10 



THE AMERICA2J BEE JOURNAL. 



the farina of rye or other meal. 

 Would it not be better to define 

 "queen," as "the mother bee," in- 

 stead of " the mother of the colony," 

 a phrase not applicable to a queen 

 just fertilized or newly-introduced. 

 " VVedding-flight " is not merely "an 

 excursion of a virgin queen to meet a 

 drone." Vain will be the meeting, 

 unless there be a mating. 



There are a number of other words 

 that might properly be included in the 

 list under notice : e. g. " Bee-eater. — 

 A bird that devours bees." "Bee- 

 line. — The shortest line from one 

 place to another." "Bee-veil. — A 

 protection for the face and head, con- 

 demned by thick-skinned bee-keepers, 

 but valued bv the sensitive, and those 

 liable to swell." 



" Bee-journal. — A periodical indis- 

 pensible to successful bee-keeping." 



But a vocabulary of this kind is a 

 work of time. It is not by jotting 

 down the few words that occur to 

 one's recollection on the spur of the 

 moment, but by recording them from 

 time to time iii a memorandum-book, 

 that a considerable collection can be 

 made. If bee-keepers will be at the 

 pains and trouble to pursue this 

 course, and send their lists, when as 

 complete as they can make them, to 

 the editor of the Journal, we shall 

 bye and bye have a reference-book 

 which will be very valuable and use- 

 ful to bee-keepers generally. 



Guelph, Ontario, Dec. 1, 1883. 



For the American Bee JourBaL 



The Cause of Bee Diarrhoea. 



H. V. TRAIN. 



There may be many tirst causes 

 operating to produce the final cause, 

 but I believe the final cause always to 

 be sour honey. And I do not believe 

 that pollen ever has anything to do 

 with It, pro or con. Sugar syrup is 

 safe winter food if made thick, be- 

 cause it is not easily soured. Clover 

 honey is safe, because it is always 

 gathered early in the season, and gets 

 well ripened, and hence does not sour 

 easily. 



But what causes honey to sour? 

 That is the question ; and when we 

 have solved that, in my opinion, the 

 whole problem of wintering is solved. 

 For I never yet knew of a case of the 

 disease, where I could not find sour 

 honey in the hive ; and I never found 

 sour honey in a hive in the spring, 

 where there was no disease in that 

 colony. 



A. E. Kohnke, on page 639 of the 

 Bee Journal for 1883, says : " Now 

 I wish Mr. D., and such other bee- 

 keepers as are interested in it, to ex- 

 periment as to how to produce the 

 disease at will, whenever they wish," 

 etc. 



I do not wish, but I can produce the 

 disease in any colony he may have, if 

 he wishes ; or I can tell him how to do 

 it. Let him put his bees into a cellar 

 without much circulation of air ; keep 

 the top of the hives tight, with a 

 small entrance, and keep the temper- 

 ature of his cellar below 40°, and a 

 part of the time down to 30", and he 



will have his wish sure. The reason 

 is. if I am right, the breath of the bees 

 will condense on the honey outside of 

 the cluster ; there is not sufficient cir- 

 culation of air lo dry it off ; the cap- 

 pings crack, more or less : the honey 

 and water getting mixed will sour; 

 and, fermentation once commenced, 

 penetrates the whole mass ; and when 

 the bees eat the soured honey in con- 

 finement, they are effected. 



But if the bees have well-ripened 

 stores ; a brisk circulation of air 

 through the cellar; a large entrance 

 to the hives ; a Hill's device over the 

 frames ; with only a burlap over the 

 device and the cover on that (I use 

 straw matting obtained from tea 

 chests) ; and then keep the tempera- 

 ture of the cellar from 45" to 50-, he 

 will have neither sour honey or its 

 effects. 



This, at last, is my settled convic- 

 tion, after 20 years of experimenting 

 and close observation. I do not feel 

 so sure as to all the conditions which 

 causes honey to sour out-of-doors, but 

 I do feel sure as to the conditions 

 which causes it to sour In cellars or 

 bee houses. 



Let the above conditions be met. 

 and I would like to insure all the bees 

 in the United States against dysentery 

 for 10 cents a colony. And there is 

 another consideration : it does not cost 

 half as much to prepare bees tor the 

 cellar, put them in and take them out, 

 as it does to make them half as safe 

 on the summer stands. And it does 

 not take more than half as much honey 

 to winter them in the cellar, under 

 these conditions, as it does to winter 

 them out-of-doors. A word to the 

 wise is sufficient. 



Mauston, Wis., Dec. 17, 1883. 



Convention Notices. 



1^ The Southeastern Michigan 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention will be held 

 at Adrian, Mich., in the Plymouth 

 Church Chapel, .Jan. 23, 1884 ; morning, 

 afternoon and evening session. 



H. D. Cutting, Pres. 



H. C. Markham, Sec. 



1^ The Eastern New York Bee- 

 Keepers Union, will hold an annual 

 Convention in the Agricultural Hall 

 at Albany. N. Y., on Tuesday, Wed- 

 nesday and Thursday, Jany. 8, 9 and 

 10, 1884. We Invite exhibition of 

 hives, extractors, implements for the 

 apiary, and all apiarian supplies. Time 

 will be given for exhibition and ex- 

 amination, and testimonials awarded. 

 There will be speeches and essays on 

 important topics from prominent 

 apiarists, and questions on interesting 

 subjects will be discussed. A general 

 invitation is extended to all interested 

 in apiculture. S. Vrooman, Pres. 



i®° The Marshall County Bee- Keep- 

 ers' Association, will meet at the 

 Court House, in Marshalltown. Iowa, 

 on Saturday, Jan. 5, 1884. Subject for 

 discussion : " Promotion of Bee- 

 Keeping." All are invited. 



J. W. Sanders, See. 



Le Grand, Iowa. 



The 15th annual convention of the 

 Northeastern Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will be held in the City Hall at 

 Syracuse, N. Y., on the 22, 23 and 24 

 days of January 1884. 



This will be "the largest and most 

 interesting convention'of bee-keepers 

 ever held in America. Many of the 

 most scientific apiarists in the coun- 

 try will take part in the discussions. 

 The progi-amme is completed, and 

 comprises all the interesting topics of 

 the day. The question box will be 

 opened each day, and the questions 

 answered. All are invited to send in 

 questions. 



Implements and other articles of 

 interest for exhibition will be re- 

 ceived and properly arranged. It will 

 pay any bee-keeper to go a thousand 

 miles to listen to the discussions. By 

 hearing and seeing, you will obtain 

 much more knowledge than by read- 

 ing. Five hundred bee-keepers will 

 be in attendance. Reduced rates of 

 board at hotels have been secured. 

 All are invited. 



Geo. W. House, See. 



W. E. Clark, Pres. 



i®° A meeting of beekeepers will 

 be held at the residence of W.Cossens, 

 Monee, Will Co., Ills., on Monday. 

 Jan. 28, 1884. All friends of improved 

 management of the apiary, are invi- 

 ted to attend. 



A. WiCHEKTS, ) 



W. CossENS, > Conimittee. 



B. Heybn, ) 



1^ The Northwestern Illinois and 

 Southwestern Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, will hold its annual meet- 

 ing in Temperance Hall, Freeport, HI., 

 on Jan. 15 and 16, 1.S84. 



J. Stewart, Sec. 



Rock City, 111., Nov. 30, 1883. 



1^ The 5th annual Convention of 

 the Northeastern Ohio and North- 

 western Pennsylvania Bee -Keepers' 

 Association, will be held at Jefferson, 

 Ohio, Jan. 16 and 17, 1884. All are 

 cordially invited. 



C. H. Coon, Sec. 



New Lyme, O., Nov. 26, 1883. 



1^ Owing to the death of our Sec- 

 retary, Mr. T. Brookins, please an- 

 nounce in the Bee Journal that the 

 annual meeting of the ChamplainVal- 

 ley Bee-Keepers' Association, will 

 meet in the parlors of the Addison 

 House, Middleburg, Vt., the second 

 Thursday in January, 1884. 



J. E. Crane, Pres. 



^g" The Bee-Keepers' Association 

 of Central Illinois, will meet in Bloom- 

 ington, on Jan. 9, 1884. All are cor- 

 dially invited to attend. 



Jas. Poindexter, Sec. 



1^ A meeting of the bee-keepers of 

 Des Moines Co., Iowa, will be held on 

 the second Tuesday in January, at 10 

 a. m., for the purpose of organizing a 

 county bee-kepers' association, at Mid- 

 dleton, Iowa, in R. C. Crawford's 

 Hall, John Nau , Frank Melcher, 

 A. M. Baldwin, W. R. Glandon, 

 Cofmrnittee. 



