THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



361 



rooster was a rooster made of tin ; 

 but a tinsmitli is not a smith made of 

 tin. and an etrg-worlver is not neces- 

 sarily a worker in eggs. 

 Ta'tterson, X. J. 



For tbe American ISee Journal. 



Pollen not the Cause of Diarrhoea. 



ItOBERT CORBETT. 



On page liw, Mr. Tliomas 11. Shep- 

 herd speaks of late swarms having 

 the diarrho'a, and why they have it. I 

 beg leave to dift'er from him, and to 

 show that it has not been my experi- 

 ence in 50 years of bee-keeping. 



I liave always found that my late or 

 young swarms are the cleanest, and in 

 the best condition in the spring. No 

 one must expect that a quart of bees 

 will winter so well in the same tem- 

 perature as four times that amount 

 will, if each have the same space in 

 the hive. While the full colony will 

 come through all right with the tem- 

 one-quart colony would require a tem- 

 perature at 40- to SO-" above zero, the 

 perature of 55^ to 60^. Everything 

 else being all right such a small col- 

 ony will come out in the spring clean- 

 er than tlie full colony. 



I agree witti Mr. S. in regard to pol- 

 len, tor I do not believe that it is the 

 cause of diarrhoea, but that it is fall 

 honey. Neither do I believe that fall 

 honey is as good as summer honey on 

 which to winter bees, if it has not been 

 gathered from cane or cider mills. As 

 a general thing fall honey is thicker 

 and heavier than white clover honey. 

 Mr. S. says that healthy colonies have 

 their combs filled with summer honey, 

 while the sick ones have theirs filled 

 with iioneset, aster and other kinds of 

 fall honey. He seems to think that 

 the weak must succuml) to the strong, 

 and take wliat they can get ; and that 

 I think is the principal cause of the 

 disease. 



He quotes this from Dr. Tinker : 

 "When in the winter the temperature 

 of the cluster and interior of the hive, 

 falls below the point of health, the be- 

 ginning of their ills is here." Truer 

 words were never spoken. Then Mr. 

 S. says, " Where he gets his proof I 

 do not know." I can tell him that the 

 doctor gets it riglit in the hive where 

 the sick bees are. He also says, " I 

 tind, where diarrhrea does so much 

 damage, there is an abundance of fall 

 honey and a famine befcne it com- 

 mences." How is this V Here we 

 have no clover and but very little 

 basswood, so the winter stores" of the 

 bees are, in a measure, all fall honey ; 

 and our bees are as free from diarrhoea 

 here as anywhere else. 



To obtain a good colony, take an 

 August swarm wbicli has bad enough 

 stores to winter on, and it will tie 

 cleaner and brighter in the spring, 

 than an older colony in the same tem- 

 perature. But in wintering light col- 

 onies the space which they occupy 

 must be contracted, or there must be 

 two holes four or live inches from the 

 top of the hive, especially if the hive 

 is a deep one, but no ventilation above. 



While a full colony will bear some 

 upward ventilation, the light one will 



perish ; and wliile the strong one is 

 able to cast olf its foulness below at 

 the entrance, the light one is not. 

 Therefore the two holes are required 

 in the front of llie hive above the en- 

 trance covered with wire cloth, then 

 the light colony will be able to 

 cleanse itself of its foulness. Whilst 

 they can cast tliis foulness to the bot- 

 tom of the hive they can cast it so far 

 as to be carried away by the current 

 of air which is passing from the en- 

 trance thro\igh tbe hciles. Thus the 

 light colony is jn-eserved from any 

 dampness; ami if the atmosphere is 

 all right the ventilation is also. 

 Manhattan, Kan. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Tuscarawas Co. 0., Convention. 



The bee-keepers of Tuscarawas Co., 

 O., met at Port Washington, O., on 

 May 15, 1884, and duly organized by 

 adopting a constitution and by-laws, 

 and electing the following i")tticers, 

 viz.: A. A. Fradenburg, President; 

 Geo. F. Williams, Secretary ; and T. 

 A. Swihart, Vice-President. 



As the meeting was held at the time 

 of year when farmers are ('hinting 

 corn, the attendance was not large. 

 Several subjects relating to bee-keep- 

 ing were discussed, and all present 

 seemed to be much interested. 



Adjourned to meet in New Phila- 

 delphia, O., on Oct. 23. 1884. 



A. A. Fkaubnburg, Pres. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Shall we Rear Hybrids or Not ? 



J. E. FOND, JR. 



I am a stickler for purity of blood, 

 and have, as yet, to learn that a su- 

 perior race can be improved in its 

 first generation by crossing with an 

 inferior. I am well aware tliat our 

 domestic breeds all sprang from one 

 original, and that great improvements 

 have been made by mixing blood ; but 

 to produce a distinct strain, like the 

 Jersey cattle for instance, has taken a 

 long period of time, and has been 

 done only by using the greatest care 

 in the blending of strains. 



Now, if we apply this same princi- 

 ple to the lioney-bee, we must know 

 that a long period of time will in- 

 evitably elapse before a distinct 

 strain can possibly be produced ; and 

 whatever we may rear that is less 

 than a distinct strain, will be of no 

 value whatever. I mean by a distinct 

 strain in bees, such queens as will in- 

 variably produce such certain charac- 

 teristics in their worker progeny, that 

 we may know them with absolute 

 certainty. Anything short of this is 

 notliing but hyliridizing, as it is 

 called. 



I have no fault to find witli any one 

 who prefers, for his own~use. Italians 

 mixed with blacks ; that is liis busi- 

 ness. If lu' prefers hyl)rids, he cer- 

 tainly has the right to rear them ; but 

 I do find fault with any one who 

 claims to have made by crossing the 

 Italians with tlie blacks, a distinct 

 strain, which is far superior to any- 



thing now known, simply because I 

 l)elieve it is impossiVile so to do, and 

 because it is putting hybrids into a 

 prominent position under the garb of 

 a new strain. 



\\'hat is the claim made in regard 

 to these " bees for Vmsincss," as th ey 

 are called y Simply that they will 

 occupy sections more readily than the 

 pure Italians. But will they V I 

 have many times read the statement 

 that t'u^y will do so, l>ut my own ex- 

 perience teaches me the contrary ; and 

 I must conclude, judging Ijy my own 

 apiary, that he who connot induce his 

 nure Italians to readily work in sec- 

 tions, does not understand the " nater 

 of the critter;" and that it is liis 

 fault rather than that of his bees. 



I am well aware that the Italians 

 are inclined to swarm out when the 

 brood-chamber is tilled, but not more 

 so than other ijees when they are 

 properly managed. It is difflcult 

 to prevent swarming when working 

 for surplus comb honey, still it can 

 be done with the exeixdse of care, 

 time and patience. 



I have never known a colony of pure 

 Italians to cast a first swarm before 

 the brood frames were full ; while tlie 

 blacks and hybrids will often do so. 

 This, I judge, to be a peculiarity of 

 the Italians ; and by taking advantage 

 of it, 1 find they enter sections, and 

 fill them too, as readily as any other 

 race of bees. 



I will give my method of manage- 

 ment, and liave, no doubt, that others 

 upon trial of it, will meet with the 

 same success that I do. I will say in 

 the first place, that all attempts to 

 prevent swarming must be made be- 

 fore the swarming impulse seizes the 

 bees, else it will be almost impossible 

 to prevent it, no matter to what race 

 or strain the bees may belong ; for 

 that reason I begin early to prepare 

 my bees for comb honey producing, 

 and I am so successful, as a rule, that 

 the sections are entered at once, after 

 they are placed over the frames. 



Every one knows that the instinct 

 of the honey-bee teaches it to place 

 its stores above the brood ; so I take 

 advantage of this principle, and cause 

 the frames to be filled with brood 

 completely to tbe top. It is not a dif- 

 ficult matter to do this, and requires 

 but little time ; but in any business, 

 no matter what it is, we expect to ex- 

 pend time and run into difficulties, 

 and, of course, must expect to do so 

 in apiculture. 



As soon as the frames are well filled 

 with brood to the very top — if tliere ia 

 a flow of lioney — I put on sections, 

 with the result that the bees at once ' 

 occupy them, and usually fill them 

 before swarming. I use worker foun- 

 dation in the sections, and if I allow 

 a small amount of drone comb in the 

 brood-chamber, and shave off the 

 caps and drones' heads when capped, 

 I Und no trouble from the queen oc- 

 cupying the sections. 



I admit that it requires some little 

 care to be successful in the method I 

 have outliiiiMl. liut I would rather 

 take ten times the care, and be at tea 

 times the trouble, rather than to be 

 bothered with a lot of hybrid " beei 

 for business" in my apiary. Brt 



