THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Ill 



cap it over), if they ever had such a 

 colony, so fed, Imve the dysentery V 

 We do not seem to differ at all as to 

 the conditions necessary to successful 

 wintering (if there was no dysentery), 

 to wit : Cellar, cave, clamp, spare 

 room, hay-packing or chaff, if the 

 thermometer is kept between 3tP and 

 4o- ; dark, pure air, dry room, and if 

 you can, upward ventilation, or, more 

 correctly called, upward absorbents, 

 little or no current, plenty of bees and 

 healthn food. By complying with these 

 conditions we have made, either 

 naturally or artificially, what is equiva- 

 lent to a very mild winter, but with 

 all the most favorable conditions. 



Some seasons bees are attacked with 

 disease, and my experience istliatone 

 flight a week, say during a line January 

 thaw, will but little improve a colony 

 that is much diseased. Many of us 

 know that with, to all human appear- 

 ance, identically the same conditions, 

 each season, during some winters they 

 have the disease, and in the succeed- 

 ing and preceding ones they have 

 been perfectly healthy. How, or why 

 is this y Do not all rise, at once, to 

 tell me that the winter was very cold. 

 You forget that you had them housed 

 und cared for exactly the same as in 

 many preceding winters ; the same 

 soom, the same temperature, the same 

 everytliing, so far as you can by any 

 possibility see. I repeat, what is 

 the cause of this difference in their 

 health V Is it in the honey they have 

 stored V the pollen, or possibly, the 

 ■condition of the atmosphere V We 

 may, and often do find but a portion, 

 .say one or two, affected, the remainder 

 perfectly healthy ! How, or why is 

 this? We all know that the honey 

 gathered by one colony, or a portion 

 of it, is quite different from the re- 

 mainder, or other colonies in the same 

 yard. All these are questions to be 

 thought of. We may never agree as 

 to the cause of the disease, but, as in 

 the case of foul brood,or many diseases 

 of the human family, we may tind a 

 remedy, without being able to trace 

 it to the cause. I fully believe and 

 hope such will be the result of well 

 and thoroughly conducted experi- 

 ments, and am fully convinced that 

 the remedy will be found in sugar 

 syrup. 



St. Paul, Minn., Nov. 1, 1882. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



■Wintering Problem Solved by Lime. 



F. DELLA TOKHE. 



a colony of bees for me yet; even 

 when most of the stores were cider. 



I have tried many, and costly ex- 

 periments, carried oii uninterruptedly 

 through winter and summer, in my 

 endeavors to solve this wintering 

 problem, and until some bees are pro- 

 duced that can winter like wasps, or 

 some methods, that we don't dream 

 of now, are discovered, for protecting 

 bees in winter with absolute certainty, 

 I repeat that I have, in the lime pro- 

 tection idea, all tliat I desire. 



Some of my friends tried the lime 

 last winter, and their letters are 

 enough to turn bee-keepers towards 

 my way of thinking on this subject. 



lleisterstown, Md. 



Without being egotistical, I am not 

 afraid to state that the proper use of 

 <iuick lime in a hive, solves the winter- 

 ing problem. Pure dry air, and stores 

 ■enough, is all tliat a good colony of 

 bees require to winter successfully. 

 It is impossible to have dry air in a 

 hive in damp weather, without using 

 chemical absorbents ; mere chemical 

 absorbents, such as chaff, sawdust, 

 corn cobs, and the like, only retain 

 moisture. When the atmosphere out- 

 side is damp, that in the hive is more 

 so, for it has the large amount addi- 

 tional, from the breath of the bees, 

 added to it. Dry cold has never killed 



Translated from Deutscher Bienenfreund, by 

 A. II. Kohnlie. 



Sowing Honey Plant Seeds. 



FR. HUCK. 



We meet with first-class honey 

 Dlants among the annuals and bien- 

 nials, as well as among the perennials 

 and plants of woody structure. Many 

 are natives of a warmer climate than 

 our own, but have become acclimated, 

 so much so, that we are not aware 

 that they are from a foreign and 

 warmer country. The importation 

 and culture of them in this country 

 has been altogether a different object 

 from providiiig for bee-feed, and we 

 may assume the existence of numer- 

 ous excellent bee plants, which will 

 become known only as planting for 

 bees especially is practiced. But even 

 our native flora contains many plants 

 which furnish honey in large quanti- 

 ties and very line quality, and to im- 

 prove bee pasturage we should notice 

 these as well as those of foreign 

 origin. 



In regard to annuals they have this 

 advantage, that they furnish ready 

 means to improve the bee pasture the 

 first year tliey are sown, and are 

 easily cultivated. Besides that, they 

 may be sown at such time as to come 

 into bloom when natural sources fail, 

 thus filling gaps in the honey season. 

 Such annuals liave to be sown gene- 

 rally every year, though some of them 

 will perpetuate themselves by the 

 dropping of their ripe seed. 



The number of biennials is rather 

 small ; most generally known is Ecki- 

 um vidgare, as also rape and some vari- 

 eties of clover, because they are culti- 

 vated as biennials; although, strictly 

 considered, they are not such. 



More numerous are the perennials, 

 shrubs and trees, furnishing honey 

 for the bees ; many of them being or- 

 namental, on which account they 

 should largely be cultivated in gar- 

 dens, parks and cemeteries. Many of 

 them get to be very old, and may oc- 

 cupy the same space for scores of 

 years. To further this dissemination 

 they should be presented to all who 

 would give them a place in their gar- 

 den or premises. We also find that 

 many of them may be used for other 

 purposes, especially kitchen vege- 

 tables and plants possessing medicinal 

 properties, so that we may derive some 

 profit from them aside from the honey 

 they furnish. 



The most important for the bee- 

 keeper are those plants which are of a 

 woody structure. Once planted, they 

 will last a generation or more. True, 

 they do not furnish honey the first few 

 years after being planted, like the an- 

 nuals and perennials of an herbaceous 

 character, but when once planted, will 

 cause little or no further trouble and 

 work. 



One of the most desirable for our 

 country is the lapwood or linden, and 

 should be planted most extensively. 

 To prolong the honey yield of this tree 

 it should be planted in different situ- 

 ations, such as the south and north 

 side of hills, in valleys and on top of 

 hills ; besides that, there are different 

 varieties of this tree, some of which 

 come to bloom earlier in the season 

 and some later. A close observer will 

 very often meet with specimens of 

 such different kinds. 



Through earnest work we will learn 

 and enlarge our views. Nature is in- 

 exhaustible, and provides for the need 

 of mankind. Nowhere is this more 

 noticeable than in the world of plants. 

 As soon as it becomes desirable to 

 have a certain vegetable possess espe- 

 cial properties, as for instance, with 

 respect to earliness or size, it is soon 

 obtained. The rose, for instance, 

 usually blooms in May and part of 

 June, and but once a year, but now we 

 have varieties which bloom a second 

 time, in autumn ; and some even all 

 summer. Some varieties of our com- 

 mon acacias bloom all summer. It 

 can, therefore, not be considered as an 

 impossibility to obtain from our red 

 clover a variety, by selection of seed 

 of course, which would permit the bee 

 to empty its florets of their sweet con- 

 tents, which, at present, is well nigh 

 impossible, on account of their length. 

 The industrious and progressive 

 should try everything. 



[It seems to me more rational to 

 adapt the plant to the animal than the 

 animal to the plant, as to change the 

 size of a plant is more easily accom- 

 plished, than to change the size of an 

 animal, or any part of it. If we de- 

 crease the size of the clover heads, we 

 may look for an increase in the num- 

 Ijer of them from each root, which 

 would be a double gain ; but if we in- 

 crease the length of the bees tongue, 

 we may decrease the size of some 

 other essential part, which would be a 

 disadvantage.— KoHNKE.] 



Experience and science in bee- 

 keeping make commendable progress. 

 Noble and high-minded men devote 

 their time and energies to it, hence all 

 who take an interest in progressive 

 bee-keeping, should lend a helping 

 hand, by the dissemination and culti- 

 vation of honey plants. Look how 

 many honev plants your surrounding 

 country contains, and how many it 

 might hold in place of obnoxious 

 weeds in fence corners and waste 

 places, and then go to w^ork and try to 

 change such an aspect for the better. 

 Those who wish to cultivate honey 

 plants should begin at first on a small 

 scale to learn their cultivation, and 

 discover what kinds do best in the 

 soil and situation at his disposal. 



And now, brother bee-keeper, when 

 you have read these few lines, plant a 



