AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



181 



ested in hearing every word of practical 

 bee-talk that occurred. 



Condense as much as you like, so long 

 as you leave everything clearly under- 

 stood, but please give us in print only 

 that which will be of interest to those 

 outside of the society, and you will find, 

 as a general rule, that that includes 

 very little more than the discussions. 



BEES STARVING ON POLLEN. 



I was just a little surprised to find the 

 answerers on page 822 (1892) so unani- 

 mous in the opinion that bees could not 

 live on pollen alone. The general ver- 

 dict seemed to be that of Mrs. Atchley, 

 that "They will live just about long 

 enough to starve to death." 



Two of the number were of the opin- 

 ion that when bees are confined to a 

 pollen diet they die because pollen 

 makes them sick. There may be cases 

 where this is true, and for aught I know 

 it may be true generally, but I am very 

 sure there are cases where bees finish 

 up their honey in the winter, and then 

 starve with plenty of pollen inside the 

 cluster, and yet show no signs of diar- 

 rhea. I have seen more than one case 

 of this kind, with combs and frames all 

 nice and clean. I think it quite likely 

 that when bees die from starvation after 

 a long confinement, they will suffer from 

 diarrhea, whereas if they had less honey 

 and died earlier there might be no dis- 

 ease. 



AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY (?). 



On page 825 (1892), C. J. Robinson 

 says : " The notion that a virgin queen 

 receives from a drone into her ' sac ' suf- 

 ficient spermatic fluid to impregnate her 

 worker-eggs during an existence of six 

 or more years, is the sum of»ignorance." 

 As this " sum of ignorance " is to be 

 found generally among bee-writers and 

 authors, barring the unusual age given 

 to the queen, it would be interesting to 

 know by what means Mr. Robinson ob- 

 tained his light. 



"APICULTURAL LITERARIAN8. " 



Referring to the article of Mr. Clarke, 

 on page 827 (1892), I wonder if it is 

 not possible that he and Mr. Heddon are 

 looking on dilSferent sides of the same 

 shield. There are some things con- 

 nected with bee-keeping in which I 

 would give much more for the views of 

 a man who kept 100 colonies, than of 

 one who kept only one. On the other 

 hand, there are things as to which the 

 views of a man who had only a single 

 colony would be worth just as much, or 

 more, than if he kept a thousand. 



If Capt. Hetherington were in the 

 presence of some of the scientists who 

 have with great painstaking found out 

 all about the internal structure of the 

 bee, he might stand in open-mouthed 

 wonder, and feel that he knew very little 

 about bees ; but if one of those same 

 scientists wanted to get a big crop of 

 honey, he might be glad of the Captain's 

 advice. 



Even in every-day, practical matters, 

 the close observation of the man with a 

 few colonies is hardly possible for the 

 man who is kept on the keen jump to 

 get through the work of his hundreds. 

 But on either side, there may be such a 

 thing as saying a good deal without 

 knowing much — as he that " darkeneth 

 counsel by words without knowledge." 



Marengo, Ills. 



" That Bee Witli tlie Glands "- 

 A Challengfe. 



Written for the American Bee Jowmal 

 BY DR. J. W. M'KINNEY. 



On page 861 of the Bee Journal for 

 Dec. 29, 1892, also on pages 19 and 20 

 of the current volume, the strange and 

 positive statement is made to the effect 

 that "bees can make honey out of cane- 

 sugar that cannot be told from honey." 

 It is absolutely surprising to find men, 

 claiming to be men of science, make such 

 glaringly absurd statements as are here 

 referred to. 



As the publisher of the Bee Journal, 

 perhaps judiciously, has seen fit to in- 

 terdict the discussion of the "sugar- 

 honey " question through its columns, I 

 would ask permission to make a few 

 plain statements in regard to this mat- 

 ter. 



1. That cane-sugar cannot be con- 

 verted into honey by bees. 



2. That honey as gathered from the 

 nectaries of flowers by bees contains, in 

 addition to saccharine matter, a muci- 

 l^ginous substance, together with an 

 aroma and flavor not present in cane- 

 sugar, nor in the syrup made from it. 



3. That bees cannot supply the muci- 

 lage, etc., of honey to syrup made from 

 pure cane-sugar. 



4. That the acid present in honey and 

 in sugar syrup is a vegetable acid, gen- 

 erated by the action of atmospheric oxy- 

 gen, and not an animal acid, or an acid 

 secreted by the bees. 



These are some of the plain facts per- 

 taining to pure honey and sugar syrup ; 

 and as Prof. Cook has made the positive 



