534 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



for the blight Italians, with just 3 

 Kold lings (they are growing less I 

 see), and I wished I could have liad 

 them, and the editor and readers of 

 the Bee Journal witli me, to see and 

 decide each for himself. I have done 

 all I could for one of the number, by 

 sending the Bee Journal a queen 

 for inspection and test. Tell us your 

 judgment of her and the progeny 

 when fully tested. She is, in my opin- 

 ion, of too much value to be suljijected 

 to the abuse of a mail-bag, or be 

 thrown about in the sun or frost, as 

 often happens. So I sent her by ex- 

 press, paid, and feel that you will do 

 your whole share if you find her a 

 place, test lier, and report to us all. 

 Dowagiac, Mich. 



[We acknowledged receipt of the 

 queen last week, and hope next season 

 to be able to report how we find her 

 progeny, without partiality or preju- 

 dice. We have often said the best 

 bees will be found to possess the best 

 colors, whether yellow, brown or 

 black.— Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Crumb for the Curioui^. 



EUGENE SECOR. 



Bee books tell us that in about 8 

 days after the first swarm issues, we 

 may expect to hear the "piping "of 

 the queen, if the colony contemiilates 

 sending out an after-swarm. As an 

 exception to tliis rule, and as some- 

 thing outside of my previous experi- 

 ence and knowledge, I liereby record 

 the fact of the piping of young queens 

 before any swarm issued. It hap- 

 pened in this way : July 2tith one of 

 my colonies sent off a swarm wliich 

 was returned to the parent iiive and 

 an additional story added, hoping to 

 cure tlie swarming fever. I supposed 

 I had accomplished it, as they went to 

 work vigorously. 



Aug. 4th, as I happened to be near 

 the liive, I distinctly lieard tlie piping 

 of two or three queens. Tliat was 

 contrary to my bee knowledge, except 

 on the theory that the old queen had 

 died. Next morning I ttiorouglily 

 searched the brood cliamber, and 

 found tlie old queen present, eggs 

 and brood in all stages, as in any pros- 

 perous colony. This circumstance 

 tended to conlirm the theory that the 

 swarming impulse is controlled en- 

 tirely by the workers ; that they were 

 determined to drive out the old queen 

 and a swarm, and had been guarding 

 the queen cells for that purpose. It 

 was a strong colony. I extracted the 

 honey from the second story, took off 

 part of the boxes from one set over 

 the upper story, wliich were filled, 

 took several combs of brood out of 

 the lower story, and liope they are 

 now "controlled" for the season. 



Tlie season here lias been only 

 " fair." The first part of tlie summer 

 gave no surplus, but as bees are now 

 " booming," and as August is one of 

 our best 'honey montlis, we yet hope 

 to get a reasonable surplus. Bass- 



wood gave no honey, nor the fust crop 

 of white clover. Sumac is a good 

 honey plant here, and yielded bounti- 

 fully. Tlie fall flowers are now com- 

 ing on grandly. Goldenrod. wild as- 

 ters, artichokes, thistles, wild prim- 

 rose, Spanislineedles, and various 

 other honey plants are abundant here 

 every fall, and yield nectar till frost 

 comes. 

 Forest City, Iowa, Aug. 7, 1882. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Mr. Abbott ou Bee Excretions. 



W3I. F. CLARKE. 



Personally, and on behalf of the bee- 

 keeping fraternity on this side of "the 

 great fish-pond," I thank our distin- 

 guished fellow apiarist, Mr. Abbott, 

 for his interesting article on the ex- 

 creta of bees, in the American Bee 

 Journal of July 26th. Its only 

 faults are excess of brevity, and of 

 modesty. Mr. A., not having brought 

 all his arguments to bear at once, we 

 do not yet know how strong a case he 

 may be able to make out. Ilis great 

 modesty, while an excellent example 

 to all of us, is hardly necessary in 

 view of his eminence as an apiarist. 

 He is too "sound ou his pins" to be in 

 any great danger of being "tripiied." 



The main object of thiscommunica- 

 tion is to draw out a fuller statemeut 

 trom Mr. Abbott on a subject which 

 he seems to have studied very thor- 

 oughly. Its secondary object is to ex- 

 plain on a point or two in regard to 

 which my article, on which he has been 

 kind enough to comment, is not, per- 

 haps, quite so explicit and clear as it 

 might be. 



As I understand Mr. Abbott, he 

 considers that bees imprisoned for a 

 short time under the circumstances he 

 describes, will void dry excreta. The 

 circumstances are those of contine- 

 meut in a clean, new box, of small 

 dimensions, and, if I am not wrong, 

 destitute of comb. A longer conline- 

 ment, say 24 hours, in a hive supplied 

 as usual with comb, a railway journey 

 being taken by the bees during 

 the time specitied will result in the de- 

 velopmentof "dysenteric symptoms." 



During the briefer journey, I take 

 it, the normal state of things is not 

 sufficiently disturbed to cause "dysen- 

 teric symptoms." Moreover, if I am 

 right in supposing the bees to be with- 

 out combs, they would fast during this 

 briefer journey. Instead of clinging 

 to the combs, they would form chains 

 and clusters, which would probably 

 result in greater quiescence. 



During the longer journey, they 

 would undergo more excitement 

 through protracted confinement; 

 would perhaps over-load their stom- 

 achs with honey, with which we know 

 they are apt to fill themselves during 

 a disturbance of their natural quiet; 

 and would, probal)ly, run hither and 

 thither over the combs, worrying and 

 wearying themselves. All this would 

 naturally tend to cause "dysenteric 

 symptoms." And these would the 

 sooner apjiear because they had fed, 

 more or less, on tliin honey, whose 

 watery nature would be likelier to 



produce this result than thick, old 

 honey. Might we be warranted in 

 thinking that this thin, unevaporated 

 honey is akin to grass in the case of 

 Ijovine animals, and the tliick, old 

 honey, similar to hay? If so, it would 

 not be surprising if the summer ex- 

 cretions of bees were, like those of 

 cattle, much looser than those voided 

 in winter. The habits of bees in this 

 regard during the summer season are 

 not wholly matters of curiosity, as 

 they throw light on the great question 

 of wintering. Would Mr. Abbott 

 kindly tell us if his experiments have 

 led him to believe that in a healthy 

 state, bees always void dry feces? 

 The lirief journey experiment would 

 seem to indicate this. Yet I would 

 not be surprised if it were otherwise, 

 and if, during ttie active season, when 

 honey, fresh from the flowers, is their 

 constant food, their "bowels" were 

 more "open," if one may use a human 

 phrase, and they were in a state akin 

 to that of mankind during the season 

 in which vegetables and fruits are 

 freely used. 



Mr. Abbott says : "My stand-point 

 is : Bees can only void their excreta 

 naturally when on the wing." I do 

 not quote this statement to combat it, 

 though I should prefer to put it some- 

 what differently. I would say, this is 

 their ordinary way of voiding their 

 excreta. Mr. Abbott says, they void 

 dry feces during a short railway jour- 

 ney such as he lias described, and I 

 presume from the statement of his 

 stand-point, that he considers they do 

 this when on the wing to that extent 

 which the box permits, or else, he 

 must mean that confinement forces 

 them to an unnatural voiding of ex- 

 creta. Colonies of bees that winter 

 well, strew the bottom boards of their 

 hives with the drv, brown, powdery 

 atoms which I and others, including I 

 presume Mr. Abbott hiaiself, regard 

 as excreta. At this time, they under- 

 go protracted imprisonment, and are 

 confined to their combs. So far their 

 conditions are like those of the longer 

 railway journey. But it is winter, 

 and the bees are in quietude. There 

 are different conditions; yet they void 

 tlieir excreta. They cannot get on the 

 wing, and Mr. Abbott's stand-point is 

 that only when on the wing can they 

 perform this function naturally. I 

 suppose he would say that winter con- 

 finement for so long a time as compels 

 this voiding of excreta is an unnatu- 

 ral state of things. But to take this 

 ground is virtually to assume tliat 

 bees are intended to be natives only 

 of such climes asadmitof their taking 

 wing "all the year round." Is this 

 correct? Have we not reason to tliink 

 that if we only understood the con- 

 ditions required to winter them well 

 in cold climates, they would be just as 

 much at home in the higher as in the 

 lower latitudes, within, of course, a 

 certain limit? If so, then, while void- 

 in" excreta during flight is their usual 

 luuiit, nature m;iy liave provided for 

 their residence in cold climes, a way 

 of relieving themselves wliich is not 

 dependent on "tlie muscles that give 

 the power of flying." I will not say 

 that this is my "stand-point," but with 

 my present liglits, it is the view I am 



