THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



473 



This has been the poorest lioney 

 season, so far, that I have seen in 15 

 years. Bassvvood is in full bloom, 

 and not a drop of honey is being put 

 Into the boxes. Some colonies are 

 actually going backward. 

 ■ Glenwood,^ Pa., July 13, 1886. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Feeding Sugar to Bees, 



U. E. HILL. 



In answer to Mr. Hutchinson, on 

 page 329, where he so courteously re- 

 plies to my letter on the above sub- 

 ject, I would say that for the very 

 reason that iSIr. H. '-would consider 

 it wisdom to feed sugar," the ones of 

 whom I wrote would give as a reason, 

 iftlieywere asked, why they did not 

 feed also. But they would be sure to 

 add, " And 1 want to keep it so." 

 For in most instances it is attribu- 

 table to tlie fact tliat such carry on the 

 business independent of any inferior 

 foreign substance; that the price of 

 honey remains aliove that of sugar 

 according to its comparative value in 

 their local market ; and the profit to 

 be derived by extracting the honey 

 and substituting sugar for winter 

 would be so meagre, compared with 

 the loss of bringing honey down to a 

 level with that of sugar, that they do 

 not care to enter into any such specu- 

 lation. 



No, Mr. Hutchinson, we do not 

 " expect such a sacrilice on the part 

 of our less fortunate brothers;" 

 " simply because it may assist in giv- 

 ing color to an unjmt accusation." 

 But in the face of the fact that sugar 

 feeding /las and still is lessening the 

 sales and lowering the price of honey, 

 is it better that the few (compara- 

 tively) bee-keepers who cannot winter 

 their bees on their natural food, 

 should sacrifice their gain by the 

 practice V or that the future pros- 

 perity of the honey-producing com- 

 munity should be sacrificed V 



1 agree with Mr. Geo. A. Wright, 

 in Oleanings for Feb. 1, when he says 

 that " sugar feeding, or bee-keeping, 

 has got to go down." Nothing will 

 put " beekeeping down " so quickly 

 as putting down the price of honey. 

 It is for the price of the honey that 

 bees are kept, and the fact that bee- 

 keepers are now using hundreds of 

 barrels of sugar annually has put 

 down the price, and the demand for 

 honey. 



To those that wonder " if it is 

 really necessary to feed sugar to in- 

 sure safe wintering," just recall 

 America's most successful apiarists— 

 those who for many years have lost 

 no bees, practically ; those who pro- 

 duce the greatest amount of honey, 

 etc. (Do not hastily conclude that 

 because a man is a popular apiarian 

 writer,that he is a successful apiarist.) 

 Then hnd out how many of these 

 gentlemen feed sugar ; and draw your 

 own conclusions. 



If bees are getting so " high-toned " 

 during the past few years, over the 

 modern system of apiculture, that 

 honey is not good enough for them. 



what will we have to feed in ten years 

 from now, if the present rate of pro- 

 gress continues V If this is not the 

 reason, let some one who knows, tell 

 us who has fed cane-sugar since the 

 foundation of the world, in order to 

 keep the race extant, and even in- 

 creasing at a rate that seems to com- 

 pare favorably with that of all other 

 animated creation V 



Mr. Hutchinson asks: "Did bees 

 never perish when left to their own 

 sweet will V" This granted ; is there 

 not twice as many bees wintered suc- 

 cessfully on their natural food as 

 there is on sugar? I should imagine 

 there would be more " amusement " 

 in listening to the incredible theoriz- 

 ing argument of those opposed to 

 sugar-feeding, than there is in hear- 

 ing a dealer say in the presence of a 

 shopful of customers, that " since 

 these big bee-keepers make their 

 honey out of sugar, there is no sale 

 for it;" and receive in exchange for an 

 explanation, the sincere sympathy of 

 all present, for your exhibition of 

 ignorance, when ''everybody knows 

 that you cannot get pure honey <iny 

 more." But" the innocent must suf- 

 fer with the guilty." 



Titusville,x5 Pa. 



For tlie American Bee JournaL 



Prevention of Bee-Diarrliea, 



E. GALLUP. 



Here is a question that I have been 

 asked repeatedly, " How do you man- 

 age your bees when they get the 

 diarrtiea V" or, " What do you do for 

 your bees when they have the diar- 

 rhea V" 



Well, my friends, my bees do not 

 have the diarrhea ; and, in fact, I 

 have come to the conclusion that 

 there is no such disease. Here, me- 

 thinks, I hear friend Pucket say, 

 " That is some more of Gallup's bun- 

 com!" Audi hear others say, " My 

 bees certainly had the diarrhea." 

 Well, mine, too, used to have it, or 

 what is called so, some 25 or 30 years 

 ago, but they know better now. But 

 let me explain : It is a condition of 

 the colony, or of the hive, and not a 

 disease. 



I have found a colony in the spring, 

 in a hollow tree, with the entrance at 

 the top of tlie cavity or hollow ; and 

 when they tirst flew out in the spring, 

 they did not so much as speck the 

 snow. On the other hand, a colony 

 at the bottom of the hollow, will dis- 

 charge large quantities of feces on 

 their first flight. This is in their 

 natural state. 



When bees are kept in cellars or a 

 special repository, a large or strong 

 colony, if not properly ventilated, will 

 be too warm, and consume large 

 quantities of honey, more than can be 

 evaporated by insensible perspiration. 

 These will have the diarrhea, and 

 will, in all probability consume all 

 their stores and starve before spring. 

 The remedy in this case is to take otf 

 all of the honey-boards, and if they 

 are not then quiet, raise the hive at 

 the bottom by degrees until they be- 

 come quiet. What I mean by a very 



strong colony, is such a colony as 

 Novice would have from a two story 

 hive on reducing it to onestory in 

 the fall. It is best in such a case to 

 take out one or two combs from the 

 sides of the hive and move the re- 

 mainder further apart, so as to give 

 more room for the bees between the 

 combs. On the other hand, when we 

 have a small colony that occupies just 

 two or three ranges of combs in my 

 hive (a nucleus, if you please, in 

 which we are wintering a spare 

 queen), we will say we have them in 

 the right hand side of the hive, we 

 move the hive to the right or the 

 bottom-board, so as to close the lower 

 entrance. Ttie division-board must 

 be adjusted to suit the number of 

 combs ; and the piece of honey-board 

 over the bees can either be moved a 

 trifle or raised : and your nucleus or 

 small colony will winter exactly as 

 well as the large one. The small col- 

 ony will not consume any more honey 

 in proportion to the number of bees, 

 than a large one. But should you 

 attempt to winter such a small colony 

 in a large hive, they would consume 

 more honey in proportion to the num- 

 ber of bees, and in all probability 

 have the diarrhea. 



The bees of a small colony with too 

 much ventilation, will, on you going 

 into the cellar with a light, come out 

 and discharge on the outside of the 

 hive. Give less ventilation, and the 

 remedy is applied at once. A late 

 colony that has thin, watery honey 

 will have the diarrhea. To prevent 

 this, give it in the fall some combs 

 from an old colony containing good 

 honey ; and give ttiem the thin honey 

 in the spring, when the bees can fly 

 out. 



I wish to be understood on this 

 subject of wintering, ventilation, etc., 

 because it is of great importance to 

 know that bees can be wintered with- 

 out consuming much honey. Walk 

 down into my cellar and see the bees, 

 it will take but a few minutes. Step 

 up and look at them by the light of 

 the lamp. Do you see the striped 

 fellows in this hive ? " Yes, but 

 Gallup, they are dead as a door-nail." 

 Not a bit of it. " Well, they don't 

 stir." Let us breathe on them a trifle. 

 "They are alive; that is a fact. Do 

 they keep as quiet as that all winter?" 

 Certainly. And that is not all ; they 

 scarcely consume any honey all win- 

 ter. ""Well, Gallup, 1 do not want to 

 tell you that you lie, but I do not be- 

 lieve a word of it." " Well, sir, your 

 disbelief does not alter the fact one 

 particle." " Why, Gallup, here is 

 your pork, potatoes, and other vege- 

 tables ; your women must come down 

 here two or three times a day with a 

 light. Don't the bees come out V" 

 Do they come out now? "They do 

 not appear to, that's a fact. Why, 

 Gallup, I always supposed that bees, 

 when kept in a cellar, had to be fast- 

 ened in with a straw mat, patent bee- 

 preserver, or something of that sort." 

 Well, you see that mine are kept in 

 with a little common sense, do you 

 not ? " Yes, but I can hardly un- 

 derstand it." That is because you do 

 not believe your own eyes. 



