746 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



localities T\heie this viue abounds, 

 that they will never take uor eat any 

 spring honey gathered before April. 

 The writer knows of six cases of 



Eoisoning by eating yellow jasmine 

 oney, within the last four years. By 

 the way, I will remark that bees do 

 not take to the bloom of this vine if 

 there is any other forage at the same 

 time. I might name some other 

 plants to prove the truth of the 

 proposition, but I deem it unneces- 

 sary. 



It is well here to remember that 

 among the vast number of honey- 

 producing plants, we have less than a 

 half-dozen that secrete nectar of a 

 deleterious quality ; and nature has 

 most wisely set limits to this func- 

 tion by either causing them to bloom 

 at an unpropitious season, or by 

 making their bloom uninviting to the 

 bees, or by curtailing the honey to the 

 smallest possible amount. 



When selecting honey for medicine, 

 and studying its therapeutical proper- 

 ties, due reference should be paid to 

 the curative qualities of the plants 

 from which it is gathered. 



Augusta, 0+ Ga. 



For tlie American Bee JournaL 



Do Bees Exercise to Keep farm ? 



G. W. DEJIAREE. 



For several years I have noticed in 

 the columns of the Asierican Bee 

 Journal, and other apicultural 

 periodicals, expressions like the fol- 

 lowing : " When the temperature 

 goes down to a point dangerous to the 

 lives of the bees, the bees begin to 

 exercise to raise the temperature in 

 the hives, etc." Of course I do not 

 pretend to quote from any one writer, 

 as I do not know who is entitled to 

 the honor for making this wonderful 

 (to me) discovery. If it is true, it is 

 one of the greatest phenomena yet 

 discovered in connection -with the 

 natural history of bees, because such 

 a phenomenon is at variance with all 

 we know about the effects of low 

 temperature on the animal system. 



Who ever knew bees to exercise 

 when they were cold V Where and 

 under what circumstances Y Was it 

 in the cellar or on the summer stand V 

 We want light on this subject V That 

 bees may sometimes "roar" when 

 the temperature goes down, in the 

 confines of a cellar, does not prove 

 anything. There are other causes 

 present under such circumstances, 

 such as bad air, a change of ventila- 

 tion, etc. 



I have had this matter under ob- 

 servation for the past three winters, 

 and I have visited my apiary in the 

 daytime, and in the still hours of the 

 night, when the temperature ranged 

 from the freezing-point to 10° below 

 zero. On the morning of Jan. 17, 

 1884, the mercury went down to 20° 

 below zero ; my bees were in single- 

 walled hives without any protection, 

 except a few colonies tbat were in 

 chaff hives for experiment. Last 

 winter will be known in the future 

 as " the cold winter." The tempera- 



ture remained below zero for four 

 days and nights consecutively, some- 

 thing entirely out of the usual order 

 of things here. Well, at such times, 

 day or night, when I stood among the 

 hives, the stillness was oppressive, 

 like one standing alone in " the city 

 of the dead." 



If bees ever " rouse themselves and 

 exercise " to counteract the effects of 

 a falling temperature, and then sud- 

 denly discover that they have done so 

 at the expense of " waste of tissue," 

 and like the wise, calculating physi- 

 cian, look about them for that potent 

 remedy' "nitrogen," to restore the 

 waste tissue, why, I admit that 

 they are exceedingly wise, and fully 

 as sly as wise, for their slyness has 

 baffled all my patience and skill to 

 detect them in the overt act. 



I know by practical test that bees 

 can endure intense cold for a short 

 period of time, if they are compactly 

 and quietly clustered, and that the 

 lower the temperature sinks the more 

 nearly the bees approach the true 

 hibernal state. And I know by prac- 

 tical test that if the cluster is broken 

 up at such times, the bees do not 

 have the energy to move even a few 

 inches to regain the cluster, though 

 their lives depend upon their doing 

 so. 



While feeding bees broken comb 

 honey in the upper stories of hives, 

 late in the season, I have frequently 

 lost bees by their becoming chilled 

 and not having the energy to return 

 to the cluster. Experience and ob- 

 servation have taught me that cold- 

 low temperature— has a peculiarly 

 depressive effect upon the system of 

 bees, common to all insect life. That 

 the issue may be fairly and squarely 

 made up, I deny that bees ever resort 

 to " exercise " to raise the tempera- 

 lure in the hive in the winter months. 



I have never taken any part in the 

 discussion of the hibernation of bees, 

 because I am inclined to believe that 

 the matter is not fully understood in 

 this epoch of bee-history. Neverthe- 

 less, and notwithstanding all that has 

 been said to the contrary— and said 

 with much appearance of authority- 

 it is clear to my mind, after long ob- 

 servation, that honey-bees do hiber- 

 nate under certain conditions, and it 

 depends upon the conditions how long 

 this state of things is maintained. I 

 here venture the theory— and it is not 

 mere theory with me— that if a colony 

 of bees are tilled with honey, and 

 closely clustered in the natural way, 

 and immediately subjected to a low 

 temperature, they will live through a 

 period of hibernation without taking 

 food, just as do some of the wild ani- 

 mals that inhabit the Middle States, 

 and like the latter, when the bees are 

 aroused by a rising temperature, they 

 must have foodimmediately or perish. 

 That bees feed regularly when 

 closely conlined in the cluster in ex- 

 treme cold weather, like they do in 

 the season of their activity, is a sup- 

 position only— it has never been 

 proven that they do ; and if they do 

 not, then they hibernate in the " sci- 

 entific " and ordinary meaning of the 



word. 



Be all this as it may, it is contrary 

 to all we know about insect life, for 

 bees to " exercise " to counteract the 

 effects of a falling temperature. We 

 want the light " turned on." 



Christiansburg, 5 S.y. 



For tlie American Bee JoumaL 



Bee-KeepinE in Mmh, etc. 



WM. STOLLEY. 



Naturally this State is not very well 

 adapted to apiculture ; particularly 

 not the middle and western portions 

 of it. Therefore our apiarists cannot 

 successfully rival with honey-pro- 

 ducers located in more favored sec- 

 tions of this great country. For seven 

 years I have kept bees, and while I 

 obtained no surplus the Hrst season 

 (in 1880), from but 2 weak colonies I 

 averaged for the next following five 

 years only 17 pounds of surplus per 

 colony annually ; and sold 22 colonies 

 at $12 each, and 16 choice queens. I 

 soon became convinced that unless I 

 could and would improve my location 

 by growing crops of honey-producing 

 plants, which at the same time would 

 be useful as nourishment and feed for 

 cattle and horses, bee-keeping would 

 be a rather up-hill business with me. 

 Accordingly I began to experiment 

 with many varieties of honey-produc- 

 ing plants, and the result is a very 

 gratifying one, in particular respect- 

 ing a trial with melilot (sweet clover) 

 and also alfalfa clover. . 



Last spring I began the season with 

 23 colonies of Italian and Cyprian 

 bees, of which but 9 colonies could be 

 called " extra good," while 11 colonies 

 were " good," and 3 in rather poor con- 

 dition. I had about 12 acres sown to 

 melilot, within 160 rods of my apiary. 

 My neighbors within 2 miles of my 

 place had about 30 acres of alfalfa 

 clover. The result is as follows : 



My honey crop this year amounts to 

 2,635 pounds, or about 114i^ pounds 

 per colony, spring count. Besides my 

 bees, about 20 colonies are kept by 

 other parties in the city, which have 

 shared this cultivated pasture with 

 my own bees. While their crops went 

 mostly into " absconding swarms," I 

 got m'ine mhoney. Of the 2,63.5 pounds 

 of surplus, about 1,700 pounds are 

 from the melilot, and the rest from 

 alfalfa, and from fall bloom of other 

 plants. Alfalfa honey is yellowish 

 brown, and of good flavor. 



The first season melilot does not 

 bloom, but gives a heavy crop of most 

 excellent fodder for cattle; but it 

 seems that horses do not relish it. It 

 should be cut in the latter part of 

 June. It then should be allowed to 

 grow until late autumn, when it may 

 be pastured by stock long after all 

 other vegetation is frost-killed. The 

 second year one-half may again be 

 cut for fodder in June, while the 

 other half should be allowed to bloom 

 for bee-pasturage. By the time the 

 uncut part is about ripe in the latter 

 part of August, the part which was 

 cut in June is about in its best, and is 

 most excellent pasture for bees until 

 frost kills it. A timely rain increases 



