1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



18 1 : 



it on the ground and shook all the 



driven bees on to it ; they clustered 

 round the queen like a natural swarm ; 

 we then placed the eai> on our head, 

 and walked all over the show-ground 

 amongst thousands of people with about 

 20,000 bees on our head and face, and 

 nobody received a sting. This was 

 Wildinan's feat, 108 years before (see 

 page 12 of my pamphlet, a copy of 

 which I sent for your acceptance, on 

 December 21, ls.sn. and hope you re- 

 ceived it safely, and that you were 

 pleased with it. I had only a few 

 printed for my friends). 

 Newton Heath, England. 



[We noticed and returned thanks for 

 Mr. fair's interesting pamphlet, in the 

 Bee Journal of January 19, on page 20. 

 —Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal 



Burying Bees in Clamps. 



c. J. ROIIINSOX. 



Ever since 1860 I have wintered my 

 small colonies underground, in clamps, 

 so-called. This sort of winter reposi- 

 tory was first devised by a scientific 

 bee-keeper, in Germany, and promul- 

 gated in this country by the lamented 

 Samuel Wagner. 



The clamp mode is set forth in "Lang- 

 stroth's Hive and Honey Bee." I do 

 not follow, strictly, all the details of the 

 plan as specified in said book. I select 

 a dry, mellow spot of earth, dig a trench 

 somewhat wider than a hive will cover, 

 and some 18 inches deep. Fill the 

 trench about full of dry straw, laid in 

 loosely ; put scantling or sticks across, 

 over the pit, and place the hives thereon 

 in a row. Arrange the interior of each 

 hive so as to give ventilation, as maybe 

 required, taking caution against intru- 

 sion by mice. Spread dry straw along 

 on each side of the row of hives, com- 

 pletely' covering them, and the earth 

 that forms the bottom of the pit. Now 

 place boards, so as to form a box over 

 the row, but in such a manner as to 

 form a chamber, or air space, of S or 10 

 inches all around the top and both sides, 

 with trench : all of which is fully tilled 

 with the straw, not packed. Then put 

 another coat of straw over the boards, 

 and over that a coat of earth— like po- 

 tatoes are buried in a pit. 



The points in the case are : the straw 

 absorbs the moisture of the earth and 

 keeps the hives dry ; the vacant space 

 all around the hives allows dry air to 

 circulate all through the cave and hives; 

 this is one of the essential conditions ; 

 a freezing atmosphere is excluded, and 

 is another condition in any plan of bee 

 salvation. None of the creeds of pack- 

 ing above ground are rational, and the 

 end thereof is sure destruction, unless 

 the bees are equal to saving themselves, 

 anyhow. 



On Nov. 141 put 4 colonies in a clamp, 

 one of which was a small after-swarm 

 that my neighbor had in a box hive only 

 about half tilled with comb. He said 

 that it could not be wintered, and gave 

 me that, and another not much stronger, 

 to prove to him the benefits of a clamp 

 repository. On the 15th of March I 

 took the 4 colonies out of the clamp. 

 On opening the smallest I found the lit- 

 tle colony as lively as when first put in, 

 and now they are doing finely. All of 

 the 4 were in the best condition, and 

 have remained thus. 



I have put my small colonies in clamps 

 each year, except 1879, when I kept 

 none. I do not remember of losing a 

 colony in a clamp. In my first attempts 

 I kept ventilation in view— 1 feared to 

 shut off a free circulation of air, and I 

 placed a tube (gun barrel) in the lower 

 end of the pit, and a chimney in the top. 

 The free admission of atmospheric air 

 defeats all of the advantages to be 

 gained by burying. Indeed, it is the 

 long terms of cold air that does the 

 harm under all conditions, rousing the 

 bees to activity in a sea of oxygen. All 

 should know that the honey bees may, 

 under certain conditions, remain semi- 

 torpid for a long time. 



The Baron of Berlepsch experimented 

 to test a theory by putting 3 queens in 

 an ice house during 36 hours. He 

 said they were thoroughly chilled — stiff 

 with the cold, and white with frost. 



When placed in the rays of the morning 

 sun they remained motionless for a long 

 time, only one revived, and she only 

 laid drone eggs thereafter. 



In a well constructed clamp, with the 

 atmosphere entirely excluded during 

 severe cold, the bees remain quite tor- 

 pid, and very quiet, in a low, even tem- 

 perature, needing scarcely any vital 

 oxygen, and consuming but little honey; 

 hence there is no occasion for a Might 

 for evacuation. Large clusters of bees 

 do not afford the best conditions under 

 special protection, for too much heat is 

 generated in the center, and a supply of 

 oxygen must be present, defeating 

 quietude. A 2-pound colony is more 

 manageable and can be wintered more 

 safely than one larger. Large colonies, 

 while being wintered above ground (I 

 abhor chaff packing) require ample 

 supplies of atmospheric air, with a plen- 

 titude of honey for combustion, wear- 

 ing out the bees, and " packing " their 

 alimentary canal until it gives way. 



The Author of Nature, who gave to 

 bees the laws of instinct and their pro- 

 pensities, has given a lesson for man to 

 study, and when he has learned their 

 true history, he has learned all that can 

 be known on the subject. 



Richford, N. Y. 



For the American Bee Juurnal. 



The Cause of Dysentery. 



J. O. SHEARMAN. 



I notice the difference of opinion 

 among experienced apiarists on the 

 cause of bee-dysentery, and wonder 

 why we cannot come nearer to an agree- 

 ment. 



One fact is noticeable, that the dis- 

 ease is more general in a long and se- 

 vere winter ; and this should be the ba- 

 sis of our investigation. 



Bees have been known to come out 

 bright and healthy after a steady con- 

 finement of 4 months. Henry Bird's 

 bees, 2 years ago, were put in a dry, 

 cool and quiet cellar, in November, and 

 were taken out the following April, 

 without loss, and all were healthy and 

 strong, and the honey in good condi- 

 tion. 



As to " bacteria," why does not some 

 scientific "bee-ist" give us the proof, 

 if " that is what's the matter?" Asser- 

 tions do not satisfy. The proof of the 

 pudding is in chewing the string, Bing- 

 ham says — but Mr. Heddon has given us 

 that string to chew for 2 years, but only 

 the end of it that didn't touch the pud- 

 ding or bag. Did not " bacteria " nour- 

 ish as well last year as this V If not, 

 why not V I do not wish to attack any 

 one's pet theory, but Mr. H. says, " let 

 us reason together." Yes ; let us chew 

 the whole string, hoping to use the pud- 

 ding. I agree with him that the chief 

 cause of bee-dysentery is the condition 

 of the honey, and I will add, at the time 

 of being eaten. This may seem super- 

 fluous ; but I have experimented with 

 honey for 2 years, off and on, and 

 proved to my satisfaction that honey 

 changes in its character in different 

 seasons. In a continued cold and damp 

 season, it turns thin ; my theory is that 

 bees can use thin honey if they fly fre- 

 quently. They can endure long con- 

 finement if the honey is thick and in 

 good condition. I believe this is gener- 

 ally admitted. 



The long cold weather thins the 

 honey ; the breath of the long-confined 

 bees, also helps this on, and when warm 

 weather begins [i. e, a thaw), it sours 

 the thin honey, and then comes the 

 worst form of dysentery. The second 

 confinement (after a warm spell), is 

 more disastrous than the first. 



Now for the whole string, which I 

 hope Mr. H. will be the first to experi- 

 ment upon with his accustomed ability. 



Two years ago, I put a box of sealed 

 honey in a cupboard, in a room with no 

 fire, but adjoining a room having a 

 stove, in which was a fire in the day- 

 time, but none during the night; the 

 temperature of the room changed twice 

 in 24 hours. The box of honey was of 

 the button-willow, and oozed through 

 the caps a little in the fall ; in the 

 spring, it oozed enough to fill the box 

 and run over, with a frothy appearance. 

 The honey was sour, and soda would 

 cause it to foam. I noticed the same 



appearance in some honey in brood 

 combs, taken out of a depopulated hive 

 this spring. 



Again : all my bees wintered well, 

 and were bright and healthy, except 2, 

 in 1879-80. Those two were very 

 strong hybrid colonies, which gave a 

 late swarm ; the brood chamber of the 

 old colony was full of brood at the 

 time and the swarm filled its own hive 

 (after I gave it combs), so that both had 

 hives filled with late honey. I packed 

 them on summer stands, the same us 

 the rest. The old colony had the dys- 

 entery badly early in February, and 

 when a thaw came in the middle of 

 February, so many had died inside that 

 the balance were not worth saving. 

 The swarm had the dysentery when the 

 the thaw came (in Feb., 18S0), so I 

 cleaned them out and found nearly half 

 dead. I reserved the combs having 

 sealed honey, and hung them up by a 

 stove pipe, till they had done sweating 

 (3 or 4 days) ; when fine weather came, 

 for a half hour or so, I cleaned the dis- 

 eased colony again, and exchanged 

 combs, giving them the solid warm 

 honey, and contracted the brood cham- 

 ber to 4 combs. When the next thaw 

 came they appeared clean, had begun 

 breeding, and did well with some help 

 in spring. 



Last spring (1881), I had plenty of 

 dysentery to experiment with, but the 

 weather was not fit to open a hive till 

 the spring opened, and then I ex- 

 changed some combs in weak and sickly 

 colonies, with beneficial effect. 



Do not these instances give a key to 

 the cause, and justify further experi- 

 ments in the same direction ■? I ask 

 the co-operation of the fraternity in 

 this line, and an impartial judgment, 

 hoping that the question of wintering 

 bees will be solved thereby. 



New Richmond, Mich. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bees and Honey in Florida. 



W. S. HART. 



Seated on a broad veranda, with the 

 cool and balmy breezes from the piney 

 woods and the broad river fanning your 

 brow, the long lines of towering orange 

 trees, in their pride of gold, green and 

 white, shading the nicely painted, busy 

 homes of the apiarist's pets, before 

 your eyes ; the hum of thousands of 

 nappy bees, gathering the sweet nectar 

 from the sea of bloom nestling among 

 the beautiful green of the orange leaves, 

 and the songs of the birds, many of 

 which are warbling their sweet " good- 

 bye " to their sunny winter home, in 

 your ears ; the air, laden with the rich- 

 est of perfumes, in your nostrils, and a 

 basket of freshly plucked fruit at your 

 elbow, if you are a lover of nature 

 (which all good bee-men must be) I 

 think you would find yourself as near 

 heaven as it is often man's lot to get. 



To the apiarist all of this is to result 

 in barrels or crates of delicious honey ; 

 to the orange grower, in checks on New 

 York, and a good many little surprises, 

 and pleasures, and comforts for wife 

 and little ones, coming in return for 

 great piles of crated fruit to be sent to 

 market in the fall. 



The realization of a part of this 

 happy picture is still in the future to 

 the writer, as my grove is still young, 

 and now blooming for the first time, but 

 a short time only is wanted to finish it 

 out. This morning I picked as high as 

 400 buds and blossoms from one 

 tree which I set out 21 months ago, and 

 which is now but 19 months old from 

 the bud. I have several others of the 

 same age with nearly as many upon 

 them. I pick quite a large number 

 of the buds off to prevent the tree 

 from bearing too heavy a crop the first 

 year. One of my neighbors has a grove, 

 set out 6 years ago next August, which 

 has trees in it that bore 800 oranges 

 each last year, and, judging from the 

 bloom now on the trees, they will greatly 

 exceed that number this. This orange 

 business never promised better than it 

 does this year, and the prospects for the 

 future prosperity of Southern Florida 

 never looked so bright as they do to-day. 



My bees have been gathering honey 

 rapidly for weeks past, and are swarm- 

 ing. I had 36 colonies to commence 



the season with, an extractor, a comb 

 foundation machine, a. I l.'i gallon evap- 

 orator, and a 20x20 honey house, so I 



am well prepared to take advantage of 

 the coming crop. Last year I started 

 with 14 colonies, increased to to, and 

 extracted 1,900 lbs. of honey, which 

 brought in the Boston market 15 to 20 

 cts. more per gallon than any other 

 honey there at that time, and this with- 

 out a pound of foundation. This yearl 

 expect to increase to 100 colonies', and 

 extract 7,500 lbs. of honey. I will re- 

 port my success next November or De- 

 cember. 



I am constantly receiving letters of 

 inquiry in regard to this State as a field 

 for bee-keeping, and many have no 

 stamps inclosed for reply. As I have 

 no land or bees for sale, I cannot afford 

 to find stationery, time and stamps to 

 write on other people's business ; so if 

 any reader wishes further information, 

 thev will please enclose 2 stamps, and I 

 shall be pleased to give it. 



New Smyrna, Fla. 



For the American Beo Journal. 



Making Comb Foundation. 



SMITH & SMITH. 



Beyond dispute, comb foundation has 

 become a necessary article, and it is un- 

 necessary to state the advantages in the 

 use of it. There is room, however, for 

 improvement in the way of making it. 

 We will say a few words on that sub- 

 ject. Every manufacturer of comb 

 foundation knows the amount of time 

 and patience required in stopping the 

 machine after starting the sheet of wax, 

 and using a quill or brad-awl to pick up 

 the end of the sheet, which is sure to 

 adhere to the rolls, especially if the 

 wax or the mill are too warm or too 

 cold, etc. All these things are in- 

 clined to make the end of the sheet 

 stick so much the tighter; in short, we 

 find it takes about % of the time in 

 stopping and picking up the end, ready 

 to put the sticks on, to hold the sheet 

 firm. This has been one of the disad- 

 vantages all have to contend with. The 

 past season we adopted a plan that en- 

 tirely overcomes the adhering. After 

 starting, the sheet will go through ; all 

 we have to do is place sticks on the end. 

 No time is lost in picking it up, and 

 there is no risk of injuring the dies by 

 the use of a brad-awl, etc. It saves 

 time, and is in no way injurious to the 

 foundation. 



Tennessee for Bee-keeping. 



A. H. BRADFORD. 



Here in the South I have never 

 known a colony of bees to require win- 

 ter protection, and I have never known 

 a hive to freeze out, and not many 

 starve. Our hives stand out and take 

 all sorts of weather from year to year, 

 and very often when winter has fully 

 set in and the earth is covered with 

 snow, here in West Tennessee 2 or 3 

 bright sunny days will warm them up 

 so that they will stir out and fly around 

 full of life, cleaning out their hive and 

 hunting for something to gather up 

 outside ; and when the little crocus 

 peeps out through the frosty atmos- 

 phere of early spring, the little worker 

 is the first to notice it, and every flower 

 is soon covered with the hungry little 

 fellows, striving for the first sip of de- 

 licious nectar. Every bee fancier should 

 have a good plat of this sweet little 

 harbinger of spring for his bees, if 

 nothing else. Soon after this, the au- 

 lonia, that prince of shade trees, with 

 its wide spreading branches and long 

 spikes of fragrant purple flowers, fur- 

 nishes another feast of good things. 

 The maple, in its varieties, and the 

 willow of the woods, come in time to 

 save the weak colonies, and I have 

 hardly ever had to feed them in winter 

 or spring. 



Cg- The Northwestern Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in Chicago on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 11 and 

 12. All bee-keepers are cordially in- 

 vited to attend. It is desired to make 

 this one of the most interesting Conven- 

 tions ever held in the United States. 

 C. C. Miller, M. D., Pres. 



