250 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



laying freely, but of course no larvse, 

 asthere was no bee-bread in the hive. 

 Soon the weather changed and 1 

 again moved them in-doors. I kept 

 them two weeks on pure sugar syrup, 

 during which time they drew out and 

 capped three sheets of foundation. 

 And I never saw bees with the 

 diarrhea as bad as they had it. 



As I pack my bees without remov- 

 ing any frames, I had no bee-bread or 

 honey to give them ; so I went to a 

 neiglibor bee-man and got two frames 

 well filled with bee-bread and some 

 honey ; one of these I placed in the 

 hive, the other I hung up in the 

 liouse, and uncapped a little of the 

 honey. Soon the bees were working 

 on the suspended frame, and eventu- 

 ally they removed every particle of 

 honey and bee-bread from it. They 

 were now rearing young bees pretty 

 well, and had a few inches of capped 

 brood. Many of the bees had wax 

 scales sticking to their bodies. They 

 still had the diarrhea very badly, and 

 many bees were dying daily ; they 

 would settle on a leaf and gradually 

 stiffen and die. 



The temperature of the house 

 ranged from 55° to 63° at night, to 70" 

 or SO^ during the day. 



This I think is not in accordance 

 with the conclusions arrived at by 

 correspondents of the Bee Journal 

 early last year while discussing the 

 pollen theory. They agreed that 

 cold, and cold alone, was the prime 

 cause of diarrhea among bees. 

 It certainly was not cold in this case, 

 for the temperatilre was never below 

 550, Fahr. 



They used the two frames of bee- 

 bread very quickly, in fact so quickly 

 as to lead me to believe that not one- 

 half of it was used for feeding voung 

 bees. By Jan. 1st, the supply of bee- 

 bread run out, and bee-rearing 

 stopped ; their supplies were now all 

 capped and I then tliought that the 

 diarrhea was ended, for they had no 

 pollen ; but not so, however, for the 

 same dirty splatches continued to be 

 found on the white-painted sash- bars. 



I kept them three weeks without 

 bee-bread, but there was no improve- 

 ment in their diarrhetic condition. 

 Their number was fast being reduced, 

 so I gave them some tlour, and placed 

 a frame of capped stores from their 

 own hive in front of the hive. They 

 then commenced to rear young bees. 



My object in placing the frame of 

 honey outside the hive, was to keep 

 them carrying in. and see what they 

 were able to do. On Feb. 1 the queen 

 was laying freely, yet not one-third of 

 her egg.s were liatched ; the bees, no 

 doul)l, ate them. 



What was tlie cause of the incess- 

 ant diarrhea y It could not have been 

 the cold ; and I do not think that eat- 

 ing the eggs would affect their health. 

 Could it have been the excessive 

 moisture in the greenhouse V Most 

 of the bees up to Feb. 1 liad been 

 reared since I)ec. 1 ; therefore they 

 knew no other pasture than the green- 

 house afforded ; and not 5 per cent 

 were lost on the glass by struggling 

 to get out. 



I have learned one lesson from these 

 bees that is not recorded in the text- 



books, namely, that old bees can 

 produce wax at will, and that without 

 the aid of pollen or bee-bread. I 

 would like to have some of the experi- 

 enced apiarists give their opinions on 

 the above case. 

 raris,o+ Ills. 



e'er tlie American Bee Journal 



Tlie f iuterii ProWeiii, 



S. BITTENBENDER. 



This problem seems to be the most 

 important thing to be mastered by 

 the apiarists of to-day. This problem 

 once mastered means one-third less 

 cost ill the production of honey. 

 More has been written upon this 

 branch of our growing industry than 

 upon any other. Hundreds of theories 

 have been anvanced through the bee- 

 periodicals, yet all have been found 

 by experience to be only theories. 



The hibernation theory, as advanced 

 by Rev. W. F. Clarke, appeared 

 plausible at first, but it is not a solu- 

 tion of the problem at all. Bees in a 

 normal condition in winter have a 

 quiet state of repose, but do not 

 hibernate as some other insects do. 

 My reasons for so believing are : 1. 

 Strong colonies are perfectly quiet, 

 (or hibernating?) in January and 

 February while they are breeding and 

 consuming honey, either in the cellar 

 or out-of-doors. Can bees hibernate 

 while breeding and consuming honey? 

 2. I care not what temperature the 

 air outside of the hive is (when the 

 hive is in the cellar or on the summer 

 stands.) strong colonies are all the 

 time humming ? Can bees hibernate 

 while bumming? 3. Theants, while 

 in the state of hibernation, are appar- 

 ently frozen as hard as ice ; pick them 

 up and they will be found as motion- 

 less as a stone ; here is true hiberna- 

 tion. Bees in this state will not live 

 48 hours, although I have known 

 them to become seemingly dead for 

 12 hours (from cold) and yet survive 

 when placed near a fire. 



How may we winter our bees on 

 their own combs with natural stores ? 

 Here is my theory, which you may 

 call the "October theory" or what- 

 ever you please : 



There is a law in all nature which 

 requires living things to take periods 

 of repose. Man and the higher orders 

 of creation require a daily repose at 

 night, while most insects, trees, and 

 flowers, require a yearly repose. 

 Violate these laws and you must 

 suffer. Nature provides for all 

 things. She bids our "pets" to 

 discontinue breeding from Oct. 1, to 

 midwinter. Common sense would 

 teach us to suppose that this was the 

 natural time for bees to hibernate or 

 repose'. T5ees in their natural state 

 in the woods keep themselves in the 

 trunks of trees 4 to 6 inches thick, 

 where the autumnal sun cannot dis- 

 turb them in their October and Nov- 

 ember repose. We thwart nature's 

 ways when we put our bees into a 

 %-incli hive and let the sun beat upon 

 it till cold weather comes, disturbing 

 the bee in its natural repose. Bees 

 should be put into the cellar, or packed 



on their summer stands, as soon as 

 they stop breeding ; if they are packed 

 it should be so effectually done that 

 the warmth of the October and Nov- 

 ember sun cannot allure them out of 

 their hives. Bees contract their 

 well-known complaint in October and 

 November as follows : 



During the first cool weather in 

 October, breeding having ceased, they 

 fill themselves with honey prepara- 

 toiy for tlieir natural repose, but in a 

 few days they are disturbed by the 

 warmth of the October sun. They 

 take a flight. The apiarist is happy. 

 The bees unload themselves. I have 

 known them to spot the ground con- 

 siderably after a cold spell in the fall. 

 The cool October nights cause them 

 to till themselves with honey again 

 for nature's repose, but another warm 

 day thwarts nature's plans once more. 

 Things continue thus until a temper- 

 ature of 10^ in December persuades 

 the bee-keeper to carry tliem into the 

 cellar or pack them on their summer 

 stands, " according to scientific prin- 

 ciples. " 



Now in what condition do we find the 

 bees? 1. They are weakened by the 

 loss of their natural repose the same 

 as their owner would be were his 

 quiet sleep to be disturbed every 

 night for the half year. 2. They have 

 already the germ "of diarrhea within 

 them. Their intestines are in an 

 abnormal condition, being unnatur- 

 ally exercised, and weakened by 

 inflammation. 8. They have acquired 

 an unnatural appetite for eating 

 honey. They eat too much, and now 

 being deprived of their natural flights, 

 soon become distended beyond endur- 

 ance, and with tlieir intestines in- 

 flamed, they must have a flight every 

 few weeks or perish. Is it any won- 

 der that we lose our bees when we 

 thus treat ttie laws of nature ? Why 

 do bees cease breeding October l,if 

 nature does not bid them repose at 

 that time ? It is not because they 

 gather no honey, for in February and 

 March tliey will breed without col- 

 lecting honey. 



In support of the theory of early 

 reposing, I would remind the reader 

 of the fact that a very mild fall, with 

 a late beginning of winter, thus giv- 

 ing bees frequent flights, is a certain 

 forerunner of diarrhea and losses of 

 bees. The fall of 1884 was very mild. 

 Bees took a flight every week till 

 December 10, and never was bee- 

 diarrhea so prevalent in the Unite 

 States as during the succeeding win- 

 ter. 



Last fall my brother and I put 87 

 colonies into caves; 53 were put in 3 

 weeks before the usual time— I think 

 about Nov. 10. I never saw bees 

 winter any better than these are win- 

 tering ; they have no signs of disease 

 whatever. Every fliglit that bees get 

 after Oct. 1 is a detriment. I doubt 

 whether breeding in this latitude (42^) 

 is any advantage after Oct. 1. 



There are other things to be consid- 

 ered in the solution of this wintering 

 problem, such as moisture, food, 

 temperature, etc., but the most im- 

 portant thing is to get the bees in 

 their winter repositories early. 



Knoxville,? Iowa. 



