AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



627 



— I gave the bees up as lost ; but, to my 

 surprise, they came through the ordeal 

 unscathed. A large number of colonies 

 in my yard are in hives that have 20 

 Langstroth frames, and these are as 

 safe and lively as the rest. I have often 

 observed that my bees winter best in 

 roomy hives. 



During the extremely cold vi^eather 

 here the ground was protected with 

 from 6 to 10 inches of snow, and all bee- 

 forage is in safe condition, as the 

 weather has been moderate since the 

 snow melted away. The prospects are 

 fairly good for the 1893 honey crop. 



BEE-PAKALYSIS — IS IT A DISEASE ? 



I think not. My attention was called 

 to this trouble with bees, in the latter 

 part of the summer of 1883. Since 

 that time I have watched its course and 

 progress, and I am satisfied it is not a 

 disease, but is caused by a vegetable 

 (nectar) poison. I have never seen its 

 effect at any time when bees were gath- 

 ering nectar from the staple honey- 

 plants. 



I have seen no signs of the so-called 

 disease at any other time than in the 

 early spring and in the late summer. At 

 these times bees may gather both nectar 

 and pollen of such doubtful wholesome- 

 ness, that they would not touch it when 

 the locust, white clover and linden are 

 supplying their wants. The simple fact 

 that the trouble occurs only at such 

 periods of the season makes it look very 

 suspicious that vegetable poison is at 

 the bottom of the trouble. Nectar in 

 flowers, secreted in hot, dry weather, is 

 more than usually concentrated and 

 strong, by reason of rapid evaporation, 

 and when poisonous weeds tempt the 

 bees at such times, it is not at all strange 

 that they may find " death in the pot." 

 It is no uncommon thing to find bees in 

 a state of stupor on certain wild flowers, 

 no doubt the result of nectar poison. 



If I am correct in my views, the prac- 

 tical way to deal with the trouble is to 

 feed sweetened water, as much as the 

 affected colony will take. This will 

 allure the bees from the source of dan- 

 ger, and help to dilute the unwholesome 

 nectar, and make it less dangerous to 

 the bees. 



I have spent considerable time among 

 wild flowers and the working bees in the 

 early spring and late summer and fall, 

 and I have found no inconsiderable num- 

 ber of bees on the wild flowers in a state 

 of stupor, as if under the influence of an 

 opiate. I have often picked up the 

 opium-affected bees, placed them on my 

 hand, and observed the well-described 



paralytic symptoms. Nothing of this 

 sort has ever attracted my attention 

 when beps were at work on the clovers 

 and other standard flowers. 



I once thought that the time of year 

 had something to do with the manner in 

 which bees fall like leaden bullets in 

 front of the hives in spring, late summer 

 and fall, both in warm as well as in cool 

 weather ; but I do not think so now. 

 Since I have never seen anything like it 

 when the bees were working under the 

 greatest strain, in warm as well as in 

 cool weather, in a time of a rapid flow 

 In white clover harvest, I think it most 

 probable that soporiferous nectar being 

 handled by them causes them to tumble 

 so clumsily. 



IS THERE POISONOUS NECTAR? 



The question is often asked if some 

 plants and trees do not yield poisonous 

 nectar. I think it is safe to say that 

 none do habitually. But I am quite 

 sure that certain conditions of weather, 

 plant health, or some unknown causes, 

 do often affect more or less the nectar of 

 some plants and trees. 



Honey is not a simple sugar, in fact, or 

 inverted. Nectar is a secretion from the 

 crude juices of plants, highly refined, 

 and often nearly, if not fully, evapor- 

 ated, and sugar inverted by normal fer- 

 mentation, before it is gathered by the 

 bees. In view of these facts, and what 

 we know about animal and vegetable 

 circulation, it is not difficult to see how 

 that sometimes irregularities may be in- 

 duced, which may and do, under certain 

 circumstances, divert unwholesome 

 qualities of the crude juices into the 

 flow of nectar. But these causes have 

 always existed, and I have no fears that 

 they will be worse. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



Description of the Langdon IVon- 

 Swariiiins: Device. 



Written for " In^^ect Life,'' Vol. V., JVo. 4, 

 BY FRANK BENTON. 



Complete control of natural swarming 

 has long been regarded by apiarists as 

 one of the most desirable points to ac- 

 complish in connection with their pur- 

 suit. Yet, up to the present time, not- 

 withstanding the improvements which 

 modern ideas in apiculture have sug- 

 gested in this direction, they have had 

 to admit it one of the most puzzling with 

 which they have had to do. 



The advantages in being able to sup- 



