May 4, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



277 



ticed the bees putting- their tongues tog-ether as they do 

 when bees feed the queen, this thing- being continued till 

 nearly all the pollen -was used up, -which lasted for several 

 days, when it came good weather again, so new supplies 

 were gathered. 



From these observations I formed the opinion that old 

 bees partake of pollen only in the form of chyme, and that 

 this chyme is prepared onlj' when there is, or has been, 

 brood lately in the hive. I have thus wandered to show 

 that pollen can become a factor in our problem of win- 

 tering of bees, only in connection with brood-rearing, and 

 that, where no brood-rearing is carried on, pollen can have 

 nothing to do with the so-called disease — bee-diarrhea ; and 

 the result of the past winter, during which many colonies 

 have had the diarrhea, onlj' add strength to former opin- 

 ions. But to return. 



That the larval bee subsists -wholly on this chyme, or 

 creamy food, I think no one will deny ; and if from m3- ob- 

 servations I am correct, the larg-est element in this food is 

 pollen. As the larva absorbs this food the grosser part of 

 the pollen forms itself into the yellow streak seen in the 

 larva; when taken out of the comb, but most plainly in the 

 drone-larv;e, which streak is finally enclosed by the intes- 

 tines of the newlv-hatcht bee, and evacuated on its first 

 flight. 



If I had time it might be interesting to digress here 

 again, and tell how I have found, by experimenting, that 

 ewly-hatcht bees which have not had a cleansing flight 

 are practically worthless to ship with queens long distances, 

 and that I always avoid, as far as may be, catching such 

 bees when sending queens to Australia and other distant 

 countries, because they are liable to daub the queen and 

 cages with their excrement, or die from over-distended 

 abdomens ; but I will not take the time here. To show that 

 I am not alone in the belief that larval bees eat pollen, I 

 wish to give the testimony of others who incline to a like 

 belief : 



A. I. Root says : "It is supposed that this larval food 

 is pollen and honey, partially digested bj' the ' nursing 

 bees." Bees of this age, ot a little older, supply the royal 

 jelly for the queen-cells, which is the same. I think, as the 

 food given to very small larvae. Just before the larva? of 

 the worker bees and drones are sealed up, they are fed on a 

 coarser and less perfectly digested mixture of honey and 

 pollen." 



Prof. Cook says : " The food is composed of pollen, for, 

 as I have repeatedly proved, without pollen no brood will be 

 reared." 



Quinby says : " How this food is prepared is mere con- 

 jecture. The supposition is, that it is chiefly composed of 

 pollen : this is strongly indicated by the quantity which 

 accumulates in colonies that lose their queens and rear no 

 brood." 



Gallup says : " Everj' bee-keeper ought to know that 

 bees do not feed pollen directly to their young, but it is 

 elaborated in the stomach of the bee into chyme to feed the 

 young on." 



Kirby says : •' With this pollen, after it has undergone 

 a conversion into a sort of whitish jelly by being received 

 into the bees stomach where it is probably mixt with honey 

 and regurgitated, the young brood, immediately upon their 

 exclusion, and until their change into nymphs, are dili- 

 gently fed by other bees, which anxiously attend upon them, 

 and several times a day afford a fresh supph'." 



Neighbour saj-s : "A portion of this pollen is taken at 

 once by the nursing bees, which are supposed to subject it 

 to some change before ofi^ering it to the larva;." 



Gundelach saj's : " The larva? are immediately fed by 

 the worker-bees, with a pellucid jelly prepared in their 

 ' chyle stomachs ' by the digestion of honey and pollen mixt 

 with water." 



In the above I have told what I think in the matter, and 

 given the "think "of several others, who very nearly, if 

 not quite, agree with me ; and I should be very much 

 pleased to hear from anj- who do not agree. Let us all try 

 to see if we cannot arrive as nearly at the truth in this mat- 

 ter as possible during the coming season's work with the 

 bees. Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Langstroth on the Honey=Bee, revised by the Dadants, 



is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete work on 

 bee-culture. It contains 520 pages, and is bound elegantly. 

 Every reader of the American Bee Journal should have a 

 copy of this book, as it answers hundreds of questions that 

 arise about bees. We mail it for SI. 25, or club it with the 

 Bee Journal for a j'ear — both for only S2.00. 



Report of Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



The 15th annual meeting of the Wisconsin State Bee- 

 Keepers" Association was called to order by Pres.-F. Wilcox, 

 Feb. 9, 1899, in the Lieutenant Governor's office at Madison. 



The secretary's and treasurer's reports were read and 

 approved. 



H. Lathrop, as committee to secure freight rates on 

 bees in less than car-lots, reported that after several efforts 

 no rates could be secured. Mr. Johnson spoke of taking a 

 sample hive to the general express office in Chicago, and 

 getting a special rate to ship bees by express as cheap as 

 by freight. 



The members then listened to a paper by John Trim- 

 berg-er, of Clark Co., on 



What to Do with Unfinistit Sections. 



By way of introduction, and to emphasize what comes 

 after, I will say that I have been in the bee-business 20 

 years. For five years I kept bees for pleasure and experi- 

 mental purposes in all kinds of hives then known. In 1884- 

 I had the good fortune to chang-e to the 8-frame Grimm- 

 Langstroth hive and the Heddon super ; and have in use 

 nothing else to-day except three of the New Champion 

 chaff-hives. Last and most important I have used nothing 

 but the 7-to-the-foot open-top section. 



Your worthy secretary struck me right when he wanted 

 a short paper on the above topic by a practical bee-keeper. 

 I accepted because I hold myself to be immensely practical. 

 For instance, I have never been fooled with reversible 

 frames. Neither did I ever fool with no-bee-entrance or 

 plain or tall sections, or fence separators ; nor have I been 

 fool enough to break up or smash unfinisht sections. 



There was a time when bee-keepers almost unanimously 

 advised to save unfinisht sections for next year's crop, as 

 they were worth their weig-ht in gold. That was good. 

 Then came a time, and it is on yet, when too many bee- 

 keepers advocated and still hold to the absurbity of extract- 

 ing the honey from unfinisht sections; cut out the comb 

 and break up the section lest you should be tempted to use 

 them next season and spoil the whole comb-honey business. 

 That was and is very bad ! Only the loquacious paid writer 

 or the manufacturers of sections and comb foundation could 

 advise such a detrimental course. 



You are already aware that I do not hold drawn or par- 

 tially-drawn comb responsible for the occasional appear- 

 ance of sour or watery comb honey. I will presently en- 

 deavor to show how and when such are apt to occur. Let 

 us create an occasion and a condition. Here is a strong 

 colony of bees June 24, with one surplus super on. Honey 

 is coming in fast. We go thru the bee-yard to see where 

 surplus room is needed. We come to this colony and notice 

 with regret that we are a week late. The super was put on 

 with an inch starter of extra thin comb foundation. Now 

 it is full of comb honey, one-fourth of which is capt — fin- 

 isht — ready to take off. We are prest with work. The super 

 is lifted aiid an empty one added underneath. Next day 

 this colony swarms, and it swarms again and again ; but 

 the hive is left standing uudistui-bed until we come around 

 again on July 24. Ten to one, the honey is watery. It has 

 an ashen-gray, bluish lead color with death perspiration 

 standing in relief. For the same reason such comb honey 

 will hardly ever be found after the swarming season is over 

 and the bees have permanently settled. Such honey is 

 put on the strongest and liveliest colony in the yard, or 

 carried into the honey-room and set two or more feet above 

 the floor, where a ternperature of 90 degrees, Fahr., is main- 

 tained, artificially if necessary, and by letting the sunshine 

 in full blast whenever it wants to. In a week or two it will 

 be fair honey in the comb. I know of instances when it 

 was reclaimed or resuscitated to represent fancy white 

 comb honey. 



We handle sections by the super or case. When the 

 first super is filled, or nearly so, it is taken ofl", the unfinisht 

 sections taken out, and after being leveled with the uncap- 

 ping knife, if any be bulging, returned to the colonies for 

 completion. 



