1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



375 



It was in December before I got these put in, and 

 only a few days before our steady cold weather be- 

 gan, and I think it was cold— 37° below zero. I wish 

 I knew just what the bees in each of these 14 stocks 

 didweig-h; but I do not think one-half ot them had 

 more than one pound of bees each, and not one of 

 the lot that had more than 2 lbs. Of course, each 

 one had a queen. During the cold weather I was 

 frequently asked, had my bees stood it, and I would 

 say that I expected to find quite a lot of them dead. 

 I grew somewhat anxious; so one day when it was 

 not quite so sharp, I raised the lids of one package, 

 then one corner of the quilt. Buzz-z-z-z! Down 

 went the quilt; down went the lids; they were yet 

 alive. 



Aboutthe20th of January I could discover that the 

 bees in the regular hives began to need a flight ; by the 

 25th the situation was getting critical. Dysentery 

 was developing badly; in some cases the bees were 

 leaving their cluster, and dying. I was growing- 

 anxious for a warm day, and it came just in the 

 nick of time. The 31st of January was clear, bright, 

 and warm, and the bees improved it, for all in the 

 regular hives flew freely from 10 to about 2 o'clock, 

 at which time they had nearly all stopped, but not 

 quite. 



I had several times passed through the apiary, and 

 up to this time the little stocks in the compartment 

 hives had not shown themselves much, only one or 

 two flying at all; but being anxious that they should, 

 I opened both lids out flat, and took oft' the cushions, 

 which were of white cloth—noto this— and dropped 

 them in the lids, then turned up a corner of each 

 quilt or cloth, and left them so that, in half an hour, 

 I looked out, and my first impi-ession was that they 

 were robbing, for there was such a swarm of bees 

 flying there; but on getting nearer I saw that all 

 was i-ight. An hour later and all was (juiet. 

 I then went round and looked at every hive 

 in the apiary, and every one of the 45 had the 

 siiottings of dysentery, pure and simple, if I know 

 what dysentery is, and I ought to, having lost over 

 100 colonies in former years. Lastly I came to the 

 nucleus stocks, and I got right down close, and 

 looked sharp, and especially on the white cushions, 

 and found two spots on one, and only one on the 

 other. Then I could swing my hat and shout, 

 "Eureka! eui-eka! I have found it! Ihavefound it!" 

 Thetruecauseof the dread disease, dysentery, is pol- 

 len ! The 14 were all di-y, healthy, and as lively as one 

 could wish for, and are to-day. May 13th, all building 

 upasfastas can be expected. The 45 in regular hives 

 were not troubled any more with diarrhoea after that 

 cleansing flight of January 31st. All have lived 

 through, but some are quite weak. 



The above facts clearly prove to my mind that 

 pollen is the prime cause of diarrhoea, for 45 stocks 

 that had pollen all had it, and 14 that had no pollen 

 had no disease, as I fully believe that the three 

 spots found were dropped by bees from some other 

 hives as they were flying over. But, hold on; you 

 will ask what those seven little stocks lived on that 

 had no stores. Why, I just raised the lids and put 

 about half a pound of pure extracted honey, ca)idial 

 hard, right on the frames over the bees about twice 

 a month, and that is all. A. A. Fradenburg. 



Port Washington, O., May 13, 1884, 



Many thanks, friend E., for your very care- 

 ful experiment in tliis matter. I am also 

 glad to know that candied honey laid on top 

 of the frames is a safe way of feeding for 



winter. If V)ees fed in this way come through 

 healthy, and without any trace of dysentery, 

 simply by giving them (''oml)s to winter oil, 

 entirely free from pollen, it is certainly cjuite 

 an important matter. We have had" many 

 reports before, demonstrating that bees 

 would winter entirely witliout pollen, but 

 you have shown us that nuclei without sealed 

 stores came through in better condition tlian 

 even full stocks prepared in the usual way 

 with natural stores. If this can be done 

 every time, it would be quite an important 

 matter, because it enables us to winter over 

 valuable queens witliout being obliged to 

 take a full colony for each. Had you given 

 one of these nuclei, or several others sim- 

 ilarly prepared, combs well filled with pollen 

 as well as honey, the experiment would have 

 been still more conclusive. 



A MODEL BEE-KEEPERS' CONVEN- 

 TION. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NORTH - WESTERN OHIO BEE- 

 KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



WHE association met at the i-esidence of S. H. 

 Bolton, in Hancock Co., O., according to ad- 

 jouruuuMit, on Fi-iday, May 9, 1884. The day 

 was all that the most sanguine could wish 

 tor; the attendance good, and a very en- 

 thusiastic and interesting meeting was the result. 



The president, Jacob Guisinger, called the meet- 

 ing to oi'der shortly after 9 o'clock A. M. ; and as 

 the meeting Avas for practical work in the apiary, 

 the committee on programme announced the follow- 

 ing as the order of business: 



Transferring of bees; the first hive to be trans- 

 ferred by Frank Eaton, of Bluff ton ; the second by 

 the president; and the third by any one wishing to 

 try his hand at the business. 



The forming of nuclei. 



The introduction of (lueens. 



Those present then adjourned to the apiary (which, 

 by the way, is a very nice one, containing 52 colonies, 

 situated on a green lawn facing to the southward) 

 for work, or most of us to see how work could bo 

 done. Mr. Eaton being absent, the first work fell 

 on Mr. Guisinger, who, with the necessary imple- 

 ments for such work, attacked an old-fashioned box 

 hive of huge dimensions, and in an incredibly short 

 time had the bees and such of the comb as was fit, 

 encased in two hives of the latest improvement. 

 The little bees were somewhat confused at first, but 

 soon went to work fixing up for house-keeping in 

 their new home, which they will undoubtedly enjoy 

 better than they did their old one. 



Mr. Eaton having arrived, he went to work to try 

 his hand on (with the exception of a top and bottom, 

 and a few sticks placed crosswise) " nature's own 

 hive," an old linn gum, and in a very masterly way 

 accomplished the work assigned him. This com- 

 pleted, the association adjoui'ued for dinner. 



Just at this time quite a cluster of bees was no- 

 ticed on the body of a large cherry-tree, which at- 

 tracted the attention of all present. On examina- 

 tion it was found to consist of worker-bees heavily 

 laden, and others still alighting, and seeming as con- 

 tented as if in their hive; the topic of discussion 

 now was, " What attracted the bees to this place'?" 



After partaking of a bounteous dinner, pi-epared 

 for the occasion by the " b(!tter halves" of sirs Bolton 



