228 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 20, 





THOMAS C. NEWMAN. 



KlMTUIl AND PKOI'HIETOB, 



CHICAGO, ILL.,. JULY 20, 1881. 



^"Carefully read and study the 

 lessons so emphatically taught by the 

 Statistical Tables on this page. 



®T The 21st st. L.niis Fair will be 

 held at St. Louis, Mo., Oct.3 to 8, 1881. 

 Premiums, $50,000. 



gg"The Patron's Guide, edited and 

 published by (Jeo. F. Henry, M. I)., 

 at Boyd, Ky., commenced its 4th vol- 

 ume this month. It is a well edited 

 and nicely printed weekly, and de- 

 serves success. 



A New Bee Enemy.— A correspondent 

 in the western part of the State says a 

 small, bright, cardinal bird, something 

 smaller than our common red bird, 

 haunts his bee-hives and devours his 

 bees continually. lie wants some ol 

 the bee-men to give the name of it. — 

 Fu nmr's Horn* Journal. 



Does Mr. Newman, of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, know anything 

 about this new enemy ?-— Pat. Quid* . 



The bird mentioned has a bad repu- 

 tation among bee-keepers. Its pecu- 

 liarly bright plumage has often led to 

 the error of calling it cardinal bird 

 | ( 'ardinalis Virginianus), though they 

 may belong to the same family. This 

 bird is also sometimes called kingbird, 

 which is an error. The kingbird (Ty- 

 rannus intrepidus] is a small, very 

 stout-built bird, with a short, strong 

 beak, slightly hooked at the point. 

 It is of a bluish color, interspersed 

 with spots of white. It is very com- 

 bative in disposition, and delights in 

 attacking crows, hawks and eagles 

 while on the wing, which fly to enor- 

 mous heights to avoid it. Notwith- 

 standing Prof. Cook's enumeration of 

 the good qualities of the kingbird, we 

 always feel tempted todeal summarily 

 with it, as also with the red-bird de- 

 scribed, bj shooting them on the spot 

 and eulogising afterward. 



Beer Adulteration with Glucose. — 

 The German glucose manufacturers 

 have petitioned the Reichstag in ref- 

 erence to tin- movement to prohibit 

 the use of glucose as a substitute for 



malt in beer-making. They claim that 

 glucose does not make the beer ini- 

 liealthfiil. and plead the nonsensical 



argument that the prohibition would 



ruin all potato-growers 1 — Exchange. 



Of course, philanthropy is a good 

 pretext for all "crooked" transac- 

 tions. In this country, the manufac- 

 turers of glucose would persuade the 

 unreflecting farmer that wil bout their 



assistance there would be but a lim- 

 ited market for corn, juices would be 

 unremunerative, agriculture woidd 



come iido disrepute, and general ruin 



would befall the country. We are 

 sorry a few— but very few editors 

 and doctors have found it to their in- 

 terest to take the same \ iew of the 

 matter, and have displayed the bad 



taste to attempt to justify tin' indis- 

 criminate manufacture and sale of 

 glucose and other adulterants. 



Losses of Bees Last Winter. 



STATISTICAL TABLE. 



To make this Table has been a very 

 difficult task — one that lias cost many 

 weary hours of steady brain-work— but 

 as it will teach many a valuable lesson 

 we are well paid. Some omitted im- 

 portant points from their reports, and 

 left us to hunt over their old letters to 

 find out what hive they used, or in 

 what way they usually wintered, and. 

 in some instances, we had to conject- 

 ure whether they were protected or 

 not from the result they reported. The 

 Table is, therefore, necessarily imper- 

 fect, but we have done the best we 

 could to wade through the enormous 

 bulk of writing sent in, to ascertain 

 the simple facts in the case. 



In the Bee Journal for June "8, 

 Dr. Tinker reported the results of 

 10,818 colonies. Those he has since 

 received he has sent to us. and they 

 are included in the following table, 

 which aggregates .521,230 colonies, or 

 about one-sixth of the whole number 

 of colonies of bees in America. 



COLONIES WINTERED IN BEE HOUSES. 



Per cent. 

 Hives used. Ni*. in Fall. Dead, of Loss. 



American .... 4,468 832 .19 



Gallup 2,841 676 .24 



Langstroth... 7.792 1,664 .21 



Quinby 762 127 .17 



Total 15,863 3,299 .21 



COLONIES WINTERED IN CELLARS. 



American 9,156 3,096 .34 



Box 10.656 4,393 .41 



Gallup 4,160 1,664 .40 



Langstroth... 60,217 17,521 .29 



Quinby 1,840 .644 .35 



All others.... 5,142 2,416 .47 



Total 91,171 29,734 .32 



COLONIES PROTECTED. 



American 28,746 13,680 .47 



Box 4.7ut 2,016 .43 



Gallup 5,360 2,304 .43 



Langstroth . . . 79,424 34,388 .43 



Quinby 13,745 6,128 .45 



All others. . . . 13,904 8,722 .63 



Total 145,883 67,238 .46 



COLONIES UNPROTECTED. 



American 7,363 5,761 .78 



Box 196,372 181,296 .93 



Gallup 2,3 12 1.S96 .80 



Langstroth... 48,504 30,392 .62 



Quinby 3,268 2,416 .74 



All others 10,464 7,980 .76 



Total 268,313 229,741 .85 



SUMMARY. 



Iii bee houses. 15,863 3,299 .21 



In cellars 91,171 29,734 .32 



Protected .... 145,883 67,2:ss .46 

 Total.... 252,917 100,271 .39 



Unprotected.. 268,318 229,741 .85 

 (.rand total. 521,230 330,012 !o3 



All that were left on the summer 



stands, but which were well (lacked 

 with chaff, leaves, sawdust, straw, or 



otherwise, are included under the 

 heading " Colonies Protected ;" while 

 those left on the summer stands with 

 chaff cushion or other slight protec 

 tion (or none at all), are classed as 

 •■ Colonies Unprotected." 



In order to make it more perfect, we 

 have added the resultsof Dr. Tinker's 

 reDOrt, as published in the Bee Jour- 

 nal for June 8, 1881, but our figures 

 show a vast difference in the percent- 

 age of loss, in the different styles of 

 wintering, because our report is SO 

 much larger than his was. His report 

 included some of the most extensive 

 bee-keepers in America, and gave the 



results in large apiaries with more 

 progressive bee-keepers, as is shown 

 by the fact that while his report in- 

 cluded only 3,420 hives unprotected, 

 those protected by being "packed with 

 Chaff, sawdust or other material," 

 numbered 4,103, or 25 per cent, more 

 than the unprotected. Our reports 

 generally were made by the progress- 

 ive bee-keepers, who included all their 

 neighbors in the county or district who 

 had left their bees unprotected, and 

 whose losses were enormous. We re- 

 port, under the heading of unpro- 

 tected, 268,313 colonies, or nearly 80 

 times as many as are included in Dr. 

 Tinker's report, while those protected 

 include 145,883, or only 35 times as 

 many as his. 



By the above figures it will be seen 

 that no bees in box hives were wintered 

 in a bee house ; 10,656 colonies in box 

 hives were put into cellars, where the 

 losses amounted to 4,393, or 41 per 

 cent. Only 4,704 were protected, and 

 of these 2,016 perished (43 percent.), 

 while 13 times as many were left on 

 summer stands unprotected, and !»:{ 

 out of every 100 unprotected colonies 

 perished. 



Some have argued that bees in box 

 hives and log gums were more safely 

 wintered, because the brood chambers 

 were undisturbed, etc., and that, 

 therefore, we should return to old 

 theories, and discard the progressive 

 ideas of the nineteenth century. As 

 we have been to much trouble in get- 

 ting up the above table, let us investi- 

 gate what it demonstrates concerning 

 the hives named : 



HI IX AND LOG-GUM niVES. 



Percent. 

 How Wintered. No. in Fall. Dead, of Loss 



In cellars 10,656 4,393 .41 



Protected 4.704 2,016 .43 



Unprotected . 196,372 181,296 .93 



Total 211,732 



187,705 .89 



AMERICAN HIVES. 



In bee houses. 4,4os s:;2 .19 



In cellars 9,156 3,096 .34 



Protected.... 28,746 13,680 .47 



Unprotected . 7,363 5,761 .78 



Total 



.47 



49,733 23,869 



GALLUP HIVES. 



In bee houses. 2,841 676 .24 



In cellars 4,160 1,664 .40 



Protected 5.360 2,804 .43 



Unprotected . 2.312 1,896 .80 



Total 



14,703 



6,560 .45 



LANGSTROTH HIVES. 



In bee houses. 7,792 1,661 .21 



In cellars 60,217 17,521 .29 



Protected 79,424 34.3SS .43 



.Unprotected . 48,504 30,392 .62 



Total 195,957 83,965 .43 



(JUINBY HIVES. 



Ill bee houses. 762 127 .17 



In cellars 1,840 644 .35 



Protected 13.745 6,128 .45 



Unprotected . 3,268 2,416 .74 



Total 19,615 



9,316 



.47 



ALL OTHER FRAME HIVES. 



In cellars 5,142 2,416 .47 



Protected 13,904 8,722 .63 



Unprotected . 10,464 7,980 .76 



.t\:> 



Total 29,510 19,11s 



RECAPITULATION. 



Boxhives 211,732 IS7.7U.-, .89 



All frame hi ves309,498 112.307 .tu 



Langstroth ...195,957 88,966 .42 



Other frames. .113,541 5S.342 .51 



Grand Total . .621,230 330,012 .68 



It will be readily seen that while the 

 average percentage of loss in box 

 hives is 89, in all the frame hives it is 



but 46 — an unanswerable argument in 

 favor of frame hives. 



Those who have contended that the 

 Langstroth hive istoo shallow for win- 

 tering, will be surprised to learn that 

 the figures compare very favorably for 

 it, thus: the percentage of loss in all 

 kinds of frame hives is 46; exclusive 

 of the Langstroth hive it is 51, leav- 

 ing only 43 for the Langstroth, being 

 8 per cent in favor of the latter. 



Again, this report records the result 



of wintering in 521,330 hives; 21l.7:;2 

 of which were in box hives, leaving 

 309,598 for all kinds of frame hives. 

 Of the latter, 195,957 are Langstroths— 

 ;'.... shallow frames— and 113.561 of all 

 others combined. So, that, in num- 

 bers the shallow frame hives reported 

 aggregate nearly double those of all 

 other kinds combined. Thus in num- 

 bers, as well as in the least percentage 

 of loss during last winter, the shallow 

 frames have the advantage. 



We really think these figures settle 

 the matter of " the coming frame." 

 Had deep frames been shown to have 

 I the advantage, the Bee Journal 

 would have been ready to advocate 

 their universal adoption, for it has no 

 desire to favor any but the most suc- 

 cessful methods, hives or implements. 



To prevent misunderstanding let it 

 be distinctly understood, that all 

 frames nearest in size and shape to the 

 four types of hives named [i. e., the 

 American, Gallup, Langstroth and 

 Quinby) have been classed as such, no 

 matter by what other names they may 

 be called — our only object being to 

 classify so as to make an intelligible 

 statistical table — useful for reference 

 as well as interesting for the student. 



Another valuable lesson is taught by 

 the following comparison : Colonies of 

 bees protected by being placed in cel- 

 lars or bee houses, or by being packed 

 on the summer stands, number 252,91 7; 

 of these, 100,271 died — 39 per cent.; 

 268,313 colonies were wholly unpro- 

 tected, hut the loss was 229,741— S."» per 

 cent. — or nearly thirty thousand more 

 than double the Dumber that died, out 

 of a like number protected ! 



These figures will illustrate, better 

 than all the arguments imaginable 

 could do, the advantages of rational, 

 intelligent, progressive bee-keeping, 

 and that it remunerates the apiarist to 

 properly prepare his bees for winter. 

 Notwithstanding the diversity of ways 

 of protecting bees, it will be observed 

 their loss was less than one-half that 

 of those partially or wholly unpro- 

 tected. They demonstrate, beyond 

 controversy, that nature and nature's 

 ways are not always best, and that 

 the probabilities of loss are stronger 

 against those who " trust to luck" 

 than those who rely upon a combina- 

 tion of industry and judgment. 



We would not taunt the "old fogies" 

 who have kept their bees in box hives 

 and log gums, because nature never 

 made a movable-frame hive for them ; 

 but we earnestly commend to their 

 consideration the contrast in percent- 

 ages of loss — box hives 89, all frame 

 hives 40 — nearly double, as reported. 

 \\ 'e have no doubt, however, the pro- 

 portion of losses was much greater, 

 as thousands of persons in out-of-the- 

 way places have lost the bees in their 

 gums and made no report, considering 

 it no pecuniary loss, as they had never 

 derived any pecuniary gain from them. 



