THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



queens, that stopped breeding the first of Sep- 

 tember, commenced breeding quite rapidly in 

 February, during the warm spell; and March 

 turned cold, and continued cold during the 

 entire month, and with us, in a damp cellar, it 

 is the joung bees that grt the dysentery, and 

 not the old ones. Furthermorp, old bees are 

 incapable of digesting pollen, and so are drones. 

 So your drone-laying queen was no illustration 

 whatever. We set our bees out some time in 

 April, and thpy began to breed very rapidly. 

 Sometime in May, ( we did not keep the dates,) 

 our bees were confined to the hive 21 days by 

 cold, damp weather, and stocks that had bred 

 most rapidly, and especially our stocks that had 

 wintered on the summer stands, had large 

 quantities of young bees of the right age to 

 require a purifying flight, and tlity had the 

 dysentery very bad, .-o much so that I was fear- 

 ful of losing some of the stocks. Standing in 

 front of the hives, it could plainly be seen that 

 bee af.er bee would pass out and fly away, never 

 to return. Some stocks dwindled down one- 

 half Our bees were Italians Many stocks of 

 of black bee~ in my vicinity, that were strong 

 in numbers when set out in the spring, dwindled 

 down entirely, and disappeared, leaving, in 

 many cases, both brood and honey. 



On the first day of their flight after their 

 confinement, it was a sitrht to see their dis- 

 ch irges. One person said his bees appeared to 

 have strings from an inch to an inch and a half 

 long attached to their abdomens; mine certainly 

 presented sucli an appearance. Our bees that 

 had the dysenterj in the cellar, were those that 

 hnd raised brood largely in the cellar, and in 

 every case they had cea^^ed breeding a month 

 earlier than common. All Hiose that we kept 

 breeding until the usual time in the f\ill by 

 stimulati(jn, did not commence breeding in the 

 cel'ar, and did not have the dysentery in the 

 cellar. 



Now, "Novice," don't say so much about 

 theory, for we are stating facts; and there is 

 more to this question that we have not yet con- 

 sidered, but will endeavor to do so in another 

 article. Therefore, do not commit yourself 

 just yet on the subject. 



One person lost 20 out of 30 black stocks in 

 May, and those stocks were in good condition 

 to all appearance when set out in April. Another 

 pTson bought o stocks, and sehctedthem from 

 a lot; removed them home, and lost them all in 

 Miiy. But, as tiiere was no room on the ground, 

 and they left the hive in all cases to die. con- 

 Sfqnently tliere were no dead bees seen about 

 the hives. In two cases, under similar circum- 

 stances, in our long experience, we have had 

 bees take the dysentery in the spring after their 

 first flight that we distinctly recollect. 



E. Gallup. 

 Orchard, Mitchell Co., Iowa, Dec. 23, '73. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Items. 



After a late start in the spring bees have 

 done well. In a season like this there 

 seems to be such an abundance of honey that 

 five hundred stocks could be kept to one that 

 is. After fruit blooms are gone the poplar 

 blossom opens; generally about the 15th of 

 May. This lasts about three weeks, and is so 

 rich in honey that the bees will scarcely notice 

 white clover while it lasts. I have seen, on a 

 warm, dewey morning, large drops of honey in 

 the tulip-shaped poplar blossom, so that a bee 

 could load itself two or three times from one 

 flower. 



There were only some twelve or fourteen col- 

 onies left in this township at the close of 

 winter. My own stock was reduced from 

 twenty-three to six; have increased to twenty 

 full, strong colonies, up to this date, June 26. 



I suppose that most all progressive bee 

 keepers who use frame hives, can now get along 

 with spring and summer arrangement, in fact 

 thoroughly understand the tusiness, at least 

 well enough to get just what they want — honey, 

 increase of colonies, or queens. 



But to successfully winter — Ah! there is 

 where the rub comes in. 



Can we not have through the Journal some 

 more definite instructit)n for out-door wintering 

 from men who have had good success the past 

 two winters, and let us have it in time; do not 

 wait till winter is upon us. 

 Yours respectfully, 



Indiana. 



Artificial Pood for Bees. 



A good preparation for feeding bees in the 

 Spring is said to be as follows : Take at the 

 rate of five pounds of refined or white sugar, 

 two gallons of soft water, one tablespoonful of 

 salt, ten grains of cream tartar; put all to- 

 gether, bring to a boil, skim, and when cold, 

 add eight ounces pulverized, slippery elm bark, 

 or fine oat-meal, stir it well, then feed in the 

 hive. 



An enthusiastic apiarian is said to have been 

 stung 1,100 times by bees, but he still has a 

 prejudice in favor of the innocents. 



