216 



THE AMERICAIS BEE JOURNAL. 



to mv deliiiht uo ants appeared until 

 the summer of 1878. During the win- 

 ter of 1877-78 1 cut an aged maple 

 tree in the woods and drew it in 

 •' drags " down by the shop to use for 

 fuel for my engine. In cutting up the 

 dead and somewhat dozy top of the 

 tree, I came across a colony of ants. 

 These ants appeared as dead as any 

 dead insect I ever saw. I looked them 

 over, picked out several queens, and, 

 when my curiosity was satisfied, threw 

 all on the snow where I saw them 

 every day for about a week, when a 

 snow covered them up. 



As spring thawed the snow away 

 my ants laid on the ground in a pile 

 near the sill of the shop. when I again 

 poked them over and examined the 

 " dead things." In a few days the 

 sun came out hot, and that evening, 

 in passing the shop, I noticed that my 

 pile of ants was gone, and soon found, 

 much to my sorrow, that they had 

 taken up their abode in the sill of the 

 shop and elsewhere, wherever they 

 could gnaw into the wood, where they 

 still exist to torment me every sum- 

 mer. These ants were hibernating, 

 gave off no warmth, lay motionless all 

 winter, did not stir when their home 

 was split open, and no amount of 

 disturbance could arouse them. If 

 Mr. Clarke or Dr. Tinker can get a 

 colony of bees to pass the winter in 

 like state, tlien we vvi)l all willingly 

 call it " hibernation," and besides, 

 shower them with honors for making 

 a "great discovery." Till then, 

 frends, please use the word ■■ (juies- 

 cence " instead of " hibernation." 



Since writing the above I chanced 

 to split another colony of ants out of 

 a decayed log. These appeared as 

 dead as those spoken of which I found 

 several years ago. I took two in my 

 hand and breathed upon them three 

 times, as long as I would to revive 

 chilled bees, but there was no signs 

 of life. I then took 10 of them and 

 put them into a bottle, placing the 

 bottle near the steam-engine where a 

 temperature of 85° was maintained. 

 At the end of 3 hours no life was 

 shown, but in 5 hours from the time 

 they were left there all were as lively 

 as crickets. This was hibernation, 

 not quiescence. 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



[*As soon as space will permit, we 

 will republish the article. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Telling tlie Bees, 



W. F. CLARKE. 



I supposed that the superstitious 

 custom of " telling the bees" belonged 

 to a by-gone age. until the other day, 

 when I made the unexpected dis- 

 covery that there are some remains of 

 it, even in this era of light and 

 knowledge. 



Calling on an aged English lady, an 

 old maid — it is no libel to call her 

 such, for she is in her ninety -third 

 year — the conversation came some- 

 how to turn on bees. • I used to keen 

 them," said the old spinster, " and 

 I'll tell you how I lost them. When 



my father died, I went to the hives 

 and rapped on each one. saying 

 " death, death, death !" When my 

 mother died, I was so troubled and 

 worried that I forgot to tell the bees, 

 and every one of them died." 



" I do believe its all a blatther o' 

 smoke," said her brother, an old boy 

 of about seventy. " I tell thee, Henry, 

 its nuthin' o' the kind. Its true as 

 Bible. Why, there's William D." 

 (residentabouttwomilesaway), " who 

 used to keep bees ; he got married, 

 and did n't tell the bees. Well, his 

 wife got cancer and died, and every 

 one of the bees died, too." 



It was of no use arguing with a 

 lady of her age and experience, for 



"If she win, she will, you may depend on't : 

 And if she wont.she wont, and there's an end on't." 



So I left her to hug her pet super- 

 stition during the rest of her waning 

 eve of life. 



Guelph, Ont. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Causes of Loss in Winter. 



JAS. A. MINICH, M. D. 



We can scarcely pick up a bee-paper 

 that has not something to say on tnis 

 subject. We hear it discussed ad 

 infinitum at our conventions ; and of 

 remedies to guard against winter 

 loss, there is no end. It is amusing 

 to see how widely apiarists differ and 

 the variance of tlieir opinions. I have 

 listened patiently, and have faith- 

 fully read all the theories. I do not 

 object to . any and all the plans that 

 have been given from time to time ; 

 they are all good enough as far as 

 they go. It is well to put chaff-cush- 

 ions, forest leaves, or any good ab- 

 sorbent in the upper story of the 

 hive ; or to pack straw or sawdust, or 

 chaff around the outsides of the hive ; 

 contract the brood chamber to five or 

 six frames; make passage-ways 

 through the combs, or place sticks on 

 top for the same purpose; and put 

 them into a suitable cellar. All these 

 cautionary measures are proper, and 

 most of them necessary to success. 

 The bees will generally winter well 

 and come out in the spring all right, 

 and every bee-keeper feels as though 

 he had solved the winter problem, and 

 is on the road to success, and even to 

 fame, and he cries " Eureka !" 



But sooner or later an epidemic 

 comes and the bees die in spite of all 

 the above plans and remedies, and a 

 '• change comes o"er the spirit of his 

 dreams." And again the discussidu 

 begins—" too much pollen," too much 

 ventilation, or not enough ; too much 

 heat or too mucli cold, or too damp ; 

 and more remedies are offered. Now, 

 why is it that these epidemics will 

 come every few years ? In my opinion 

 the main reason has been overlooked. 

 I have observed that every epidemic 

 among bees has been preceded by a 

 drouth the summer or fall previous. I 

 wish every apiarist to make a note of 

 tills. This was the case the summer 

 and fall of I8S0, and it was followed 

 in the winter by great fatality among 

 the bees. It was the case 13 or 14 



years ago— I cannot tell the year— and 

 the bees were almost annihilated the 

 following winter in Central Indiana. 

 And in the summer and fall of 1884 

 there was sufficient drouth at the 

 proper time to bring about the same 

 result. 



But how could it affect the bees '? 

 you ask. In two ways: 1. It is a 

 well known fact that flowers will not 

 bloom and honey will not flow in dry 

 weather, and consequently the queens 

 cease to lay eggs, and breeding stops. 

 Now one can readily see that colonies 

 will have to go into winter quarters 

 with old June and July bees which 

 were ready to die from old age and 

 exhaustion ; or perchance a few of 

 them might linger a few weeks longer, 

 and " one by one they pass away " in 

 the spring — " spring dwindling" 

 caused by old age. 



2. D)-y weather is conducive to the 

 secretion of honey-dew or " bug- 

 juice," and bees will gather it and 

 store it away for the winter, which 

 causes diarrhea among the bees and 

 consequent death. 



The remedy : Taking the above to 

 be facts, the remedy is now plain 

 enough ; the winter problem is solved. 

 When dry weather sets in, and the 

 honey-flow ceases in August and Sep- 

 tember, the bees should be fed regu- 

 larly so as to stimulate late breeding. 

 This should be done regularlfj, or the 

 queens will not have much confidence 

 in the future outlook, and will stop 

 laying. Honey-dew should be ex- 

 cluded in every way possible. It can 

 be detected as soon as the bee-keeper 

 sees it. Take it out and feed them 

 bountifully on cane-sugar syrup. 



Now, fellow bee-keeper, if you will 

 be as careful in this respect as you are 

 in others, you will have no "losses. 

 Remember that your greatest trouble 

 is caused by drouths ; and that if your 

 colonies can go into winter quarters 

 with young bees ; with pure honey or 

 syrup ; cushions of chaff or leaves on 

 top ; passages for the bees to travel 

 from comb to comb ; and keeping 

 them quiet, and not bothering them 

 at all in their long rest, you will see 

 them all come out booming in the 

 spring. No matter how severe the 

 winter may be, tliey will survive and 

 come out all right, on the above con- 

 ditions. 



Indianapolis.© Ind. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



A Sample of " ClieaD " Honey, 



W. J. CULLINAN. 



I have frequently noticed honey 

 quoted at 6 to 8 cents per pound in 

 the markets, and as often wondered 

 how pure honey coulol be produced 

 and sold at a price tliat would justify 

 the dealer in offering the same at 

 these (as I supposed) ruinous prices. 

 My wonderment was still further 

 augmented when I learned, the other 

 day. that a dealer in groceries at this 

 place was selling Calitornia (?) honey, 

 which he purchased in New i'ork.at 

 11 cents a pound. I did not go to see 

 the stuff, which I learned resembled 

 a poor grade of wliiie sugar wet with 



