262 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of drawing up a constitution and by- 

 laws, to Be snbmitted at the next 

 meeting of the association. 



In the choice of a suitable name, it 

 was decided that tlie association 

 should be called the Northeastern 

 Kentucky Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 and the membership fee 50 cents. 



Messrs. Colonel Adie O. Robert- 

 son, W. G. Gosney and T. L. Thorn- 

 ton were chosen as the executive com- 

 mittee. 



It was decided that one part of the 

 association's programme at each 

 meeting, should be the reading of 

 essays, and the vice-presidents were 

 appointed to prepare them for the 

 next meeting. 



The vice-presidents were also in- 

 trusted with the duty of calling upon 

 the bee-keepers of "their respective 

 counties for the purpose of securing 

 theirco-operation with the association. 



It was decided that the next regu- 

 lar meeting of the association should 

 be on the second Wednesday in Au- 

 gust; but in order to secure a discus- 

 sion of points of special interest for 

 that time, it was voted that an inter- 

 mediate meeting should be held in 

 Covington, on May 7. Adjourned. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Pollen or Ventilation. 



H. S. HACKMAN. 



Has the truth been arrived at in 

 regard to bee-diarrhcea V Is it the 

 pollen, or the want of proper ventila- 

 tion that causes the diarrhoea V 



My experience leads me to think it 

 is the want of proper ventilation. A 

 year ago last fall I vvintered 230 colo- 

 nies of bees, all fair and strong ones. 

 105 were in two-story hives ; 125 were 

 in one-story hives ; and all packed 

 alike in leaves on the summer stands, 

 facing the south. The two-story hives 

 had both entrances open. By two- 

 story, I wish to be understood as be- 

 ing two one-story hives setting on top 

 of each other. Bees almost always 

 clustered in the upper story ; the 

 lower story, in many cases, had only 

 foundation starters, and sometimes 

 were full of comb. 



Of the 125 in the one-story hives, I 

 lost 100 by the middle of April ; while 

 of those in the two-story liives, I 

 lost 5; but from this date until 

 June, 18 more in the two-story hives 

 were lost by spring dwindliug.'Nearly 

 all of the one-story hives contained 

 frost or ice during the cold weather. 

 This was proven oy the presence of 

 broken comb, and "the water miming 

 out of the entrances when it became 

 w'arm enough to tliaw. The bees in 

 tliese hives had diarrhoea. 



The colonies in the two-story hives 

 were free fromdiarrhcea, ice, moisture, 

 and broken comb, and the bees were 

 as bright as could be. I paid no at- 

 tention to the pollen in these colonies, 

 so there was not as much doubt in 

 those of the one-story hives as in those 

 of the two-story hives; and I, there- 

 fore, conclude "that it was the air- 

 space under the cluster, and the cir- 

 culation of the air through the open 

 entrances. 



Two of my neighbors, the same 

 winter, had about the same number 

 of colonies— 25 or 30 each. No. 1 had 

 his packed in corn fodder. His hives 

 being part frame and part box, and 

 all one-story. He lost all except 2 

 colonies. No. 2 had all box-hives, 

 and every box raised an inch from the 

 bottom-board. Quite a number of his 

 hives had openings in the top, from 3 

 to 4 inches sqiiare. and were left open 

 all winter. Ills bees came through 

 all alive and bright. Take this for 

 what it is worth. The man who lost 

 all but 2 colonies, told me tlie above, 

 and I have no doubt but that it is 

 true ; so what do we know about win- 

 tering bees y 



Peru, Illinois. 



For the American Bee Joun:ni 



Capturing Queens. 



W. H. STEWART. 



On page 103, Rev. P. W. Archer 

 claims to be able, by locating himself 

 beside a colony of bees, witliin a few 

 minutes, to cause the queen to come 

 out and allow herself to be captured. 



When I first read the statement, I 

 was inclined to doubt its truthfulness; 

 but after thinking the matter over, I 

 believe that I understand the manner, 

 or at least one way, in which it can be 

 performed. 



Perhaps it may be done at any time 

 during warm weather; but I doubt 

 whether it could be successfully per- 

 formed at any time, except during 

 the swarming season. It is well 

 known to all close observing bee- 

 keepers, that when a plurality of 

 queens is hatching in the hive," the 

 queens will, at twilight, utter several 

 monotonous sounds, very much like 

 the sounds produced by the mason- 

 wasps while building their mud nests. 

 This noise made by the queens, is 

 believed by most bee-keepers to be a 

 challenee for the deadly combat that 

 often ends in the destruction of all 

 the queens in the colony except one. 



If I am not badly mistaken, one 

 could seat himself near the entrance 

 of the hive containing a strong col- 

 ony, in this climate during the months 

 of June and July, and (with the queen- 

 mocker that I to-day send you, to be 

 placed in your museum) produce an 

 imitation of the piping of the queen ; 

 thus causing her to believe that a 

 rival queen is near the entrance, 

 challenging her to combat. I think 

 when she hears the cliallenge, she 

 would present herself at the entrance 

 for the purpose of fighting ; and 

 while under the excitement, could be 

 captured. 



If the queen-mocker can be made 

 to work well, it will be very useful 

 while moving brood-combs with ad- 

 hering bees, from strong colonies, for 

 ttie purpose of using them to build up 

 those that are weak ; or, in other 

 words, building up nuclei. 



It is somecimes quite a task to hunt 

 up a queen while doing this work, as 

 the colony from which we wish to 

 take the brood-combs are very popu- 

 lous; and it is desirable to know just 

 where the queen is, in order that we 



may be sure that we do not carry her 

 to the nuclei, with the other bees ad- 

 hering to the brood-comb. 



Whether the plan that I propose is 

 the same as that practiced by Iilr. 

 Archer or not, we are indebted to him 

 for the idea of thus getting at the 

 queen. We may, liowever, find by 

 practice that any plan will end in dis- 

 aster. I have thought that, perhaps, 

 a queen thus enraged would be balled 

 or killed upon returning to the colony 

 in that excited condition. 



Orion, Wis 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Honey Fermenting. 



K. B. MUKPHY. 



I see a great deal in the Bee Jour- 

 nal about the pollen theory, the 

 humidity theory, the poor honey 

 tlieory, and a " great many other 

 theories to account for the loss of the 

 bees in winter. 



My experience has been, if I could 

 keep the moisture out of the hives, 

 and had a good strong race that bred 

 young bees until late in the season, 

 and if the honey was all right, there 

 was not much trouble. I think one of 

 the greatest troubles, or, at least it 

 has been in this section, where other- 

 wise cared for, has been in the honey, 

 and that, generally, in the early honey. 

 For tills section I v>ould rather chance 

 the late honey for wintering than the 

 clover and basswood honey ; for the 

 reason that the early honey in the 

 body of the hive, and occasionally the 

 surplus honey, if left in the hive too 

 long, seems "to ferment the same as 

 good yeast will. I have had a piece 

 as much as 3 inches square of the 

 caps of the cells, tear loose from the 

 cells in a body and raise up ig of an 

 inch or more in the centre from the 

 cells ; and the space beneath,on top of 

 the honey, full of small air bubbles; 

 and colonies with such honey in 

 variably wintered poorly, or died dur- 

 ing the winter, according to the 

 amount of such honey in the hive. 



I cannot give any reason for the 

 honey apparently fermenting (as it 

 does not sour). "Whether it is bac- 

 teria or fungi that causes it, or not 

 either, I am unable to say ; but I have 

 found that when I discovered any of 

 it in a colony, if I would extract it 

 and let them till up on late honey, they 

 were all right for the winter; and I 

 found by experimenting, that if the 

 old bees were fed on this honey in the 

 fall, after the honey season is over, 

 they would begin to die off and 

 dwindle the same as spring dwind- 

 ling. I have thought manv times that 

 sprnig dwindling was caused by this 

 kind of tioney, even when it had not 

 developed enough to show it to the 

 niiked eye. 



There has been more or less of this 

 kind of honey in some of my hives 

 nearly every year since 1871 or 1872, 

 and it was thought by some of the 

 bee-keepers of Kentucky and Ten- 

 nessee, about that time, that this kind 

 of honey was the cause of such heavy 

 losses in those States from 1867 to 

 1869. If my memory serves me right, 



