1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



205 



some excellen-t works on botany, as- 

 serts, in L'Apicultcur of February, 

 page 50, tliat before sealing the cell, 

 the bees "put into it with their sting a 

 drop of venom; for this liquid, coming 

 from their poison bag, has for its 

 principal purpose the preservation of 

 the honey." Years ago, the Rev, \V. 

 F. Clarke, for a short time editor of 

 the American ]'uc Journal, held the 

 same view. 



As t'O the truth in these statements, 

 we can only give an opinion, which is 

 decidedly negative of these beliefs. It 

 is quite probable that those state- 

 ments are based upon the fact that 

 nectar undergoes a change in the 

 stomach of the bee; a certain amount 

 of an acid, probably produced by the 

 saliva of the bee, being found in the 

 honey, while it does not exist in the 

 nectar of flowers. Every now and 

 then, some new-fangled theory, more 

 or less absurd, springs up. Very few 

 of these theories stand the light of 

 discussion and experience. — C. P. D. 



How Much a Colony of Bees Con- 

 sumes in a Year 



From L'Apicoltore of March, 1920 

 The causes of consumption by a 

 swarm are the following: First, keep- 

 ing up the life and activity of the 

 bees, in the hive and out of it. Sec- 

 ond, feeding of the brood. Third, se- 

 cretion of beeswax. Fourth, feeding 

 the drones. The daily consumption of 

 a bee varies between gram. 0.003 and 

 gram. 0.12, with an average of gram. 

 0.03, according to 'the circumstances 

 in which it finds itself. 



The entire amount of food con- 

 sumed by a larva of worker during the 

 entire period of its development is 

 around gram. 0.40; the daily consump- 

 tion of a drone varies between gram. 

 0.04 and 0.05. Thus we may be able to 

 determine the total consumption of 

 a swarm of bees, for its ordinary 

 needs, during the course of, a year 

 taking as a basis a strong colony in a 

 large frame hive, in a country where 

 plants offer a great, single flowering. 



for a month, and we will summarize 

 as follows the diverse phases of their 

 activity and consumption. 



To figure up the consumption of the 

 drones, we will admit that in a good 

 swarm there are about 1,500 of them, 

 the length of their life being, on the 

 average of about two months, divided 

 into two or more periods, separated 

 by intervals during which there are 

 no drones. Accepting the consump- 

 tion figure of 30 grams per 1,000 

 drones, we find that the 1,500 con- 

 sume, in the two months, kilos 2.7. 

 In thus figuring, we reach, in round 

 figures, 560 kilos, for the maintaining 

 of the swarm in the different phases 

 of its activity. This quantitj' does not 

 represent ripe honey, such as we har- 

 vest from the hives, but nectar, con- 

 taining between 75 and 80 per cent of 

 water, or representing about 182 kilos 

 of honey. 



To this food, necessary to the sus- 

 tenance of the swarm, we must add 

 what is needed for the brood. A larva 

 needs for its growth and transforma- 

 tions, a minimum of gram. 0.40 of food, 

 and a colony renews its population at 

 least four times during the year. This 

 renewal does not, probably, reach a 

 maximum of 80,000. Let us admit that 

 it is on an average of 60,000. This rep- 

 resents 240,000 larvae reared at a cost 

 of kilos. 96, of a food composed, for 

 a third each, of water, pollen and 

 honey, or 32 kilos, of honey. 



There remains yet to be figured the 

 secretion of beeswax. With the sys- 

 tem of movable frames, we return to 

 the bees their entire combs after hav- 

 ing extracted the honey, or we may 

 give the bees sheets of comb founda- 

 tion; but according to De Layens, this 

 I's not the best system, and it is 

 thought preferable to let the bees 

 build about 5 combs of 12 square deci- 

 meters each, containing in all 660 

 grams. This wax is produced eco- 

 nomically and the apiarist will not see 

 it diminish his harvest ; however, it 

 requires a certain amount of food 

 which we may figure at 4 kilos. 

 Adding ihe amounts, we find. 



To sustain the bees 182 kilos 400 lbs. 

 To feed the brood .. 3Z kilos 70 lbs. 

 To produce wax 4 kilos 9 lbs. 



Total 218 kilos 479 lbs. 



Translated by C. P. Dadant. 



(VVe had supposed that the bees re- 

 quire more honey to rear brood than 

 to sustain the colony. It is a well- 

 known fact that the bees will consume 

 more stores in a few weeks of brood 

 rearing in early spring than are used 

 to carry the colony through the en- 

 tire winter. Let some of our research 

 men at >the colleges look into this mat- 

 ter.— F. C. P.) 



Maine Beemen Meet 



The beekeepers uf Maine held their 

 Convention at the college of Agricul- 

 ture at Orono in connection with the 

 general farmers' week, on March 24. 

 H. W. Matthews, F. L. Mason and 

 O. B. Griffith were the principal speak- 

 ers. 



Binding the Journal 



Mr. Hcrschell Felton, of Millers- 

 burg, 111., suggests a way to bind the 

 American Bee Journal together, 

 which he finds in the "Pathfinder." 

 We condense the more important 

 part 'of it as follows: 



Cut two strips of either tin or 

 cardboard about a half inch wide 

 and of the height of the Journal 

 pages. Punch a hole at top and bot- 

 tom in each of these, as well as in 

 the edge of the Journal, a quarter 

 inch or so from the back. The holes 

 must be as nearly opposite as possi- 

 ble. Then pass a shoe string through 

 llicse and tie it. A shoe string is 

 best, as it is more easy to pass it 

 through the holes. The Pathfinder 

 method is a trifle more complicated, 

 but this is sufticient. 



A Good Report 



Edgar G. Brown, of Sergeant Bluft, 

 Iowa, reports that from 856 colonies 

 which went into winter quarters last 

 fall in his six yards he took out a 

 total of 847 colonies alive this spring. 

 Several queens were failing, and he 

 anticipated uniting a number of weak 

 colonies. However, he estimated that 

 after all necessary uniting was done 

 he would still have more than 800 

 colonies ready for the harvest. This 

 is a very good showing and argues 

 well for cellar wintering in northern 

 Iowa. 



Heavy Losses in the West 



L. P. Peterson, of Vale, Ore., writes 

 us that the winter loss in portions of 

 western Idaho and eastern Oregon 

 will amount to 30 to 40 per cent. He 

 states that about 10 per cent of the 

 btes died during winter, but that the 

 cold and l)ackward spring was fatal to 

 the weak colonies to such an extent 

 as to bring the losses to the higher 

 figure. On April 22 the weather was 

 still too cold for brood-rearing to 

 progress favorably, and the outlook 

 for the season he regarded as gloomy. 



Night Conventions 



The series of night meetings of 

 the Maryland State Beekeepers' Asso- 



