164 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 25, 



THOMAS C. NEWMAN. 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 25, 1881. 



Did Starvation Cause Dysentery ? 



is the cause of dysentery. Observation 

 has led us to think that excitement and 

 confinement would produce it, as also 

 would unusual cold and unremitting 

 confinement ; and it may be these fac- 

 tors are more or less each dependent on 

 the others. 



always worth their cost in the family— 

 the former for pickles, catsups, and a 

 thousand other uses, while the latter are 

 equally appreciated for their conven- 

 ience in putting up jellies, etc. Jars 

 and tumblers, like the tin pails, should 

 be tastefully put up and labeled. For 

 a retail market, excellence of goods 



grades of extracted honey, whether for 

 retailing or manufacturing purposes. 



We cannot see anything about the 

 large tin cans (5 and 10 gallons), whether 

 round or square, to recommend them to 

 public favor. They are very expensive, 

 and require an outer wooden case to pro- 

 tect the can in transportation. This ex- 



Dr. South wick contributes the follow- 

 ing, as corroborative of the position he 

 assumed in the Weekly Bee Journal 

 of April 20, that the prevalence of dys- 

 entery was owing to starvation : 



I have found another case of dysentery, 

 which I think will puzzle your long-con- 

 finement, bacteria and pollen men. As 

 I understood the man, he said he took 

 off the top boxes in the fall and put in 

 their place, a cushion ; the bees, nearly 

 a quart of them, got above the cushion, 

 could not get back, and died there. He 

 said they had the dysentery bad, daub- 

 ing the hive, and upper side of the cush- 

 ion very much. Now, where did they 

 get their honey with or without the bac- 

 teria to produce this dysentery and 

 death ? Is not this a pretty sure case of 

 dysentery and death produced by starv- 

 ation, or is it a first-class case of dysen- 

 tery caused by gorging themselves with 

 an imaginary honey and no chance for 

 flight? E. B. Southwick. 



Mendon, May 13, 1881. 

 It was undoubtedly a first-class case 

 of dysentery caused by gorging on real 

 honey. It is more than probable that 

 the disturbance necessarily created in 

 taking off the top sections caused the 

 bees to gorge themselves before getting 

 above the cushion, and certainly the 

 close confinement is clearly established, 

 inasmuch as they could not get out for 

 a flight. If, on the other hand, the sup- 

 position be assumed that they were 

 workers returning from the field, the 

 probability is equally as strong that they 

 were filled with honey when impris- 

 oned. To our mind, Dr. Southwick has 

 cited strong presumptive evidence to 

 disprove the theory he attempts to 

 establish. 



Last fall we had occasion to visit an 

 apiary of two hundred colonies, in Kane 

 county, 111., in which several colonies 

 had died from sheer starvation. In 

 many of the combs were cells filled with 

 dead bees, but so far as our observation 

 went, not a comb was soiled. We since 

 learn every one of the 200 colonies died 

 from starvation in the early days of 

 winter. Our informant (an old bee- 

 keeper) said the hives were filled with 

 as bright and clean combs as he ever 

 saw. Another case: A gentleman from 

 St. Clair county, Mich., remarked in 

 the Bee Journal office, a fortnight 

 since, that he had lost about all his bees 

 (some 200 colonies) by starvation, and 

 had purchased another 100 colonies with 

 •which to build up again, and it would 

 be an easy task, as his bees that starved 

 had left a nice lot of clean combs. 



We have examined many hives this 

 spring in which the bees perished, and, 

 as a rule— in fact almost universally— 

 where the excrement-covered combs 

 showed that dysentery had prevailed, 

 we observed more or less honey ; some- 

 times the honey was in close proximity 

 to the bees, in others further removed ; 

 but it was almost always to be found in 

 the hive. 



To what extent the presence of bacte- 

 ria in the honey may be a factor of dis- 

 ease we cannot say, but we do not see 



Best Package for Extracted Honey. 



Mr. J. H. Shimer, of Hillsboro, 111., 

 asks the following question : 



" What is the best style of packages 

 for putting extracted honey on the mar- 

 ket r I want to begin right, for a good 

 start is half the battle. I have 118 col- 

 onies, all booming, and a good prospect 

 for 10,000 lbs. of whiteclover honey." 



should be the prime consideration, but tra expense is a total loss to the apiar 



The above question is one of the great- 

 est importance in connection with bee- 

 keeping. If the product is for a home 

 market, then, of course, the producer 

 must study the local preference regard- 

 ing the size and style of package, as 

 well as the grade of honey most easily 

 disposed of. As far as practicable, keep 

 each grade of honey separate ; it is a 

 mistake to suppose a few pounds of 

 inferior or different shade honey will 

 make no difference in a large bulk of 

 white clover honey, or that thereby a 

 better rate will be obtained for the sec- 

 ond grade article. Instead, the result 

 will most likely be to class it all as sec- 

 ond grade, and the price of all will be 

 depreciated. Again, if possible, keep 

 the white clover and basswood honey 

 separate. In order to do this, keep a 

 vigilant watch of the basswood bloom , 

 and extract the white clover quite close 

 before the bees commence gathering 

 from the former. A little clover in the 

 basswood honey, however, will not do 

 the harm that would result if the pro 

 portions were reversed. After the bass- 

 wood harvest is all gathered by the bees, 

 extract it closely, as it will not do to 

 taint any other honey, even though it 

 be from fall flowers and somewhat 

 darker, with its peculiar pungent flavor. 

 For small retail packages, tin pails 

 with close-fitting covers are the best. 

 Purchased by the gross or in lots of one 

 thousand or more, the price is so incon- 

 siderable that no consumer will object 

 to paying what they cost in addition to 

 the price of the honey, for they are so 

 " handy to have in the house " that not 

 one housewife in a hundred would wish 

 to return the pail. Persons will often 

 persuade themselves to purchase a pail 

 of honey after lifting off the cover and 

 tasting the contents, who would not be 

 tempted were it in a tight-stoppered 

 jar or a close-topped can, so they could 

 only " feast the imagination" by read- 

 ing the label. A neatly printed label 

 should be gummed or pasted on each 

 pail, stating the amount and kind of 

 honey, name of apiarist by whom put 

 up, and giving in a foot-note directions 

 for liquifying the honey in case it shall 

 become granulated. These pails might 

 be of three sizes— 1-quart, 2-quart and 

 1-gallon— holding, respectively, 2% lbs., 

 5 lbs., and lOlbs. We would not advise 

 the use of screw-top cans; they are a 

 nuisance in more ways than one. It is 

 equally difficult to get an exact weight 

 into and out of them ; if the honey be 

 granulated, it is difficult to liquify it 

 without besmearing the can ; and they 

 are not convenient for general use in a 

 family after the honey is consumed, so 

 the purchaser feels that what is paid for 

 the can is money thrown away. 

 If smaller packages are wanted, then 



the attractiveness of the package should 

 never be lost sight of. Manufacturers 

 of adulterated goods, of nearly every 

 description, depend more upon effecting 

 sales by the employment of attractive 

 packages and tasteful , pretentious labels 

 than upon the excellence of the pre- 

 tended article sold. In this respect, 

 bee-keepers have been wofully negli- 

 gent, and many have appeared wholly 

 indifferent as to the appearance of their 

 honey, seeming to imagine that their 

 personal assurance to the grocer of the 

 purity of the article, was sufficient to 

 convince the public of its desirableness. 

 Nine times out of ten, New York or 

 Chicago glucosed honey, in attractive 

 packages, will find a sale at exorbitant 

 figures, while unattractive pure honey 

 goes begging the market at unremuner- 

 ative prices. 



If the honey be destined for a metro- 

 politan or foreign market, an entirely 

 different method of putting it up should 

 be employed. No more convenient, at- 

 tractive or economical package can be 

 used than ten or fifteen gallon kegs. 

 These should be spruce, pine or cypress, 

 and never of hard-wood. Barrels are 

 too heavy and cumbrous for convenient 

 handling, too large and irregular in size 

 for rapid sales, and too wasteful in leak- 

 age for profitable use. No hard- wood 

 barrel is safe to put honey in till after 



ist, as no can is worth returning after 

 a grocer has retailed its contents. We 

 very much doubt, also, if any grocer 

 could be found willing to buy a second 

 10-gallon can of honey at any price, af- 

 ter having had the contents of a first one ' 

 granulate a few times. 



Statistical Report.— The call is quite 

 general for a statistical table of the re- 

 sults of the winter on the bees of 

 America. In order to have it of any 

 value it should be general and full. We 

 will give it in the Journal if we can 

 have a general response, but a partial 

 one will be annoying, and will not repay 

 us for the labor and expense of getting 

 it up. We invite attention to Dr. Tin- 

 ker's remarks on this subject, on page 

 163. Be careful to follow the table there 

 given, and let the reports be sent in at 

 once. Dr. Tinker haspromised to send 

 us his statistical table next week, there- 

 fore all reports should now be sent to 

 the Bee Journal directly, that they 

 may be included in the general statisti- 

 cal table. 



any reason for believing that starvation | use glass jars and tumblers. These are 



t has been thoroughly waxed, and even 

 this will not prevent leakage where the 

 honey has granulated, because it will be 

 necessary to take the head out of 

 the barrel to get at the honey, and in 

 order to do this, the hoops must be 

 started and the staves sprung out, which 

 breaks the wax atevery joint where the 

 staves come together, and they cannot 

 be closed tightly again ; therefore, if 

 the honey be not all taken out at once, 

 leakage is certain to follpw. The wax 

 also comes off the staves in scales and 

 mixes with the honey, which is often 

 very annoying. Soft-wood kegs need 

 no waxing. If thoroughly drenched 

 with water a few hours before using, 

 no leakage will take place. Taking into 

 account the value of the wax and time 

 consumed in applying it, together with 

 the price of the barrel, and the kegs will 

 be the cheapest, without reckoning in 

 their favor the less liability of leakage 

 and greater convenience. As the jobber 

 never pays for the barrel, the shipper 

 should use the cheapest— if the best. 



The preference of jobbers will always 

 be found to favor the kegs holding 10 

 and 15 gallons. With a shipment of 

 10,000 lbs. of honey, we are confident 

 9,000 lbs., if in kegs holding 10 and 15 

 gallons— 110 and 165 lbs— will all be sold 

 before the remaining 1,000 lbs., if in two 

 ordinary oak barrels of 500 lbs. each, 

 provided the quality is the same. Many 

 times jobbers and commission dealers 

 decline small sales, rather than furnish 

 smaller packages and give the time re- 

 quisite for dividing up a large barrel of 

 honey. We think we are safe in pre- 

 dicting that the time is rapidly ap- 

 proaching when there will be a discrim- 

 ination of at least one cent per pound 

 in favor of the small casks, for the finer 



BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 



8J" The British Bee Journal com- 

 mences a new volume with the May 

 number. Mr. C. N. Abbott, its able 

 editor, with whom we spent several 

 very pleasant hours while in London, 

 two years ago, is a thoroughly practical 

 apiarist, and keeps up with the times in 

 all progressive and scientific attain- 

 ments. He commences the ninth year 

 of the existence of the British Bee Jour- 

 nal with these characteristic words : 

 " For ourselves, we promise to do our 

 best to deserve what it is not in mortal 

 to command, success." The American 

 Bee Journal extends its congratula- 

 tions, and wishes its contemporary an 

 unbounded success. 



(gTThe Rev. Herbert R. Peel, the 

 very efficient Secretary of the British 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, we are ex- 

 ceedingly sorry to learn, is seriously ill. 

 Mr. Peel is an enthusiastic apiarist, and 

 one of the most progressive in England. 

 We hope he will soon recover his 

 wonted health. 



The Weather in England.— The pro- 

 longed coldness of the weather, conse- 

 quent on the prevalence of easterly 

 winds during the past month, has sadly 

 retarded the progress of favorites, for, 

 excepting occasionally, they have 

 scarcely visited the fruit- blossoms with 

 which Nature has so bountifully and 

 beautifully embellished the earth, and 

 many of the fruits which she has so lav- 

 ishly "brought to the birth" will not 

 be " brought forth " through the impos- 

 sibility of apistieal influence, a great 

 argument in favor of bee-keeping. 



