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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 19, 



TWELFTH CONVENTION 



OF THE 



North American Bee Keepers' Society 



HELD IX THE 



Odd Fellows' Temple, Lexington, Ky., 



COMMENCING ON 



WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1881. 



[Concluded.] 

 EVENING SESSION.— OCT. 6. 



President Cook announced the fol- 

 lowing as committee on resolutions: 

 C. C. Coffinberry, Illinois; 1). A. Jones, 

 Ontario ; Dr. J. P. H. Brown, Georgia. 

 The following report was read from 

 A. J. King, Vice President for New 

 York: 



Owing to the fact that at least % of all 

 the bees in this State perished daring our 

 last terrible winter, the aggregate honey 

 crop must necessarily be much less than 

 under ordinary circumstances ; yet taking 

 the number of effective colonies alive in 

 April, it is doubtful if their work lias ever 

 been exceeded, if indeed equaled, in any 

 preceding year. With the exception of a 

 few localities, we have reports of large 

 yields all over the State. The % of survi- 

 vors, by taking advantage of the early and 

 abundant honey How from the locust 

 groves, and afterward, the white clover 

 and basswood, have more than retrieved 

 the loss of the % which perished. The 

 surplus honey this year is of the finest 

 quality, and owiug to the early and long- 

 continued drouth in other parts of our 

 country, it finds a ready market at remun- 

 erative prices. These results have been 

 secured mainly from white clover and 

 basswood. The locust and some other 

 early bloom being used mainly to "breed 

 up " with. 



Mr. L. C. Root, the well known success- 

 ful apiarist, and president of the North 

 Eastern Bee-Keepers' Association, has 

 taken from 100 colonies, an average of 100 

 lbs. of white clover, and 125 lbs. of bass- 

 wood honey, making au average in all of 

 235 lbs. per colony, his best yield from a 

 single colony in one day being 20 lbs. of 

 honey. The larger partof his crop, we be- 

 lieve, was taken with the extractor. This 

 is the best yield we know of, but Mr. G. 

 M. Doolittle has written us that his report 

 will be better at the close of this season 

 than any he has given for several years. 

 Mr. C. J. Quinby, of White Plains, re- 

 ported an average of 100 lbs., mostly locust 

 honey, as early as July 1st., since which 

 time we have not heard from him. 



Our own apiary of 75 colonies, on the 

 roof of the building No. It Park Place, 

 New York City, has not been run for 

 honey, but we believe we could have ob- 

 tained at least 75 lbs. of nice honey per 

 colony, had we desired it. We have tri- 

 pled our number of colonies and reared 

 several hundred queens, and have now 

 about 00 colonies in fair condition for win- 

 tering, which will be done on the roof. 

 We have quite a large number of partial 

 reports from nearly all parts of the State 

 from apiarists of all degrees of advance- 

 ment in the art, and think we would be 

 safe in assuming thatNew York will show 

 an average yield of about 50 lbs. of surplus 

 honey to each colony of bees, and this, so 

 far as our knowledge goes, will place her 

 in this regard at the head of the list of 

 States for this season's work. 



We have taken some pains to find out 

 the causes of the great loss of bees in this 

 and other States during last winter and 

 Spring, and feel constrained to charge it 

 up to a very large extent, either to a lack 

 of knowledge or downright shiftlessness, 

 or perhaps both, on the part of those who 

 suffered loss. This may look like a seri- 

 ous charge, but nothing would have given 

 us more pleasure than to have attended 

 your convention and proven the general 

 truthfulness of the charge by hundreds of 

 practical illustrations, had circumstances 

 over which we had no control permitted. 



The reproach, that bee-keeping is at 

 best a very precarious business, has been 

 put upon it mainly by two classes of per- 

 sons. The first and larger class are ignor- 

 ant and lazy, and never succeed in any- 

 thing but to complain about fate, luck, and 

 the mysterious ways of Providence. The 

 other class complain from fear of compe- 

 tition, and so parade the failures of the 

 former before the public, as a kind of bar- 

 rier to prevent others from engaging in 

 the business, or else they keep still from 

 the same cause. If honey is ever to be- 

 come a staple article of consumption like 

 other syrups, the price must correspond to 



quality when compared with them, and 

 the supply must be kept up so that it can 

 always be depended on at some price, and 

 this will be done by having a sufficient 

 number engaged in the business, to gather 

 up and save the millions of pounds which 

 still is allowed to go to waste in all parts 

 of our country. 



As a rule, success in our business is the 

 result of knowledge obtained by practice 

 and familiarity with the-causes leading to 

 the success of others, and failure is the 

 opposite of this. So to "advertise" the 

 failures of those who are born to fail, be- 

 cause born without the capacity for intel- 

 ligent thought and action, is like expecting 

 to be nourished by feeding on the wind, 

 but to publish the success of intelligent 

 management, giving all the " modus ope- 

 randi" leading to the same, is to point men 

 onward in the right direction. Failures to 

 be entitled to publication should be the re- 

 sults of the experiments of " wise " apiar- 

 ists, and only such are of any real good to 

 the cause of bee-culture. 



C. P. Muth, Cincinnati, O., gave the 

 following address on 



Wintering of Bees. 



After a severe winter like the one of 

 1880-81, during which perhaps 75 per cent, 

 of all the bees in the Middle States of 

 North America died, it is very natural that 

 the subject of wintering is taken up again 

 from very many sides. Although it has 

 been discussed considerably, I am certain 

 that the matter is not yet understood by 

 many. Several very able articles appeared 

 in our Bee Journal during the current 

 year, the best of which was that of our old 

 friend, Rev. L. L. Langstroth. 



All are convinced that everything that 

 breathes requires fresh air. We know 

 that even plants die without it ; and when, 

 at the approach of winter, our bees glue 

 up every crevice in the upper part of the 

 hive, it is not because nature teaches 

 them what is best for their welfare, but 

 coming from a wanner climate, they aim 

 to exclude cold air, and, like all the lower 

 animals, do not profit by past experience. 

 With an insufficient ventilation of school 

 houses in our large cities, the majority of 

 •our children would die of consumption. 

 It is folly, therefore, to suppose that with- 

 out sufficient ventilation a colony of bees 

 can pass through winter successfully, es- 

 pecially so when the winter is cold and 

 long, when the bees are required to con- 

 sume more food than usual in order to 

 create the necessary heat to sustain life, 

 and when their exhalations keep condens- 

 ing into water by the pressure of the cold 

 from without. The dampness becomes 

 so great that the water runs out below, 

 the combs become moldy, and just as cer 

 tain as cider turns into vinegar quickest 

 in a warm, damp room, so will the honey 

 turn sour under like circumstances, and 

 dysentery will be the result. The colder 

 the weather, the greater the effort of the 

 bees to create heat, and the more moisture 

 will accumulate. The absorption andven 

 tilation should be improved in the same 

 ratio as the weather becomes colder. The 

 necessary number of bees, quantity and 

 quality of food, and pure air without a 

 draft, are undoubtedly the principal fac- 

 tors in successful wintering. The means 

 of securing these requisites differ accord- 

 ing to locality, climate, and hive in use, 

 and, as our own views are at variance as 

 much as our surroundings, it is very natu- 

 ral that some of us will always succeed 

 better than others. 



Not having lost a colony of bees for 

 years past, and but 25 per cent, of my col- 

 onies during the last winter, it may do the 

 most good to tell the manner in which my 

 bees were put up. 



I have always tried during the honey 

 season, and afterwards, to secure good 

 wintering combs, that is, combs well tilled 

 with capped honey in the upper part, or 

 more. They were placed in the middle of 

 the hive, in and around the cluster of bees, 

 with a winter passage cut through the 

 middle of every one. I have long aban- 

 doned the ridiculous idea of placing one or 

 two empty combs in the middle of the hive 

 for the bees to cluster on. On the contrary, 

 I cram the most honey possible in the mid- 

 dle of the hive, giving the bees a chance 

 to cluster on the lower parts of the combs, 

 and to move upward gradually as the stores 

 about their cluster get consumed. Small 

 colonies should have the space contracted 

 by means of division boards, according to 

 their strength, because they cannot keep 

 up a comfortable temperature in a large 

 hive. I have always wintered on the sum- 

 mer stands, and without the second stories 

 on the hives. The covering for my bees 

 was a straw mat, with a strip of wood 

 placed on each end, on which the cover 

 rested. An air-space of about an inch was 

 made above the mat. For about ten or 

 twelve years, during which time we have 

 had very severe winters, I have had no loss 

 to report. There were, besides, no moldy 

 combs in my hives, which was a proof of 

 proper ventilation. 



Last fall, however, I left only an air- 

 space of one-sixteenth of an inch below 

 the cover, thinking that sufficient, as it was 

 during the two previous mild winters ; 

 but the winter was too severe, all of my 

 hives were damp, and those which were 

 dampest lost the most bees. Insufficient 

 ventilation was the cause of my last win- 

 ter's loss. Two of my colonies prepared 

 as of old, with an air-space of one inch 

 above the straw mat, were my only colo- 

 nies that came through safely and in good 

 condition. As bees all over the country 

 suffered alike, in single-walled as well as 

 in double-walled and chaff hives, I am 

 more convinced than ever that a proper 

 ventilation is the great secret of safe win- 

 tering. 



O. O. Poppleton, Iowa, makes no 

 provision for upward ventilation. He 

 uses frames 12x12 inches square, with 

 wide top-bars, and there is but little 

 chance for air to get through. 



T. F. Bingham, Mich., has found a 

 large accumulation of dead bees on 

 the bottom-board each winter. He 

 intends to raise the frames this winter 

 at least two inches from the bottom, 

 so as to have room to scrape out the 

 dead bees frequently. 



C. F. Muth will continue to use a 

 second story in wintering, then bore 

 inch holes in the ends of the upper 

 story, so as to give a free circulation 

 of air above the packing. 



J. C. Peden, Lawrenceburg, Ky., 

 approved Mr. Math's suggestions ; he 

 gave several interesting illustrations 

 in proof of his views. 



A paper was read from W. Thomas, 

 Adelphi, Ohio, entitled 



Dysentery in Bees, and its Causes. 



We have selected the above topic for a 

 short essay, not because we feel that we 

 are master of the subject, but for the 

 reason that we hope to awaken thought, 

 and perhaps be able to throw a little light 

 upon this vexed question. The subject is 

 certainly one of vital importance to every 

 bee-keeper, and for this reason should be 

 fully studied and well understood by all. 



The great difficulty with most of us who 

 write on this subject, is to divest ourselves 

 of preconceived notions and theories, be- 

 ing, as a general thing, inclined to trace 

 this trouble to some one particular cause. 

 One traces it altogether to cold weather, 

 another thinks it entirely due to long con- 

 finement, and a third to bad food, a fourth 

 to over-vegetable matter in the honey, or 

 infinitessinial animalcule, called bacteria, 

 while a fifth of equal experience, claims 

 that it is altogether due to excitement, but 

 that long confinement, cold weather, bad 

 food, etc., have nothing to do with bring- 

 ing on the disease. Now all of these can- 

 not be right, and yet perhaps few of them 

 are altogether wrong. 



We start out with the proposition that 

 indigestion is the cause of dysentery, and 

 that any cause that will produce indiges- 

 tion will bring about this disease. As in 

 the human system so in insect life ; if the 

 food is too strong for the stomach, or is 

 taken in quantities beyond what nature 

 requires, the result is an undue tax on the 

 digestive functions. The organs of the 

 bee are adapted to certain kinds of food 

 under certain conditions, and in certain 

 quantities, and any radical or excessive 

 departure from the true normal conditions 

 is sure to bring about trouble. 



Pure wholesome honey is at all times 

 and seasons the natural food for the bee, 

 but there may be causes, as we will try- 

 to show further on, when this is taken in 

 such quantities as to bring on indigestion 

 or dysentery. The same cannot be said of 

 pollen, for while pollen is indispensable 

 to the development and growth of the 

 young bee, the same is not true of the bee 

 in its mature state, especially when long 

 confined to its winter quarters without a 

 fly. An excess of pollen and a lack of 

 good honey under such circumstances we 

 believe to be a fruitful source of this dread 

 disease. In such cases the bee becomes 

 overburdened with a food that is too 

 strong for its digestion in its confined con- 

 dition, and the result is dysentery. The 

 same may be said of any kind of bad food, 

 such as the juices of fruit, sour, uncapped 

 honey, or bad, unwholesome honey, such 

 as is sometimes gathered late in the fall. 

 Confinement under such circumstances, 

 no doubt, has a very aggravating influence, 

 the bees frequently becoming diseased, 

 when, if they had an opportunity to fly to 

 void their feces, no evil would result to 

 them. When the conditions of which we 

 have spoken exist, there may be other 

 causes of an aggravating character, such 

 as excitement, brought about in any way 

 by a disturbance of their normal condi- 

 tion. In a disturbed and excited condition 

 they will gorge themselves, and unless 

 their food is of the best character, the re- 

 sults are sure to be evil. And even the 



purest honey, when under such circum- 

 stances taken greatly in excess, is sure to 

 produce dysentery if the bees are long 

 confined without a fly. 



And this brings us to consider the effect 

 that cold has in bringing on this disease. 

 We have already said that any undue ex- 

 citement or disturbing cause has its evil 

 results, and we know of no one cause that 

 is of a more exciting nature to our little 

 pets than that of excessive cold. Bees 

 are inclined at a moderate temperature to 

 pass into a semi-torpid, quiet condition, 

 and as one writer says, " When in this 

 state it is very easy to rouse them from it 

 bv gently shaking or tapping the hive. 

 When this is done in winter the bees wake 

 up, so to speak, become excited, and soon, 

 by the rapidity of their respirations, raise 

 the temperature of the hive to a great 

 height." The same writer, speaking of 

 the striking effect of the sudden disturb- 

 ance of bees, says : 



"On the morning of Jan. 2, 1836, at a 

 quarter past 7 o'clock, when there was a 

 clear, intense frost, and the thermometer 

 in tne open air stood a little above 17°, 

 and that in the hive marked a tempera- 

 ture of 30=, that is actually two degrees 

 below the freezing point, the bees were 

 roused by tapping on the hive, and in 10 

 minutes the mercury rose to 70°, or 53° 

 above the external air." 



As we. have already remarked, bees if 

 left alone quietly in moderately cold 

 weather will pass into a partially torpid, 

 or as one writer says, " sleepy condition," 

 from which, however, by a beautiful pro- 

 vision of nature, they are aroused by ex- 

 cessive cold, when, breathing with great 

 energy, an amount of animal heat is soon 

 produced that speedily raises the temper- 

 ature of the hive. By actual experiment, 

 it has been shown that the temperature of 

 the hive may, in a few minutes, by dis- 

 turbing the bees, be increased over 50°. 



Thus we see that severe cold is the most 

 serious disturbing cause that the apiarist 

 has to contend with, and it does no doubt, 

 at times, produce an undue amount of ex- 

 citement. This excitement and the desire 

 for food to keep up the requisite amount 

 of animal heat, causes the bees to fill 

 themselves to excess, and thus brings 

 about an abnormal condition, which finally 

 results in dysentery. But the difficulty 

 does not stop here, for if the bees are long 

 exposed to excessive cold, their continued 

 efforts to keep warm and thereby pre- 

 serve life, will soon destroy their vitality. 

 In reality there is, to our mind, no other 

 cause so destructive to bee life as severe 

 cold. It causes excessive feeding, requires 

 a great waste of vital forces, and in this 

 way the tendency is continually toward 

 disease and death. There isstiil another 

 trouble brought about by the disturbance 

 of bees by excessive cold. In their efforts 

 to keep up heat, their rapid breathing has 

 a tendency to increase the humidity of the 

 atmosphere in the hive, and this being 

 heated and coming in contact with the 

 cold from without, condensation takes 

 place, and frost and ice, or dampness and 

 mold is the result, thus rendering the hive 

 to a greater or less extent, unhealthy for 

 the bees. Dysentery can frequently be 

 traced to long-continued dampness, caused 

 by imperfect ventilation. 



To sum up the matter, we believe there 

 is always a tendency to disease, if from 

 any cause bees are left long in an abnor- 

 mal condition. Such a condition always 

 has a tendency to enervate and destroy 

 their vitality, while if the normal condi- 

 tion of plenty of good food, warmth and 

 ventilation are observed, no trouble is 

 likely to ensue from dysentery or any 

 other disease. If we would avoid this 

 dread disease, let us pay strict attention 

 to these three vital points— plenty of good 

 food, warmth and ventilation. 



T. F. Bingham, Michigan, asked 

 Mr. Poppleton if his bees did not breed 

 in winter '/ 



Mr. Poppleton answered they might 

 breed a very little, but not enough to 

 do harm. 



G. W. Demaree, Kentucky, inquired 

 of Mr. Poppleton if he handled his 

 bees in January V 



Mr. Poppleton answered that lie did 

 not. He prepares his bees in the fall 

 by packing on the summer stand. 

 Formerly he wintered them in a cellar, 

 but his "losses in that way were too 

 heavy, and he adopted the out-door 

 method, since which time his losses 

 have been very trifling, not exceeding 

 four per cent. When prepared in the 

 fall, they are not disturbed until they 

 can work with safety in the spring. 



Dr. N. P. Allen, 'Kentucky, stated 

 he had but few cases of dysentery 

 among his bees last winter, and these 

 cases he attributed to the fact that the 

 hives containing the affected colonies 

 were shaded all winter ; he thought 

 dysentery was the result of cold and 



