THE AMERIOAJN BEE JOURWAL. 



343 



I have no faith, however, in the 

 " dry-feces theory." It seems to me 

 that if that hypothesis were correct, 

 it would liave ceased to be a theory 

 long before any of us were born, and 

 would have been clearly defined 

 science. I see no reason why this 

 would not have been the case. On 

 the other hand, it is only now and 

 then that some one is able to find a 

 few droppings that seem to be excreta, 

 and in nearly every case chemical 

 analysis proves they are not. On this 

 point, last year. Prof. Cook said : 

 " There is no foundation in the dry- 

 feces theory,! am sure." Again : "Bees 

 do not normally void feces in the hive, 

 and never dry feces.'' I can see no 

 place for the shadow of a donbt, but 

 that fecal matter is the cause of the 

 all destructive bee-diarrhea ; and that 

 such matter is composed almost en- 

 tirely of pollen, i. e., its solid part — 

 the only damaging part. 



The majority of the readers will 

 recollect that about a year ago I sent 

 specimens of excreta and pollen to 

 Prof. Cook for analysis, and that he 

 reported as follows : 



" I have subjected the pollen to a 

 very careful examination with a one- 

 sixth objective. I find several kinds 

 of pollen grains, two of which are by 

 far the most common. One is oval, 

 rather pointed at the ends, with a 

 longitudinal slit and numerous pro- 

 jections ; the other is globular and 

 thickly set with projections much like 

 those in the other. I then studied 

 the excreta, and had some one else 

 made the change, I should have 

 stoutly maintained that the objects 

 were the same that I had just 

 studied. The kinds of pollen were 

 exactly the same in style and mark- 

 ings. The pollen you sent had been 

 liberally appropriated by the bees 

 whose excreta you sent." 



I suggested that the Professor seek 

 some diarrhetic specimens near his 

 home, which he did, and reported as 

 follows : 



" I went to a neighbor's bees, all of 

 which are dead, and I took three with 

 long, black, turgid bodies and dis- 

 sected out their alimentary canal as 

 before. The stomach and intestines 

 were fairly bui;sting with repletion ; 

 slight pressure sent the black, odorous 

 excreta flying. This was almost one 

 exclusive mass of pollen-grains held 

 in a watery mixture." 



A few weeks ago I mailed him 

 specimens of diarrhetic excreta from 

 2 colonies that died with the disease, 

 and the following is his report : 'Tlie 

 thick feces is loaded with pollen of 

 various kinds, and is largely insoluble 

 in water. It has also many spherical 

 fungi. The other also has much 

 pollen, but less. It also has the 

 spherical bacteria or fungi, and in 

 addition, some forms which are 

 chain-like in appearance. This is 

 .more soluble than the other, but after 

 boiling for some time in water, there 

 is quite a residue that is insoluble." 



It will be remembered that I have 

 all along declared that I believed the 

 trouble rested with food and tempera- 



ture, and that natural stores were not 

 safe at all times and in all places, 

 even if the temperature was kept up 

 to a proper degree. I said that I did 

 not believe that bees would devour 

 bee-bread if not exposed to a low tem- 

 perature that caused exertion, and 

 consequent waste of tissue, but that I 

 thought that our honey frequently 

 contained an amount of floating pollen, 

 that the bees necessarily consumed 

 when such consumption could only 

 end in diarrhea, and do no good in 

 any direction. 



Mr. Barber and others living in 

 different localities, thought differ- 

 ently, and believed that temperature 

 alone would insure success with good, 

 average, natural stores. Their ex- 

 perience made it look so. I am not 

 inclined to be bigoted, and I began 

 to hope that they were nearly right. 

 My " hope " was rather a larger share 

 of wish than expectation. However, 

 SfiOO for sugar (cash down), with 

 20,000 pounds of honey unsold, was 

 (and is) an argument in favor of nat- 

 ural stores, wherever they will do, 

 and will be such until we can realize 

 cash at will for our product, the same 

 as for wheat, corn, etc. 



I fed a part, and most of that part 

 only part sugar - syrup stores. I 

 tried damp and dry cellars ; I tried 

 fresh air and stagnant ventilation, or 

 almost no ventilation at all. A bee- 

 house was dry and ventilation re- 

 duced to the minimum ; one cellar 

 was damp, and nearly as poorly 

 ventilated ; another was dry and well 

 ventilated ; in all, the temperature 

 was kept between 45° and .50^, Fahr. 

 I could discover no effects from 

 humidity or ventilation. No colony 

 on all sugar syrup showed any signs 

 of bee-diarrhea. Those with mixed 

 stores had it only when they reached 

 their natural stores, whether the 

 change of stores was the cause or not. 

 Over one-third of my colonies had it 

 more or less toward spring ; a portion 

 died of it, and I am left on the old 

 stand. Pure and only sugar syrup 

 stores will warrant certain success in 

 this locality. 



Twice have I brought a large num- 

 ber of colonies through in perfect 

 condition, with no pollen in the 

 combs, and although they did not and 

 could not rear any brood till they 

 gathered new pollen, they were my 

 strongest colonies when the surplus 

 harvest came. The old bees, having 

 vitality, did not drop away as Usual, 

 so when increase began it gained 

 surely and rapidly. With my many 

 experiments, I expected to lose a 

 number of colomes, but that number 

 was larger than I looked for, only 

 proving against my desire, that I 

 have been nearer right about the 

 matter of food vs. temperature than I 

 wish I was ; and that 1 must look to 

 cane-sugar for perfect success, or 

 take the chances with natural stores. 



Dowagiac o Mich 



For tbe Amencan Bee JoumaL 



Frozen Fisli in Florida. 



JOHN Y. DETWILER. 



ly The 5th regular nieetint^ of the Hill County 

 Bee-Keepers' ABsociation will be held on the first 

 Tuesday in July, ]sm;. at the apiary of Hon. J. M. 

 McDaniel. of I'eoria. Tex. At the same time and 

 place will be held a bee-keepers' honey picnic. 

 H. A. Goodrich, Sec. 



Shortly after sending my communi- 

 cation on page 00, 1 received the fol- 

 lowing which the writer wished me 

 to reply to through the columns of 

 the American Bee Journal. Re- 

 alizing that it is outside of the style 

 of articles usually sent to the Bee 

 Journal, yet to satisfy our friend 

 an explanation may be in order. The 

 writer says : 



" In your communication on page 60 

 you say that 'fish have been frozen by 

 the thousands, green turtles are float- 

 ing on the water perfectly benumbed, 

 etc' That is something that we 

 Kentuckians never saw. Nor did I 

 ever hear of fish freezing. Were they 

 in the river, lakes or ponds i* Perhaps 

 you are joking. Doubtless you are 

 truthful, but the tale seems big. You 

 promised to report later. Will you 

 please give the readers of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal an explanation of 

 your ' fish story V " — M. D. L. C, 

 Texas, Ky. 



Persons accustomed to write for the 

 press are, from time to time, criticised 

 more or less severely, especially if 

 their statements seem exaggerated, 

 or, as in this instance, " fishy." So 

 far as my articles are concerned, 

 criticisms are in order. Experience 

 has taught me that individuals some- 

 times take exceptions to statements 

 made, and a safe plan is to stick to 

 facts, however subborn, and be sure 

 authorities quoted are reliable. If by 

 any means an individual is wronged 

 unjustly in a communication, it is no 

 disgrace to " come down like Crock- 

 ett's coon," and make a satisfactory 

 apology. 



According to my observations the 

 mercury sank to 20^ above zero, the 

 falling temperature of the day pre- 

 vious (Saturday, Jan. 9) caused the 

 salt water to relinquish its heat, and 

 the effect upon the fish was similar 

 to a mixture of snow and salt to the 

 hand. On the ocean beach but few 

 fish were found except those usually 

 found in shoal water. On the inside, 

 or on the Ilillsboro and Halifax rivers, 

 also the Lagoon, the destruction was 

 immense, especially among the trout. 

 The fish were not frozen solid, as I do 

 not remember of having seen any ice 

 save in fresh water. 



New Smyrna,© Fla. 



For t&e Amencan Bee Joumal* 



Bee-KeepinE in Mississimii, 



20— L. J. DE SOBOTKER. (a5-82.) 



We had some pretty high winds and 

 chilly weather during the past week, 

 but it has not prevented the bees 

 from brood-rearing in the least. They 

 are very active and busy gathering 

 pollen and nectar ; some of the colo- 

 nies in "gums" are throwing out 

 natural swarms with beautiful queens. 

 I have now .50 gallons of honey of IIM 

 pounds each. In bloom we have at 



