freezing do after the first two hours? It is not easy 

 to see. So I'll mildly conclude that certain chemical changes proceed 

 quite well below the freezing point; and that they finally disorganize 

 things and extinguish the vital spark. But the whole of this is theo- 

 retic. Practically the way to save just such a colony in the future is 

 to give them more food to start in with. In some cases warmer 

 quarters would cause the bees to eat less food, and so have enough. 

 Matter of food in both cases. 



=^ 



X)octor ITItUcr's 

 Question '- Box 



J 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 



or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



t^° Dr. Miller does nut answer Questions by mail. 



Transferring Bees 



I have 6 colonies of bees in homemade hives with home-made 

 frames. These I wish to transfer to new hives (S-frame) with Hoff- 

 man frames. I also desire to procure new brood-combs for each hive. 

 I do not want increase; besides, I am not keeping bees for profit, 

 neither do I sell any honey, but all is turned to our personal use. I 

 intend to furnish the new hives with starters, and then shake the bees 

 from the old hives in front of them, and thus combine transferring 

 with swarming. 



1. Is this method practicable or advisable, and, if so, when should 

 I do it, during swarming-time (about the end of May and beginning 



