1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



107 



Allegan, speaking at length on his experience in 

 queen raising. 



Succeeding this the association dissolved until 

 7.30 p.m. 



Wednesday Evening Meeting. 



Kalamazoo, September 9, 1872. 

 At the Bee-keepers' Convention this evening 

 the secretary announced the subject of the 

 evening's meeting for discussion to be "The 

 Mortality among Bees during the Winter of 

 1871." 



DYSENTERY IN BEES. 



Before the discussion began, Mr. J. W. Por- 

 ter, the secretary, read a letter upon this topic 

 from Dr. G. Bohrer, of Alexandria, Ind., a copy 

 of which we herewith print : 



To the officers and members of the State Beekeep- 

 ers Association. 



Gentlemen : — At the request of your secretary I 

 would submit the following, in regard to the preva- 

 lance of dysentery among bees during the past win- 

 ter. The general causes giving rise to this affection 

 among bees are sufficiently well understood by a 

 large majority of apiarians, to render it unnecessary 

 for me to give a description of them at this time, 

 farther than to mention them in detail, if required, in 

 demonstrating ordiuary causes from which this mal- 

 ady are known to spring, had but little if anything to 

 do with its origin among bees during the past winter 

 in the United States and Canada ; for it. is well known 

 that thousands of colonies, populous in numbers, 

 well supplied with honey and in good winter quar- 

 ters, perished despite every effort that could be 

 brought to bear by the most experienced, most skil- 

 ful and most industrious beekeepers of the country. 



I am fully aware that it has been asserted by some 

 that the recent great mortality among bees was due 

 to the carelessness on the part of the beekeeper in 

 not putting them into winter quarters at the proper 

 season and in a proper manner. But inasmuch as I 

 have conversed and corresponded with many relative 

 to this matter, who have formerly been not only very 

 attentive to the wants of their bees, but had also 

 been eminently successful in wintering them, I think 

 I have good grouuds furnished me for concluding 

 that such statements are (to use a new expression) 

 simply too thin. Others have been disposed to attri- 

 bute it to the extraordinary severity of the winter ; 

 but when we come to consider that the mercury often 

 sinks lower in Canada than it did in this part of In- 

 diana during last winter, and that bees nevertheless 

 winter well even on the summer stand in that coun- 

 try, without any other protection than that furnished 

 by the hive, we are at once lost in attempting to ac- 

 count for the late ravage of this disease in this way, 

 as bees perished here, and even as far south as Ten- 

 nessee, in large numbers. True, the apiaries in 

 southern districts were not as nearly depopulated as 

 they were here and in other districts of the North. 

 But the inhabitants of each colony were reduced in 

 numbers much below what they commonly have been, 

 thus proving two things, first, that there was from 

 some cause more than ordinary predisposition to 

 dysentery, this being the universal complaint ; and, 

 secondly, that owing to the frequent opportunities 

 afforded bees in Southern climates of flying out and 

 discharging their excrement, this malady proved less 

 fatal there than it did in sections where the excessive 

 cold weather confined them to the hive for periods of 

 time altogether beyond what they could endure in a 



diseased condition. From this standpoint it will be 

 seen that cold weather had but one effect, which was 

 that of rendering dysentery more fatal by confining 

 the bees to the hive. 



It will be out of the question to attribute the origin 

 of this disease to an excess of atmospheric moisture, 

 as it never was known to be dryer than it was last 

 winter throughout the United States. Neither can 

 we come out and occupy the ground that bees were 

 put up into winter quarters without a proper amount 

 of ventilation, for in this particular they fared as usual. 

 But after searching in every quarter for the cause, I 

 find nothing more than has heretofore been common 

 until I came to examine the honey, which last fall 

 presented no external evidence of its unfitness Cor 

 bees to winter upon successfully. But as the time 

 progressed a portion of it granulated an , left a 

 watery substance which run out of the cells, and 

 down upon the bottom board, where it soured in 

 many instances. Just what kind of honey it was I 

 am not fully prepared to say, but as there were no 

 flowers from which bees could collect honey last winter 

 in one section, I suppose it to be honey dew thev were 

 collecting, as they came in heavily loaded every day 

 for a week or more, yet I did not take it upon myself 

 to search for this substance in the forests, and mav 

 have been mistaken, but don't think I was. After I 

 saw it in the condition above described, I almost con- 

 cluded that it was collected from grapes, but as there 

 were not enough grapes in our parts to furnish so 

 much honey, I fell back to honey dew. I have made 

 inquiry of several persons who claimed to be ac- 

 quainted with this substance, and find them laboring 

 under the impression that bees will not winter well 

 when confined to this material as food. I have also 

 learned that honey dew last season was quite com- 

 mon in all sections where dysentery prevailed as an 

 epidemic. If this information be correct, I think we 

 have found out the true cause of this disease as pre- 

 vailed last winter, and would therefore recommend to 

 beekeepers the custom of emptying their combs with 

 the extractor in September, and feeding sugar syrup 

 in all cases where it is known that the hive is stored 

 with honey dew. It will, however, be advisable to 

 make haste slowly by ascertaining, as we go along, 

 whether or not my conjectures are really correct as 

 to honey dew being unfit for bees to subsist on over 

 winter. A few colonies out of a large number set 

 aside will be sufficient to test the matter in auy one 

 apiary- G. Bouker. 



Alexandria, 2fadison County, Indiana. 



DISCUSSION OP THE TOPIC. 



Mr. Bingham, of Allegan, stated that he had 

 found dead bees about his hives during the last 

 winter. The honey produced by these bees was 

 red and not of the best quality. This gentle- 

 man gave it as his opinion that it was owing to 

 the severity of the winter that many of his bees 

 came to die. By using great care he managed 

 to save twenty-nine queens and bees enough to 

 care for them. 



President Rood stated that Prof. Cook wrote 

 him during this mortality of bees asking what 

 he should do to prevent their death. Mr. Rood 

 stated that he advised Prof. Cook to scald the 

 honey and thus free it from acidity. The rem- 

 edy failed of effect. 



Mr. Heddon, of Dowagiac, stated his experi- 

 ence in regard to the mortality of his bees 

 during last winter. Mr. Heddon thinks the 

 cause of death among them was old age. There 

 was no sign of dysentery among his bees. 



