THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



245 



writer fails to tell why. If they are 

 good in poor honey seasons, then, per- 

 haps, this will cover their extra ex- 

 pense, whioli is tlie only objection to 

 them, that I know of. That they 

 work " like a charm '' at all times, is 

 important : but why reversible frames 

 in good lioney seasons are poor, is not 

 very apparent. This statement needs 

 an explanation. I see no reason why 

 a frame should be reversed when it is 

 full of brood, and " no room for any 

 more !'" .Vnd I do not see why any 

 one should reverse a frame when full 

 of honey, and "no room for any more." 

 Because frames are made reversible, I 

 do not see that we must reverse them 

 when nothini; is gained by so doing. 

 The object of making frames rever- 

 sible, as I understand tlie matter, isto 

 enable tlie bee-keeper to reverse them 

 when ?icc«,<'saj7/. The same is true in 

 making the frames movable ; not to 

 compel ustolifttheframesoutand put 

 them back again simply, and thus 

 keep us busy and out of mischief, but 

 to enable us" to manipulate the combs 

 at will and for a sensible purpose. 

 St. Charles. 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering.Double-walled Hives, etc. 



HIRAM KICHEY. 



Mr. O. O. Poppleton, on page 56, 

 says : " Show me a practical method 

 of keeping the entire inside of my 

 hives perfectly free from dampness, 

 and I have nofnrther fears of unsuc- 

 cessful wintering." Mr. P. is correct. 

 Mr. P. E. Van Etten has the same 

 opinion ; but gives his plan of dead- 

 air spaces over the brood-chamber, 

 which is not correct. The dead-air 

 spaces should be around the entire 

 brood-chamber, not over it. 



Mr. 3. A. Buchanan, on page 119, 

 says : " This old question is not long 

 at a time laid on the table." He gives 

 the double-walled hive the preference. 

 He deems it folly to remove a part of 

 the combs, and use division-boards. 

 I agree with him ; and if bees have 

 plenty of stores, and two strips across 

 the frames for a passage way, there 

 need be no fear. Another important 

 point is ventilation. Mr. B. states 

 that a large entrance should be used. 

 I beg to differ. The entrance to my 

 hive is %x3 inches. I do not rely on 

 that for ventilation. The hive I pre- 

 fer has double- walls with dead -air 

 space of M inch. I have used one of 

 these for tliree years, and never have 

 seen any dampness in it. No cold air 

 can directly strike the bees, if the 

 entrance is covered with snow. I pay 

 no attention to that, so long as the 

 ventilator is clear ; andthen I have no 

 fear of mice. For three years I have 

 used this hive without loss. All that 

 is necessary is, that the bees have 

 plenty of stores, and keep the inside 

 ventilators open. The tirst warm day 

 in the spring, lift the brood-chamber, 

 and sweep the bottom board clean; 

 put down the feeder and feed every 

 day until they can get food from other 

 sources. 



About three years ago. was a dis- 

 cussion about taking bees out of and 



into the cellar. Some thought it too 

 much trouble. One person thought it 

 no trouble, as lie liad l)uildin"s on a 

 track, contaiiiiiig S() liives each. He 

 took the brood-chamber, leaving tlie 

 hive on summer stands. This I could 

 not understand at tirst ; but finally 

 hit on the plan, and made one hive ; 

 it suited me ; so I remodeled all my 

 hives ; put my bees into them, and 

 have lost none since. Previously I 

 lost about two-thirds in each winter. 



Mr. Henry Alley thinks dry sugar 

 is the best food for bees if water be 

 also given. I no not agree with him. 

 Give them syrup made from granu- 

 lated sugar, if you can find it unadul- 

 terated. I bought some sugar at a 

 grocery st(U'e ; boiled it, and the scum 

 was of indigo hue ; wlien it became 

 cold, it was like flint. I think it 

 poison ; for, several times, I think it 

 affected my stomach. Each barrel of 

 this sugar contained an affidavit, and 

 a written guarantee of its purity. 



Mr. Editor, I send you a box con- 

 taining the scum of the sugar re- 

 ferred to above. What is it '? 



Sing Sing, N. Y. 



[The right name for the stuff is 

 " poison," as our correspondent sug- 

 gests. The adulteration of sugars is 

 now so common that it is very difficult 

 to obtain any pure. That sent us by 

 Mr. Richey has, no doubt, had too 

 strong a dose of adulteration. When 

 put on coals of fire, it burns blue and 

 smells very strong of sulphur. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Does Bee-Keeping Pay ? 



E. W. WALES. 



I have kept bees for the past 1.5 

 years ; and from my limited experi- 

 ence, I should say that it pays with 

 the experienced, year after year, 100 

 percent. 



The worst trouble with beginners is 

 in getting started in the business ; 

 hives, implements, bees, etc., costing 

 considerable. If a beginner who has 

 only a few colonies, meets with loss in 

 wintering, he is apt to become dis- 

 couraged too easily. I have found it 

 so in my experience. 



After " stocking up " with a suit- 

 able number of colonies, hives, fix- 

 tures, etc., even with great loss dur- 

 ing a severe winter, and cold spring, 

 the hives remain, also a large amount 

 of combs, implements, etc., witli 

 which again to commence. 15y pur- 

 chasing bees, the hives may be again 

 filled by the end of the season, and 

 honey enough to net him 50 per cent, 

 on the investment. 



I never have made bee-keeping a 

 specialty, having worked at farming 

 in connection with it. In the fall of 

 1882, I put into winter q^narters 38 

 colonies of Italian bees. Ot this num- 

 ber I lost 21 ; leaving 17 with which 

 again to build up. Of the 17, there 

 were only 3 strong colonies, 3 fair, and 

 11 weak. 



Here in Michigan, all know that the 

 spring was very late and cold ; but by 



feeding and good care, I managed to 

 bring them safely through to fruit 

 bloom. By fall I had increased them 

 to 45 strong colonies, which are in 

 winter quarters, and at this writing, 

 apparently in good condition. The 

 past season, my bees have produced 

 .500 pounds (if comb honey, for which 

 I received 1(> cents per pound ; making 

 $80 ; and 470 pounds of extracted 

 honey, for which I received Vl\i cents 

 per pound; making $58.75 ; selUng all 

 of it in my liome market. 



Besides tlie honey produced, I have 

 an increase of 28 colonies, valued at 

 $5 each, making $140. Total gain, 

 $278.75. My expenses were $22..50. 

 Consequently leaving me a net gain of 

 $256.25, from 17 colonies; and that, 

 too, in a very bad season. I rather 

 think it pays. In the above figures, I 

 have omitted the value of the honey 

 used in the family, or given away, 

 which must have exceeded 100 pounds. 



Disco, Mich. 



ror the American Bee Journal. 



Cause of Dysentery in Bees. 



THOS. H. SHEPHERD. 



The cause of bee-dysentery, I think, 

 is in the food the bee eats. Long con- 

 finement and cold show us only the 

 effects, not the cause. ^ly bees often 

 show signs of dysentery in the fall, 

 when driving them out of the sections, 

 as early as the middle of September, 

 while the flowers are yet in bloom. I 

 have noticed them on warm days, late 

 in the fall, while flying up, drop their 

 excrement, after being confined not 

 more than a week by cold weather. 

 Thus showing that they have the dis- 

 ease at such times. Now, if this is 

 true, the disease must result from 

 either the honey or pollen, or both. 

 That all honey or pollen is unlike is 

 true. Just the particular kind that 

 brings on the disease is what we wish 

 to discover. To reach this, we must 

 know when the bees begin to show 

 signs of dysentery. 



In the spring or summer, bees al- 

 ways eat, and teed to the brood both 

 honey and pollen, which is gathered 

 at that time. So, I think, it would be 

 an easy matter to find out what it is. 

 by the kinds of flowers out that time. 

 \ et,tliere are so many kinds of honey- 

 plants out at that time, that, perhaps, 

 it would be difticult to determine. The 

 disease here begins with,or after bone- 

 set is in bloom. Then the asters 

 bloom next. In this latitude there is 

 a famine after clover bloom, which 

 lasts until boneset comes in bloom ; 

 thus leaving the brood-combs in shape 

 to hold the boneset honey and pollen, 

 which is stored for winter use, and 

 consumed early. 



There are quite a number of other 

 plants, such as mint, golden-rod and 

 wild sun-flowers ; but boneset, asters, 

 and fall flowers are the principal 

 honey-producing plants in this part of 

 Michigan ; but as for which one caus- 

 ing dysentery, pollen or honey, I think 

 it honey. I have found in every case, 

 upon examination, that there were 

 honey and pollen in the abdomen of 

 the bee ; but a larger portion of the 



