1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



57 



loose the power of drinking up the moisture, 

 and thus prevent the bees from obtaining the 

 needed moisture for dissolving their sugared 

 honey. I have also a third remedy. When 

 there is candied honey in the hive, take four 

 pounds of flour mix one ounce of tartaric acid 

 ■with it and permit this mass to boil for two 

 hours on the fire, then remove it and pour into, 

 stirring the mixture at the same time, two to 

 two and a half ounces of prepared chalk which 

 has previously been dissolved in water. The 

 sugar through the boiling with tartaric acid 

 loses its power to crystalize. This surrogate I 

 have always fed my bees upon during the con- 

 tinuance of the honey harvest until the_ end of 

 September. It has the advantage that it is car- 

 ried by the bees to their broad combs and is 

 first used. I have found that bees treated in 

 this manner have wintered best. 



Wertzel, of St. Mariex, in Steiermarck, Herr 

 Kuhne spoke very warmly against wooden 

 hives. I am from Steiermarck where great num- 

 bers of straw hives are used, especially in the 

 hilly, cold regions. For ages back immovable 

 comb hives have been used. Such hives I have 

 seen standing along the wall to the number of 

 from 30 to 40 set out. The bees left to them- 

 selves winter very well in wooden hives. In my 

 neighborhood, near the Gleiehenburg Baths, 

 until recently straw hives were alone used; I was 

 the first to introduce the Dzierzon hives. From 

 that time forward it has not been unusual to 

 meet with apiaries of 10, 20 and 30 Dzierzon 

 hives, in which the bees have wintered very 

 well, 'and the straw hives are constantly disap- 

 pearing, and no one complains that the bees 

 have not wintered just as naturally in these 

 Dzierzon hives as in the others. The combs in 

 the hives must have the needed supplies, the 

 hive must be warmly surrounded, and then the 

 wood will be just as good as the straw, letting 

 out of view many other advantages. Of this 

 any one can convince himself by visiting our 

 neighborhood. 



[the end.] 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Adair. 



Mr. Editor. — I am sorry that my venerable 

 friend, Mr. Chas. Dadant and his estimable 

 son, should have taken offense at anything that 

 I said in my communication in your April and 

 May numbers, for I meant no reflection on Mr. 

 D., nor did I think my language could be so 

 construed. 



It was unfortunate that the resolution of 

 thanks to the Italian Bee Company was intro- 

 duced by Mr. King, who was associated with 

 one of the company in the editing of a bee 

 journal ; and, the remarks I referred to as having 

 heard, I supposed were based on that fact, and 

 not upon any known connection with Mr. D., 



who I never heard spoken of by any one except 

 in the highest terms. Mr. D. is assured that I 

 have no doubt of the truth of his statements 

 about his connection with the importation, nor 

 do I wish to be understood as deprecating hia 

 efforts ; for while I think he is wrong in his 

 notions about further importations in an indis- 

 criminate manner, which is necessarily the case 

 when large importations are made. I have never 

 doubted his sincerity and honor, and I am 

 firmly of opinion that his labors in his own 

 apiary, in judicious selections and cultivation 

 of the bees already there, for the two years he 

 will have spent in Italy would be of more 

 benefit that all the bees he will import. 



I will not take up your space in repeating 

 what I wrote in those two articles. The facts 

 stated are not on my authority, but mostly quo- 

 tations from Mr. D.'s own statements, and if the 

 reputation of the Italian bee is injured he has 

 contributed more to do it than I have. But I 

 will take a little space to notice the following 

 paragraph from Mr. D.'s article in your May 

 number. 



" As to the importation of more bees to the 

 United States, according to Mr. Adair, it is 

 useless, if not injurious. But he would be 

 greatly embarrassed if I asked him why '?" 



Now this is not a fail' statement. I did not 

 object to the "importation of more bees," but 

 to a wholesale, indiscriminate importation. Such 

 I do consider useless, for what is the necessity 

 for going to the trouble and expense unless we 

 are getting something better than we already 

 have ? As to the evils of " in-and-in " breeding 

 I am of opinion that Mr. D. " would he greatly 

 embarrassed'''' if he undertook to prove that 

 " every observing bee-keeper had noticed the 

 inconvenience of consanguinity ;" but I will not 

 difccuss that subject now, except to say that the 

 most observing breeders of all varieties of 

 animals, find that there is nothing in it — but, 

 upon the contrary, it is upon that practice alone 

 that desirable improvements can be secured, 

 and is only injurious when it perpetuates and 

 intensifies some physical or organic defect. But 

 he italicizes " if not injurious.'" I feel no great 

 embarrassment in pointing out wherein it may 

 be injurious, although I did not so state in my 

 communication. 



From the first settling of America, until the 

 beginning of this century, we have the best of 

 evidence that the honey-bee was free from dis- 

 ease and parasitic insect enemies. Since then 

 we have imported both, viz.: foul-brood and the 

 motli, if not something worse than either; I 

 mean the "bee-disease," so-called, or bee-cholera, 

 that has been so destructive of late years in the 

 Northern and Western States. 



The honey-bee is — in Europe — afllicted by a 

 number of insect parasites, and parasite fungi, 

 which have not as yet been introduced into this 

 country, and I should consider it very injurious 

 should any more of them be imported. That 



