122 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 





'^M" 



Much Honey Consumed. — I put 33 



colonies of bees into the cellar about 

 the 10th of December, most of them 

 well supplied with honey, and in good 

 condition. To-day I set ttiem out, and 

 I never saw them fly livelier iu June, 

 than they did from 10 until 3 o'clock. 

 All in good condition except one late 

 swarm, which liad starved. Had I 

 better return tliem to tlie celhir, or 

 will they do as well out, if the weather 

 continues moderate. They liave con- 

 sumed nearly double ttie lioney, al- 

 ready, that they did all hist winter, 

 put away in the same room, and pre- 

 pared in the same manner. Can you 

 give a reason for it V I hke the make- 

 up of the Bee Jouknal tliis year 

 mucli better tlian last, and consider it 

 A No. 1. Reuben Havens. 



Chebanse, 111., Feb. 8, 1882. 



[Leave them out, unless tlie weather 

 becomes extremely cold. Witli tlie 

 probability of frequent flights from 

 now until spring, they will suffer no 

 harm. The excessive consumption of 

 honey was owing to high temperature 

 in the cellar, and the imeasiness 

 caused thereby. We presume you 

 will find more or less breeding has 

 taken place, while last winter there 

 was none. — Ed.] 



Bacterium. — I thought bacterium 

 was gone and pollen had taken its 

 place ; but as it appears to be return- 

 ing, a few words concerning it may not 

 be amiss. Bacterium, or the plural 

 bacteria, which is most commonly 

 used, are minute forms of vegetable 

 organism. They are found in the sap 

 of trees and vegetables, in the fluids 

 of all animals, and abundantly in de- 

 caying substance. They are so minute 

 that ttiey float in the air unnoticed. 

 They appear to be the root or s|;arting 

 point of fermentation or decomposi- 

 tion. They have no effect on any part 

 as long as vitality remains. To illus- 

 trate : If a growing apple receives a 

 scratch on it, not enough to stop its 

 growing, the scratch will heal over 

 and become sound ; but if tlie apple 

 is fully ripe, bacteria get in and fer- 

 mentation, rotting and decomposition 

 is the result. Again, bacteria do not 

 work much below temperate, and not 

 at all below freezing. They worl^bet- 

 ter the hotter it is, until it gets hot 

 enougli to destroy vegetable life. Let 

 us compare this with bee dysentery. 

 Bees are most apt to have the dysen- 

 tery in long siiells of severe, cold 

 weather, when tlie bees are quiet and 

 the hive at its lowest temperature — at 

 a time when bacteria work but little 

 If any. On the other hand, when it is 

 warm and bacteria work the fastest, 

 the bees (if they have enough to eat) 

 are entirely free from dysentery. 1 

 write for the consideration of the con- 

 siderate. E. B. SOUTHWICK. 

 Mendon, Midi. 



Bees Wintering in First Rate Order. 



—I received the " Apiary Register,"' 

 and it just fills the bill. Every bee- 

 keeper should have one, if he has not 

 more than 10 colonies of bees, for he 

 can by it tell, at a glance, the con- 

 dition of every colony of bees in his 

 apiary, and know what changes are 

 necessary, without looking over the 

 hives. My bees, so far, are wintering 

 linely , and to-day they had a fine flight. 

 But very few bees liave died ; I think 

 a tea-cup would hold all the dead bees 

 out of 30 colonies. Twenty-seven are 

 on summer stands, packed in cliafE 

 and straw, and 3 are in the cellar. I 

 am very sorry to hear of the misfor- 

 tune of H. A. Burch,of South Haven, 

 Mich.; he furnished me with some of 

 the finest queens it has ever been niy 

 lot to get. The queens wei-e very 

 large and prolific. The bees are long, 

 leather-colored, very gentle, and great 

 lioney gatherers. His dealings with 

 me were very satisfactory and just 

 what he agreed to do. I wish I could 

 say as much for one other dealer and 

 breeder that I have had the misfortune 

 to have dealings with, and have 

 written letter after letter to him, and 

 cannot even get an answer. Wliat 

 size will it be necessary to put holes 

 into zinc for entrances to liives to pre- 

 vent drones from flying. 



L. Densmore. 

 Livonia, N. Y., Feb. 8, 1882. 



[The holes or perforations in the 

 zinc excluders are just % of an inch. 

 Some use them with round perfora- 

 tions, while others cut out strips IJ^ 

 inches long by % wide, and running 

 horizontal with the entrance. — Ed.] 



Better tlien Ever.— When I say that 

 I like the American Bee Journal 

 better than ever, and I may add, bet- 

 ter than all others, I mean just what I 

 say. The first and most important 

 improvement was the change from 

 Monthly to Weekly ; the form of the 

 Weekly I did not like, but made no 

 complaint, because I knew you would 

 change it wlienever it became our and 

 your own interest to do so— I was not 

 mistaken. Your disposition to accom- 

 modate your patrons I very much ad- 

 mire. With the editorial commenc- 

 ing on the first page and the advertise- 

 ments on the last pages, I think it is 

 all we could desire. Permit me, how- 

 ever, to make a suggestion — if it 

 would not interfere in making up the 

 form — would it not be better to place 

 the date at the top of each page, as in 

 Vols. 9 and 17, it would certainly be a 

 great convenience in reading. I hope 

 soon, if time permits, to send you a 

 communication <ui the " Improvement 

 of the Italian bee."" I have cultivated 

 it with great care for more than 20 

 years, and differ with some of our 

 writers concerning it. 



Wm. S. Barclay. 



Beaver, Fd., Feb. 8, 1882. 



[Thanks for the compliment. As to 

 the running date on each page, we 

 discarded it on account of its trouble- 

 someness. We shall be pleased to re- 

 ceive the communication. — Ed.] 



Tin Numbers for Hives.— I would sug- 

 gest now that you get up a tin tag 3 

 or 4 inches square with the serial on 

 them, to go with the Apiary Register. 

 The numbers could be stenciled on or 

 could be printed with gum stamps. 

 The figures should be large enough to 

 be plainly seen for some distance. In 

 this case, if the queen is changed from 

 one hive to another, the tag can be 

 taken off and go with her, and no 

 alteration would have to be made in 

 the Register. John C. Peden. 



Lawrenceburg, Ky., Feb. 9, 1882. 



[The numbers could be put on very 

 readily with a stencil-plate. We fear 

 the tin tags would be too expensive, 

 and too easily lost. — Ed.] 



Doing Nicely. — My 57 colonies are 

 wintering nicely. I looked through 

 them on the 6th, and found all alive, 

 strong, and active, with plenty of 

 stores with ordinary weather to take 

 them through all "right. We have 

 had an exceedingly wet, changeable 

 winter. I use A. G. Hill's winter 

 hive on summer stands, without pro- 

 tection, with wire screen under the 

 center of the bottom board. This is 

 the winter for this mode of wintering, 

 and lias been a grand success. I have 

 lost but two weak colonies in four 

 years. The past season, on account of 

 excessive drouth, was a poor one for 

 honey with us. The early spring 

 opened up finely, and late fall closed 

 out nice. Asbury McKnight. 



Bible Grove, 111., Feb. 18S2. 



N. E. Wisconsin Convention.— In the 

 Bee Journal of Feb. 1, 1882, page 

 67, under the heading " Another re- 

 form needed," reference is made to 

 the N. E. VVisconsin Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention advertised to be held in 

 Berlin, Wis., Jan. 17th and ISth, that 

 was not held tliere and then. It is due 

 those who were disappointed about 

 that meeting that some explanation 

 be made. The Secretary of the N. E. 

 Wis. Association was unavoidably 

 absent from the meeting at Pe waukee, 

 in October, 1881, and it appears from 

 iier statement that last winter it was 

 decided to hold but one meeting a 

 year and that in October, whicli was 

 known to but few that were at Pewau- 

 kee, and overlooked by those present 

 wlio did know when Berlin was fixed 

 as the place and Jan. 17th and 18th, 

 1882, as the time of the next meeting, 

 being about the time it was held last 

 winter. I sent you a report of the 

 Convention at Pewaukee for publica- 

 tion, from which you took a notice of 

 tlie meeting to be held at Berlin, Jan. 

 17 and 18, which was all right had the 

 meeting gone on, and perhaps all right, 

 any way. But after that report was 

 sent, the Secretary wrote me, suggest- 

 ing that the meeting be held the lat- 

 ter part of March, and requesting me 

 to notify those at the Pewaukee meel^ 

 ing of the change, some of whom 

 were notified, but no notice of this 

 change was sent to tlie Bee Journal, 

 because the Secretary, after notifica- 

 tion that a change would be agreeable, 

 had not time to notify you before Jan. 

 17th. I failed, through the pressure of 



