196 



i'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



REPLIES by Prominent Apiarists. 



Cause of Bee-Diarrliea, 



Query, No. 226.— I should like to ask 

 whether it is generally considered necessary 

 that lieos should void a dark feces to have 

 diarrhea ? This liquid voiding- is in conse- 

 quence of impaired digostion. Would not 

 the pure honey, it imperfectly digested, 

 assimilated and voided, cause diarrhea ?— H., 

 Ont. 



I think that the disturbance of 

 brood-reaiing in a low temperature 

 always causes more or less of what is 

 known as bee-diarrhea. Of course 

 this question opens an inexhaustible 

 field for discussion.— H. R. Board- 



3IAN. 



It is not. After a long conflnement 

 ht'althy bees often void a dark semi- 

 soli.'l feces ou the first spring flight. 

 Mr Is • Cornell has proved this beyond 

 dispute".- The liquid voiding is due 

 to the pi"iiicipal causes— dampness in 

 the hive ai?d cold. If such a thing 

 could be as ;u) perfectly digested and 

 assimilated as .Vney in bees wintering 

 under good conu:lions, I answer no to 

 the latter question.— G. L. Tinker. 



It is hard to say jCst where diar- 

 rhea or disease begins'.- Bees will 

 hold a certain amount of fecal accu- 

 mulations for a certain leng^'-b of time 

 and not become sufficiently Oiseased 

 to peril the life of the colony, ^ut if 

 these accumulations are too great, 

 the bees become diseased ; and when 

 they are filled almost to bursting, 

 against their instincts, they void in 

 the hive, and their excreta is found 

 replete with pollen. Beyond these 

 well known facts, let each one specu- 

 late and experiment for himself, till 

 we finally find out and all agree on 

 the exact conditions that will avoid 

 the accumulation of fecal matter, in 

 all places and at all times. I consider 

 the problem practically ours.— James 

 IIeddon. 



Pure honey will not cause diarrhea. 

 The voiding of feces in spring is not 

 bee-diarrhea. That disease is a void- 

 ing of feces in the hive, accompanied 

 with lack of strength. The one is 

 simply natural; the other a disease, 

 and is probably caused by impure 

 stores ; ordinarily I think by fer- 

 mented honey, owing either to not 

 being sealed up in the fall, or else not 

 properly ripened before sealing. Ex- 

 cess of moisture accompanied by 

 extreme cold would produce the dis- 

 ease.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



I cannot say what the general opin- 

 ion is on the point you mention. But 

 at the close of the terrible blizzard we 

 had here hi January, after confine- 

 ment of only about ten days, I had the 

 pleasure (grim i)l('asure, you say) of 

 seeing bees so distended in body that 

 they could hardly drag themselves ou 



the alighting-board. The abdomens 

 of these bees contained nothing but a 

 transparent liquid, with no solid mat- 

 ter visible under a glass of consider- 

 able power. These bees had been fed 

 on sugar syrup. I had one colony 

 that was fed on sorghum syrup, their 

 discharges, though small in quantity, 

 were dark in color; those fen on nat- 

 ural stores discharged a yellow sub- 

 stance, while the sugar-fed bees, the 

 heaviest loaded of all, discharged a 

 transparent liquid that might have 

 evaded notice had it not been for the 

 snow on the ground.— G. W. Dem- 



AREE. 



I think no, to the first question ; 

 to the second, yes ; but there comes 

 another question, is pure honey ever 

 imperfectly digested 'i and then comes 

 the question, what is meant by pure 

 honey V I might take oath that I be- 

 lieved a comb of honey I offered for 

 sale was pure honey, yet if I fed it to 

 bees they might take oath it was part 

 pollen. Besides there may be a differ- 

 ence in pure honey. On the whole, I 

 give it up.— C. C. Miller. 



Bees Drowning in Sap-Pails, 



Query, No. 227.— How can we prevent 

 such heavy loss in spring by bees drowning- 

 in sap-pails during sugar-making time. Can 

 we feed sweet water or anything to keep 

 them busy ? If so, should it be fed in the 

 hive or out-doors ? Or would it e.xcite them 

 to hunt further and increase the trouble ? 

 We lose quite a number every spring in our 

 sugar-camp, and those of our neighbors' 1— 

 W. L. J., Ind. 



res. it would excite them to hunt 

 further, and increase the trouble. It 

 would be better to throw a mosquito- 

 bar over the pail, or a square piece of 

 .■'ire-cloth, and let the sap run through 

 the" meshes. This wire-cloth could 

 be u.'^ed several years.— Dadant & 

 Son. 



I do not' think that feeding near 

 home would cause the loss of many 

 bees. The only way I can see of doing 

 is to furnish cov.ts for the pails. You 

 might sue the sng,T.r-makers for dam- 

 ages. (V)— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Covering up the pails will prevent the 

 loss ; or will that cost more than the 

 bees are worth V If you feed at that 

 time, it will cause them to go further 

 in search of food.— H. D. Cu'nTNO. 



I know of no way unless we ksep 

 them in a cellar. The sugar-makers 

 ought, for their own good, to cover 

 the buckets, in which ease all would 

 be safe. I have a sugar-bush of 600 

 trees. All the buckets are kept cov- 

 ered. Then all dirt, leaves, rain- 

 water and snow are kept out. This is 

 what makes the syrup nice.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



An answer to this question is what 

 I have been seeking after for years, 

 and the only practical one I have 

 found is to keep them in the cellar 

 until this danger is past. Feeding 

 seems to make the matter woise.— G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



Sections witli Siile-Ooenings. 



Query, No. 228.— What has been your 

 experience regarding the use of one-pound 

 sections with openings ou 4 sides ?— W.H.W. 



I have not as much confidence in 

 them since trying a few (perhaps a 

 hundred) as 1 had before.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



I have not tried them, but their 

 peculiar construction would defeat 

 my idea of concentration. — G. W. 

 Demaree. 



I have not used such sections, but 

 recommend them on the authority of 

 a number of eminent Cairulian bee- 

 keepers who believe side-openings to 

 sections of great advantage. But for 

 that matter, judgment on a question 

 of this nature hardly requires the test 

 of experience. It is self-evident that 

 the side-openings will overcome sev- 

 eral of the greatest objections to sep- 

 arators, as the preventing of nearly 

 all sticking of the sections and sep- 

 arators by propolis, and allowing the 

 bees to cluster practically in a solid 

 body in the super.— G. L. Tinker. 



In my experience with open-top- 

 and -bottom sections, I have encoun- 

 tered no deficiency that open-sides 

 could supply. I readily imagine 

 troubles that they might bring us. 

 Many will test them the coming sea- 

 son and report results. They increase 

 the number of angles for glue, and 

 most of all, acute angles. Only ex- 

 perience can decide. If they come 

 into general use, I am wrong ; if not, 

 I am right in my theory regarding 

 them.— James Heddon. 



FeeflinE Bees— (irannlaleil Honey. 



Query, No. 229.-1. What is the cheapest 

 food for stimulative feeding of bees in the 

 spring? *J. Why does some white clover 

 honey granulate sooner than other kinds ? — 

 R. G.. Mo. 



1. That depends on prices. In some 

 places, honey ; in some, granulated 

 sugar. 2. Ripeness may have some- 

 thing to do with it.— C. C. Miller. 



1. Good dark honey, such as is 

 quoted at from 4 toG cents per pound. 

 2. Honey varies in chemical composi- 

 tion, even when gathered from the 

 same class of flowers. Perhaps owing 

 to atmosperic causes. Tlie variation 

 in composition is sufficient to account 

 for the difference in tendency to 

 granulate.- G. W. Demaree. 



1. Second quality of extracted 

 honey. If it is purchased in the open 

 market it should be boiled at least 10 

 minut«is before feeding to the bees, 

 as a safo-gnard against the introduc- 

 tion of foul brood.— G. L. Tinker. 



1. The ch'^apest grades of honey. 

 Honey contains nitrogen, cane-sugar 

 does not. Nitrogen is a necessary 

 element to the production of tissue — 

 brood-rearing. 2. Probably because 

 it is not so well ripened, and contains 

 less acid. Raw houay, if not too 

 thin, will candy sooner than well 



