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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



not only became populous, but that an extraordi- 

 nary saving of honey was thereby effected. 

 When I commenced feeding meal, my hives 

 contained but little honey, the year 1856 having 

 been an extremely poor one, and I calculated 

 on having to furnish at least 300 or 400 pounds 

 of sugar candy to sustain the bees. But thence- 

 forward their stores of honey decreased very 

 slowly, and I found that only eleven pounds of 

 candy were needed." 



We have had no opportunity ourselves to in- 

 vestigate these matters, because our bees al- 

 ways procure pollen from natural sources so 

 early in the spring as to render meal feeding 

 unnecessary. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



That Bee Disease— Wintering Bses. 



Mr. Editor ; — It may be gratifying to the 

 readers of your Journal, to hear of one place 

 where bees are not dying off, or taking wing by 

 night for parts unknown (not as they did in 

 Kentucky, but) as they did in the Louisville 

 Democrat. 



The season of 1868 was by no means a favor- 

 ble one for bees in this section. In fact, it ap- 

 pears to be admitted from all parts of the coun- 

 try, that the spring and summer of 1868 were 

 remarkable for the small amount of honey se- 

 creted in the flowers. Yet in this locality 

 (Western Pennsylvania) we were able to secure 

 some surplus honey and a moderate increase of 

 colonies. This is true of the Italians — the 

 blacks not doing so well. And what I wish to 

 say is, our bees are not dying off. About the 

 1st of December I put one hundred and nine 

 Italian colonies into winter quarters (a cheap 

 structure built for the purpose); and on the 12th 

 and 13th of February I replaced them on their 

 summer stands. The 13th being a very tine day, 

 with the mercury at from 60° to 65° F., they 

 improved the occasion for a "good airing." 

 The weather then becoming cold, I returned 

 them again to their winter quarters, where they 

 can pass in comfort this cold weather — the mer- 

 cury at this date (March 5) falling to 8° below 

 zero. I have not lost a swarm, and do not ex- 

 pect to lose any. 



I have had some experience in managing bees 

 in this locality, and have never known a case of 

 foulbrood, or a stock of bees to die of disease, 

 but have known veiy many to die of famine. 



I had the privilege of examining the bees in one 

 locality in Indiana last October, and while I 

 could detect no indication of disease, I found a 

 great destitution of stores — some swarms still 

 alive, but not an ounce of honey in their hive. 

 The stocks and swarms were very much reduced 

 in number, caused, I have no doubt, by neces- 

 sity compelling them to forage, and flying to 

 great distances, as well as entering many for- 

 bidden places, such as cellars, kitchens, grocer- 

 ies, and returning no more. Also, by going 



forth when the weather was too cold for them 

 to return. I have often observed my bees, 

 during cool and cloudy days, when the buck- 

 wheat Avas in blossom, become chilled and drop 

 by thousands on the sidewalks, fences, standing 

 corn, leaves of trees, and in fact anywhere they 

 chanced to alight, and their return would de- 

 pend altogether upon the sun shining out during 

 the day sufficient to warm them into activity. 



And now, Mr. Editor, I wish to say in con- 

 clusion that, should you ever conclude to brush 

 off the dust of the editorial sanctum and sally 

 forth to rusticate in the country (which you 

 ought to do — who seconds the motion ?) there 

 is one little village nestling among the hills of 

 Western Pennsylvania, in the beautiful valley of 

 the Brokenstraw, on the line of the P. and E. R. 

 R, where you may be sure of finding at least 

 one latch-string out, around whose door the in- 

 defatigable Italians (with yellow tapering ab- 

 domens) are plying the busy wing in bringing 

 in the nectar from hill and vale, through all the 

 bright days of spring and summer. 



Long live the American Bee Journal! 



W. J. Davis. 



YOUNGSVILLE, Pa. 



[For tbe American Bee Journal ] 



About that Bee Disease. 



I concur with the editor of the Bee Journal 

 that the disease is not likely to have been caused 

 by the want of bee-bread. If want of bee- 

 bread would cause it, my home apiary would 

 have been destroyed before this time. 



A careful examination of a number of colon- 

 ies, a year ago last fall, disclosed the fact that 

 my bees had not stored bee-bread of any ac- 

 count. The greater number of stocks had either 

 none, or not over a few dozen cells of it. And 

 this year all those colonies that continued breed- 

 ing uninterruptedly to the end of the season, have 

 not a particle of bee-bread. Yet they appear 

 perfectly healthy up to this time — just as healthy 

 as at any other season before ; but they have 

 not commenced breeding yet, while stocks in 

 my southern apiary, with plenty of bee-bread, 

 have brood in all stages. In the month of 

 March, last year, none of the stocks in my home 

 apiary had moic than a hand's breadth of brood, 

 yet remained perfectly healthy. 



But I once noticed something very similar to 

 the reported bee disease. At the beginning of 

 the month of October, 1861, my bees appeared 

 to be very busily at work on something, coming 

 back heavy laden — though I did not find out 

 from what they were gathering. On the 15th of 

 the month, I carried those bees into my house 

 cellar, which is a good deal warmer than my 

 present wintering cellar. A week later I went 

 clown to examine whether they had quieted 

 down, when, to my hoiror, I found the bottom 

 of the cellar thickly strown with dead bees ; 

 and I heard and saw others continually coming 

 out of the hive and fly off. I remarked to my 

 wife that if the bees continued to die as fast as 

 during the week just past, I would not have a 

 hive left in two weeks. These bees appeared 



