AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



79 



€au§c of the Di$ea§c Known as 

 " Bee-Diarrhea." 



Query 880.— What is the cause of bees 

 having diarrhea ?— Illinois. 



Microbes. — Emerson T. Abbott. 

 I don't know. — J. M. Hambaugh. 

 Dampness and poor honey. — M.Mahin. 

 Long confitiement and watery honey. 

 — Dadant & Son. 



Long confinement or poor honey, or 

 both. — James A. Geeen. 



Too long confinement in cold weather, 

 and poor food. — E. France. 



I think poor food, and too great ex- 

 tremes of temperature. — A. J. Cook. 



Bad food ; damp, cold, confinement ; 

 too much disturbance. — Eugene Secoe. 



Cold or poor honey, or dampness or 

 other things — one or all. — J. H. Larra- 

 bee. 



Cold and its usual consequent damp- 

 ness are the principal causes. — P. H. 

 Elwood. 



Cold and confinement. This is the 

 cause; other things may aggravate. — G. 

 W. Demaree. 



1. Bad food. 2. Excessive dampness. 

 3. Cold. 4. Long confinement to their 

 hives. — C. H. Dibbern. 



Long confinement ; and, as Heddon 

 says, too much pollen and too little 

 honey. — Will M. Barnum. 



Lack of sufficiently frequent flights to 

 free the intestines of accumulations as 

 nature requires. — G. M. Doolittle. 



Improper food and improper ventila- 

 tion ; or, if put in winter confinement 

 without flight, or disturbed. — Mrs. J. N. 

 Heater. 



Conditions which impair the health of 

 the bee. I would say unwholesome 

 food, and an unwholesome atmosphere. 



— R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



Probably foul air. In driving bees out 

 of an old-fashioned surplus honey-box 

 years ago, by putting the nozzle of a 



smoker to an entrance hole and puffing 

 vigorously, in a few moments the bees 

 were soiling the honey, and had the ap- 

 pearance of bees suffering with diarrhea. 

 — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



On account of their intestines becom- 

 ing overloaded with excreta, which they 

 are unable to void seasonably, from lack 

 of opportunity to fly. — R. L. Taylor. 



Honey-dew honey, or poor, thin honey 

 gathered from flowers, and long confine- 

 ment to the hive, I think, are fruitful 

 sources of bee-diarrhea. — S. I. Free- 

 born. 



Engorgement of the intestines. This 

 may be caused by a combination of too 

 much food taken ; bad honey ; food too 

 much mixed with pollen ; cold. — J. P. 

 H. Brown. 



Something wrong outside or inside. 

 Too damp and cold a place may nause it 

 with the best of food, and bad food may 

 cause it with the best conditions other- 

 wise. — C. C. Miller. 



I think it is because they are kept too 

 cool, causing them to eat more than 

 they would if kept at the right tempera- 

 ture ; and not having a chance for a 

 cleansing flight. — Jas. A. Stone. 



This question is one that is hard to 

 answer, and any answer will only be a 

 matter of opinion. One says it is owing 

 to distension of bowel, owing to want of 

 flight. Mr. Heddon says " pollen." For 

 myself, I think ordinarily it is caused by 

 excess of moisture. I don't propose, 

 though, to be led into a discussion on the 

 subject. — J. E. Pond. 



I have come to the conclusion that it 

 is a general disorder of the digestive 

 organs of the bees, causing great fever, 

 and causes them to shed their hair. It 

 is caused by over-eating both honey and 

 pollen, and the lack of good weather to 

 fly and void their feces, and free them- 

 selves from their sufferings. I have 

 studied on this line considerable. — Mrs. 

 Jennie Atchley. 



Please l>ou^t send to us for bee-sup- 

 plies, as we do not deal in them, and your 

 order, if sent to us, must necessarily be de- 

 layed in filling. Just patronize those sup- 

 ply dealers who advertise in our columns, 

 and you will thus please us most. We shall 

 be glad to furnish you any bee-book and 

 the Bee Journal, but when it comes to 

 supplies — well, we are not " in it." 



"Bees and Honey" — seepage 67. 



