AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



581 



That Case of Bee-Diarrhea aud 

 Supposed Cause. 



Written Sor the American Bee Journal 

 BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Here is a letter from Austin Reynolds, 

 of Cataract, Wis., in which he gives the 

 sequel to the case reported on page 

 339: 



"As you requested, I will now let you 

 know how my bees came out. On March 

 7th, the mercury stood 43° in the shade, 

 with no wind stirring, and the sun shin- 

 ing. I scattered oat-straw and chaff on 

 about one-eighth of an acre, and got a 

 man to help me bring the bees out. I 

 took a clean bottom-board, exchanged it 

 for the dirty one of the first hive, then 

 scraped and washed this last for the 

 next hive, and so on through the whole 

 lot, 13 in number. It was a sight to see 

 the bees empty themselves ; but one bet- 

 ter stand from under. I don't think 

 there was a space of one foot square in 

 three rods around but what had more 

 or less spots on it, and but very few bees 

 failed to return to the hives. They would 

 alight on the straw and soon rise and fly 

 back to the hives. 



" At sundown, they having become 

 quiet, I returned them to the cellar, and 

 if they became restless afterwards I 

 would open the outside cellar-door at 

 night, and twice I wet cloths and laid at 

 the entrance of the hives to give them a 

 drink, which seemed to quiet them. On 

 April 3rd I took them out of the cellar, 

 and placed them on the summer stands, 

 every colony being dry and healthy as 

 ever, as far as I can see. They had not 

 spotted their hives since their flight, and 

 are now, April 10th, bringing in pollen 

 in small quantities, and the trough 

 where I water them is covered with 

 bees. 



" On page 439 of the American Bee 

 Journal, R. H. Humphries says he 

 thinks it was dampness that caused my 

 bees to be diseased. I think he is wrong, 

 as I have a very dry cellar, and I had 

 a bushel of lime in it, and a two-inch 

 pipe running from the cellar and con- 

 nected with the stove-pipe above. I lay 

 the trouble to the way the bees were 

 handled when putting them into the 

 cellar. The man who helped me was 

 careless, and hit the hives against the 

 cellar stairs, and the bees must have 

 filled themselves without a chance to fly 

 afterwards, hence the trouble. 



Austin Reynolds." 



successful cleansing flight with the 

 thermometer at 43° — a lower tempera- 

 ture than is generally considered desir- 

 able, but the bright, still day helped 

 much. 



I think Mrs. Atchley can see in this 

 case a decided advantage in having 

 loose-bottoms that could be easily 

 cleaned. 



In this case, at least, the bees stood 

 confinement all right after their flight, 

 which has not seemed to be always the 

 case. Just why, I don't know, for the- 

 oretically one would think that a flight 

 would help bees in the cellar as much as 

 those on the summer stands. 



While Mr. Humphries may be right in 

 thinking that the fatal cases of which 

 he speaks, on page 439, were caused by 

 dampness, that hardly justifies the con- 

 clusion that a flight would do no good in 

 such cases. I venture the assertion that 

 if the bees of which Mr. Humphries 

 speaks could have had a flight in time, 

 they might have been saved. At any 

 rate it seems to be one of the things 

 upon which all experienced bee-keepers 

 are agreed, that from whatever cause 

 diarrhea may arise, a cleansing flight is 

 always a cure. I do not remember that 

 I ever heard any one but Mr. Humphries 

 express a dissenting opinion. 



It is possible that Mr. Reynolds is cor- 

 rect in his supposition, that jarring the 

 bees on carrying them into the cellar 

 was the cause of the trouble, but I have 

 doubts about it. In several cases I have 

 known colonies to have their hives 

 knocked, not only once but many times, 

 while in the cellar, and still come out all 

 right, so that I do not fear that kind of 

 disturbance as much as formerly. 



Marengo, 111., April 10, 1893. 



< ■ m 



Bee-Keeping in Oklahoma Ter. 

 ritory, Etc. 



Written lor the Ameirican Bee Journal 



BY JAMES A. MARSH. 



There are some points of interest con- 

 nected with this case. The bees had a 



Spring is coming — is right here, and 

 with it the bee-fever. About a year ago 

 I left my home, family and bees in Mis- 

 souri to seek a home in this country, 

 now a part of Oklahoma Territory. 



Well, I am here. My home is here. 

 My family are here, and I also have one, 

 and the only, colony of bees in this part 

 of the Territory. 



I will not waste this opportunity for 

 proving a few disputed points concern- 

 ing bees which could not be proved 

 where bees are plentiful, or at least 



