1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



179 



at once to protest vigorously against the pass- 

 age of the amendment under conideration. 



Let me urge on the bee-keepers of New York 

 not to put this off, nor assume that somebody 

 else will do it for you. Sit down at once and 

 write your senator and representative, and 

 then you will have done your duty. 



When I was in Colorado I understood that 

 a similar attempt was made to practically kill 

 the spraying law in Colorado ; and it be- 

 hooves the bee-keepers of the different States 

 having such laws to be on the watch, because 

 there is a lot of ignorant fruit-men who are 

 up to just such tactics as this. 



DEAD BEES ON A CEI.I.AR BOTTOM ; HOW 

 MANY CONSTITUTE GOOD OR BAD WIN- 

 TERING. 



Referring to the statement that "75 or 

 100 colonies in a cellar 10x10 may furnish 

 dead bees before spring sufficient to cover the 

 floor an inch or two in depth " (Gleanings, 

 804), Mr. Taylor, in the Review, says, "A lit- 

 tle calculation will show that one inch in depth 

 on the space specified would amount to some- 

 where in the neighborhood of 209 quarts, and 

 two inches to about 418 quarts ; so that Mr. 

 Root's statement is equivalent to saying that 

 colonies of bees in a cellar may lose anywhere 

 from 2)4 to 5 quarts of superannuated bees 



from a colony during the winter 



In my own cellar the dead bees seldom come 

 anywhere near covering the floor from sight, 

 and about a pint to the colony would be a fair 

 average loss." 



In trying to verify these figures, one meets 

 with some difficulty. It would appear that the 

 whole cellar bottom ( 100 square feet) is con- 

 •sidered covered to a uniform depth with bees. 

 The statement in Gleanings was certainly 

 not so meant, and should hardly be so consid- 

 ered. It is hardly likely the inquirer was mis- 

 led by the reply in Gleanings. 



Admitting, however, that the dead bees 

 Diight be evenly distributed clear out to the 

 cellar walls, let us see how the case can be fig- 

 ured. Suppose that in some way the hives are 

 supported by shelves suspended from above, 

 so that the bees may be distributed evenly over 

 the entire floor to a depth of two inches, that 

 would make 428 quarts (instead of 418) ; and 

 as one would naturally suppose that this great- 

 er depth would be the result of the greater 

 number of colonies mentioned, 100, that would 

 make about \% quarts per colony. That is 

 certainly bad enough, without calling it 5 

 quarts, as Mr. Taylor does. 



While it is possible that the hives may be 

 thus swung from above, leaving the entire floor 

 to be covered with bees, it is much more likely 

 that the hives should rest on stands as large as 

 or larger than the bottoms of the hives. With 

 75 or 100 colonies in a room 10X10, one would 

 be likely to put them on about 25 stands, piling 

 three high for the 75, and four for the 100. 

 Each stand will occupy probably 360 square 

 inches or more, which space will be clear of 

 bees. Deducting the space occupied by 25 

 stands leaves 5400 square inches as the floor 

 space for the dead bees ; and supposing this is 



occupied clear out to the walls, an inch depth 

 will make 80 quarts, or \^^ quarts per colony 

 if 75 colonies are present. If the depth on 

 the floor is two inches, there will be 160 quarts, 

 or 1| quarts for each of 100 colonies. Mr. Tay- 

 lor says he loses only a pint to a colony ; but 

 the figures here given, even though larger than 

 should be fairly understood from the statement 

 in Gleanings, are very likely to come nearer 

 the mark in the average bee-cellar than a pint 

 to a colony. 



Dead bees on the cellar bottom will cover it 

 to a greater depth than the same number of 

 live bees. They sprawl out more, and an ac- 

 tual count shows 2664 as the number of dead 

 bees in a quart, when gathered from a cellar 

 bottom. That would give 4262 bees in If 

 quarts, which would be raised in a Langstroth 

 frame a little more than half filled with brood. 

 No doubt many would be gratified to have the 

 winter loss no greater. 



The matter is hardly worth occupying so 

 much space, but it shows how wide of the 

 mark one can be when he becomes a profes- 

 sional fault-finder. 



a quibble on a name. 

 On page 858 of Gleanings for last year, in 

 referring to the peculiar bee-disease that was 

 raging in certain portions of New York I went 

 on to give the reasons why I believed it to be 

 entirely distinct from foul brood ; and among 

 them I incidentally mentioned a very unim- 

 portant consideration, namely, that there was 

 a divergence of opinion as to the cure of foul 

 brood, and that possibly for this reason 

 there might be two kinds of foul brood. 

 This proposition Mr. Taylor very vigorously 

 combats by saying, " Scientifically speaking 

 there can not very well be two kinds 

 of foul-brood disease." Exactly. But, Mr. 

 Taylor, please hold yourself to the text, and 

 note that I was not " scientifically speaking." 

 If you will refer back to the article in question 

 you will see that I referred to this new bee- 

 disease as " foul brood so called ; " as " foul 

 brood, or what he supposed to be that disease;" 

 and then when speaking of the other foul 

 brood I referred to it as " real foul brood," as 

 ''Bacillus alvei." Not even a beginner, much 

 less an expert, should be confused when 

 such distinctions are thus drawn, and, besides, 

 it is a matter of little importance whether the 

 new bee-disease in New York before it was 

 )tanted vi&s called "foul brood so called," or 

 something else. As it is, Mr. Taylor has per- 

 verted the intent of the article and confused 

 the issue. No doubt this was unintentional. 



WINTER losses up to DATE ; IDEAL WINTER 



repositories. 

 So far, judging from general correspondence 

 coming in, bees are wintering well, while a 

 year ago at this time we had heard of a great 

 many severe losses. The winter thus far has 

 been rather favorable. While there have been 

 cold snaps, they have not, in the majority of 

 locations, been long continued. In Ohio we 

 have had no real cold spell longer than a week 

 at a time, followed by a week, or even two 

 weeks, of warm or "sloppy" weather. As I 



