THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



475 



our (and your) great bee anatomists 

 would take delight in investigating. 



My standpoint is : Bees can only 

 void their excreta naturally when on 

 the wing. I do not put lhi.s forward 

 as a theory, but as a fact, and upon it 

 base a theory that the construction of 

 the bee isarvanged to that end. that its 

 home under ordinary conditions 

 should never be fouled. Herein is a 

 very great deal more than appears at 

 first sight, but I venture to assert that 

 if sought out faithfully and well, it 

 will be found that the" muscles that 

 give the power of flying, govern in a 

 sense the power of discharging ex- 

 creta. 



Mr. Clarke does not believe " that 

 protracted confinement produces dys- 

 enteric symptoms if the bees are in 

 such a state that they can void dry 

 excreta," which is equivalent to say- 

 ing, one cannot be frozen, and boiling 

 hot at the same time, but transition 

 from the one state to the other may be 

 so rapid under certain conditions that 

 it is easy to assume, and to prove, 

 also, that bees that at one time were 

 capable of voiding dry feces, would 

 become dysenteric after very slightly 

 protracted confinement uncfer other 

 conditions. Twenty-four liours' con- 

 finement to full combs, on a railway 

 journey, being considered '•protrac- 

 ted " in the one case, while twice 24 

 days" quiet confinement tlirough 

 stress of weather in a hive " well 

 found." would but be talked of as a 

 nice time of natural rest for the bees. 



Mr. Clarke furtlier says. '■ when we ' 

 have discovered the conditions under 

 which bees discharge dry feces only, 

 we sliall have solved the i)roblem of 

 successful wintering," and to this I 

 in a measure agree, and in the mean- 

 time claim to have discovered one of 

 those conditions. 



Of my position in regard to this 

 matter, though hailing from England 

 (the old country, where so little is 

 supposed to be known of bee-culture 

 by the majority of American bee- 

 keepers), I am as certain as I am that 

 the sun will be in the meridian at 

 noon to-morrow ; but lest I miglit be 

 " tripped, " through not bringing all ! 

 my arguments to bear at once. I for- ; 

 bear enlarging for the present, and 

 hope my American friends will be- 

 lieve, as' is most true, that my object 

 herein is tor the general common 

 weal. I 



1 thank Mr. Clarke exceedingly for 

 making the opportunity for me to of- 

 fer this contribution to apiarian sci- 

 ence, and which, if thought worthy of 

 notice, I trust will be discussed inthe 

 kind spirit in which he opened the 

 question. 1 think, with him, the 

 matter is not of curious interest onlv, 

 •• but highly practical," and I awa'it 

 with respect the oi)inions of American 

 experts on the proposition. 



Fairlawn, Southall. England. 



A Sample (.'opy of the Weekly Bee 

 Journal will be sent free to any per- 

 son. Any one intending to get up a 

 club can have sample copies sent to 

 the persons they desire to interview, ; 

 by sending the names to this office, j 



Bees Going into Other Hives.— 1. 



What is the reason that bees when 

 they swarm sometimes go into an- 

 other hive witli other bees. We have 

 one hive in our apiary that seems to 

 be the center of attraction. Three 

 large swarms ■nent into that hive, 

 and we had to put another hive on top 

 of it. 2. What can we do? One colony 

 that we left a few days and then put 

 on the second story does not work 

 good, while the colony that we put the 

 top hive on right away is working 

 nicely. 3. What reason is there for 

 this? Bees are gathering lots of 

 honey. Three colonies have brood in 

 their honey-boxes. -1. Would it be best 

 to take off' brood and all ? We have 

 28 colonies, and have realized about 

 SlOO this year selling honey at 20 cents 

 per pound here. Clover will stay 

 about 2 weeks yet, and with basswood 

 late swarms ought to gather enough 

 to winter on. If they fail, I will lose 

 a number. .5. What do you think 

 about late swarms? 



S. T. WOOLWORTH. 



Gratiot, Wis. 



[1. Probably for the reason that 

 their scouts have found that hive but 

 illy guarded, have efiected an en- 

 trance and inspected the premises, 

 and reported favorably. It is not of 

 unfrequent occurrence for succeeding 

 swarms to follow the same course as 

 their predecessors, even to clustering 

 in the same locality. 



2. liet them stay, as there is proba- 

 bly but one queen now. 



3. The reason may be from one of 

 many causes. An examination inside 

 the hive will reveal it. i 



4. 1' es, and extract the honey, then I 

 give a fresh box. ! 



•5. If not too late to breed young 

 bees and lay up stores for winter, 

 they will do for increase, but not for 

 surplus honey gathering, unless frost 

 holds off quite late, and fall bloom is I 

 very abundant. — Ed.] j 



(|«eeu Cell from Fertile Worker. — 



Did any person ever have bees with 

 fertile worker build queen cell and 

 put the larva of a fertile worker in 

 the cell, and rear a queen ; if so, was 

 she a good queen ? Give her quality 

 and size, and did she mate with a 

 drone V I liave one now in a capped 

 cell. My bees are all in splendid con- 

 dition, although the weather is ex- 

 tremely cool, or warm, or wet. The 

 white clover was never better. Pros- 

 pects for a fall crop of honey are 

 splendid. R. M. Osborn. 



Kane, lU., July 17, 1882. 



[With plenty of leisure on your 

 hands, and an inquiring turn of mind, 

 we hope you will institute a series of 

 experiments, to see what will be the 

 result of your capped queen cell with 

 fertile worker larva. If the drones 

 are not objectionable, why not devote 

 the colony to experiments, and, if 

 necessary, destruction V — Ed.] 



Behind Time.— We have had a back- 

 ward season in this section for honey. 

 Every blossom is from 10 days to 2 

 weeks behind time, and such a slaugh- 

 ter of drones never was seen the mid- 

 dle of June. The 1st of July brought 

 plenty of raspberry and plenty of 

 swarms. It is now time for basswood 

 to open, but that is backward also. 

 This section is getting to be a great 

 place for buckwheat— about 200 hun- 

 dred acres within reach of my apiary. 

 But some folks do not like buck- 

 wheat honey : well, suppose they do 

 not. it certainly is good enough to'put 

 on buckwheat cakes. 



Wm. C. Cassox. 



Addison. X. Y.. July 13, 1882. 



Mr. Shucks' Problem.— With Mr. 



Shucks" bees (see Bee Journal. 



page 444) they were so much excited 



by the general mixing up that they 



did not get over it until they had gone 



long without food and dysentery was 



brought on. Bees will hot eat in a 



worrying condition. I iiave had bees 



; have dysentery after -5 days" fasting, 



] but food cured "them ; quite cured Mr. 



Shucks'. E. B. SoUTHWiCK. 



Mendon, Mich. 



[Our experience has been, that 

 when bees are greatly disturbed is the 

 exact time when they eat most. We 

 have found this the most serious 

 drawback with the Italians for ex- 

 tracting, for, if they are badly fright- 

 ened and the second shake fai's to free 

 the combfromthem, they immediately 

 plunge into the cells after food, audit 

 is a somewhat troublesome task to 

 brush them out with the feather. 

 —Ed.] 



Rearing Drones. — I have one colony 

 of black bees, and am getting an Ital- 

 ian queen, and. as I can sell a few 

 queens this fall, would like to know 

 — 1. Can I compel the bees to rear 

 some drones (the blacks have already 

 killed off their drones around here) by 

 feeding ? 2. If I make some nuclei 

 to rear queens, can I double them 

 back so as to winter ? Bees are doing 

 very little here this season — too cold 

 and' wet I suppose. 



Houghton. Ont. S. T. Jackson. 



[1. If a young queen, you will have 

 difliculty stimulating drone-rearing 

 this season, and for your climate 

 could not get them in season for test- 

 ing progeny this fall. 



2. There is no trouble in doubling 

 up : but you would be obliged to keep 

 the nuclei constantly reinforced with 

 brood, or the bees would be too old 

 for effective wintering.- Ed.J 



