198 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



664, on page 502. It was accompanied by 

 the opinions of some twelve experienced 

 apiarists as to the cause of the disease in 

 question, and how to prevent it — a few 

 to whom the query had evidently been 

 submitted, not expressing any decided 

 view on the subject. All who expressed 

 any opinion were agreed in referring the 

 trouble to bee-diarrhcBa, and the cause 

 .improper food, but disagreed as to the 

 manner of prevention. Some advise "Il- 

 linois" to feed pure cane sugar; some to 

 keep the bees in a warm cellar ; to deprive 

 them of pollen, etc. 



Doubtful cause of bee-diarrhcea. 



I believe but very few persons who 

 have kept bees in the northern states will 

 liesitate in naming the disease referred to 

 in the query as bee-dianhcea; but as to 

 the Q.&\\>e — that is the rub! That is the 

 ■winter problem which has been discoursed 

 upon in all the bee periodicals of the land 

 'during the past twenty years, and if tliere 

 has ever been a clear, rational explana- 

 tion given of the cause of this disease — 

 the dread of the northern beekeeper — it is 

 not yet manifest to tlie mental vision of 

 the fraternity. The hypotliesis of to-day 

 ■ does not become a theory to-morrow, but 

 is kicked out to give place to the next 

 plausible explanation that may be oflVred ; 

 in the meantime, the disease "gets there 

 ■just the same," as sure as the winters 

 come on — at least it does with the major- 

 ity of beekeepers. 



Facts discovered in experimenting. 



I do not propose, in this article, to ad- 

 vance any exphination as to the cause of 

 the trouble under considei-ation — this 

 would require more time than I have at 

 present at my command — Imt rather to 

 bring forward some facts which I think 

 have escaped the attention of some of the 

 prominent writers on this question. I 

 have indeed an hypothesis — as every bee- 

 keeper must have — to explain the cause of 

 winter losses in the apiary, but (or the 

 present I must try to contine ray remarks 

 to certain facts which I have noticed while 

 conducting a series of experiments under- 

 taken with a view to discover some prac- 

 tical method by which bees could be car- 

 ried througli the winter with as little risk 

 as is incurred by the stockman in winter- 

 ing his horses, cattle, sheep or hogs. 



We may l)oast to our heart's content of 

 the great advance made in beekeeping; of 

 our extractors, comb foundation niaciiines 

 and the superiority of the improved hives 

 now in use over the l)ee gums of our dad- 

 dies, but after all the fact remains tliat 

 the average winter mortality among bees 

 is quite as high now as it was twenty-tlve 

 years ago. 



The winter of 1879-80 was very cold all 

 through the northwest, and the losses 

 among beekeepers were very extensive, 

 especially among those wiio practised out- 

 door wintering. My own hisses were so 

 severe that I resolved to conduct a series 

 of experiments with a view to arrive at 

 some detinite idea as to what was the 

 cause of winter mort;'lity among bees. I 

 had for years taken mucii interest in this 

 question; had read everything availal)le 

 on the snl)ject; had tried nearly all meth- 

 ods and devices recommended in the bee- 

 papers and books devoted to the industry; 

 and liad seen more or less of my bees die 

 every winter and spring witiiout being 

 able to aflbrd them any relief. I do not 

 mean by saying this, that my losses were 

 more than that of the average of beekeep- 

 ers in the north — I do not think they were 

 as high as the average; but I was losing 

 more bees than I thought necessary to 

 lose if the proper comlitions of wintering 

 were understood. 



Different phases of bee-diarrhcea. 

 The solution of the suhjfct under con- 

 sideration naturally leads along three lines 

 of thought, viz. : 



1. Wiiat is it? 



2. What causes it? 



3. What will prevent it? 



It might be supposed that the first ques- 

 tion was known from the start, but this 

 idea is an error, arising from tlie notion 

 that diarrhoea is aspecitic disease, where- 

 as it may be simply a corroborative 

 syuiptom of some organic or constitu- 

 tutional derangement. Simple diarrhoea 

 is generally caused by a sudden change in 

 food or drink, or by the introduction of im- 

 proper or vitiated alimentary substances; 

 but it often occurs when the cause has 

 not the remotest relation to food or drink. 

 Medical writers recognize that distinction 

 by treating of the subject under ditl'erent 

 heads — usually three — but as my educa- 

 tion has been contlned mainl}^ to chemis- 

 try and Materia medicn, I shall not attempt 

 to explain all the dillerent piiases of the 

 disease. 



The quality of winter bee-food. 

 Now to return to the query, the ques- 

 tion arises, did those bees have the diar- 

 rhoea in its simplest form, or was it ex- 

 hibited in connection with some derange- 

 ment of the bee system? If the former 

 supposition is correct, tiien we may prop- 

 erly look to tiie food for the cause. If 

 the latter, then the cause must be sought 

 elsewhere. My opinion is tiiat the dis- 

 ease, which is usually termed bee-diar- 

 rhoea, is the outgrowth of another disor- 

 der, and the cause of this is seldom, if 

 evei', to be referred to the qnaliCtj of the 



