408 



THE AMERICAN? BEE JOURNAL. 



stimulative feeding is unnecessary 

 from about May 8 till the 26. By im- 

 plicitly following Mr. Doolittle's di- 

 rections, I had my bees swarming 

 during fruit bloom last year ; and 

 frames partly filled with honey, 

 placed in the centre of the brood-nest, 

 were completely tilled from the abund- 

 ant flow of cherry bloom. 



This year, in the begiiming of apple 

 bloom, I put upper stories on the 

 hives containing the strongest colo- 

 nies : and they stored in them, on an 

 average, from 20 to 2-5 pounds of 

 honey. I have never seen a more 

 abundant apple bloom : and for i days 

 the weather was delightful, so that the 

 bees could work from daylight till 

 dark. The general June honey-flow 

 began in good earnest to-day. 



Hudson, X. Y., .June 7, 1884. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering— Bee-DiarrhcBa. 



WARREJSr PIERCE. 



As the above subjects are still being 

 discussed, I wish to offer a theory, for 

 the consideration of the bee-keeping 

 fraternity, based, principally, upon 

 the ventilation-theory to which I 

 called attention in the Bee Journal 

 several years ago, but which is only 

 just now" becoming popular. 



It is a well-known fact that car- 

 bonic-acid gas is extremely poisonous: 

 liut it is not as generally known that 

 it is heavier than air, and may be 

 poured from one vessel into another 

 almost as readily as water, and evap- 

 orates very slowly. In the case of a 

 colony of bees confined to a close hive, 

 it is a case of slow poisoning, which, 

 if not too long continued, is readily 

 cured by a flight, and not so much by 

 the voiding of feces as by the purify- 

 ing effects of the air. But if no op- 

 portunity for flight occurs, and the 

 gas is not permitted to escape, the 

 poisoning continues until the result is 

 fatal. 



Dianhcea is frequently attributed 

 to late-gathered honey. I am aware 

 that in some localities poisonous 

 honey is gathered, but I think it a 

 mistake to charge it with as much 

 mischief, as many are doing, for want 

 of a better reason for the disease. 



In June 1881, I gave my views, 

 through the Bee Journal," on ven- 

 tilation ; and in that article I men- 

 tioned the case of two colonies in my 

 bee-yard where one had nothing but 

 the best white clover honey, and the 

 other only late-gathered honey. The 

 colony having the best honey" died of 

 a bad case of diarrhwa. while the 

 other came out bright and clean. Both 

 were on the summer stands. The one 

 which lived had been carelessly left 

 with the back-stop of the hive out, 

 thus leaving an opening % by 14 

 inches to the west. 



Now, what are the evidences that 

 carbonic-acid gas is the greatest en- 

 emv to successful wintering ? That a 

 colony of 30.000 or 40,000 bees must 

 produce it in large quantities cannot be 

 doubted ; and if it does not pass away 

 freely, it must act as a slow poison. 

 "We fiave the testimony of bee-keepers 



who are successful by reason of giving 

 large bottom- ventilation which al- 

 lows the gas to pass off freely ; the 

 testimony of those depending upon 

 top-ventilation which admits pure air 

 to the cluster and assists in driving 

 out impure air below : the claims of 

 those who use deep hives on account 

 of better wintering qualities, giving 

 as they do, more room below the 

 cluster for the dense gas to settle ; 

 the well-known superiority of the old 

 box-hive, on account of its depth, 

 frequently combined with unlimited 

 bottom-ventilation; the bee-tree, the | 

 cavity of which usually has the form 

 necessary to safety ; and lastly, per- 

 haps, by the fact that brief confine- 

 ment in any weather will produce an 

 eilect similar in appearance to diar- 

 rhoea. I have no faith 'whatever in 

 the " pollen tlieory ;" none in the 

 " moisture difticulty " which cannot 

 be remedied by proper ventilation : 

 and but very little in the " poor honey 

 theory." 



I believe that ample protection is 

 necessary, if wintered on the summer 

 stands, and would either have a two- \ 

 story hive with the cluster in the 

 upper one. or a large opening in the i 

 bottom-board, and a box without a 

 cover for a stand. If bees are win- 

 tered in the cellar, the bottom-board 

 of the hive should have a large open- 

 ing, or be removed entirely, and wire 

 cloth substituted. 



The hives should be placed as far 

 up from the cellar-bottom as possible, 

 especially if the number of colonies 

 is large, for the same reason that I 

 would use a two-story hive. A recent 

 number of the Bee Journal gives 

 the experience of one of its corres- 

 pondents who found that the bees 

 which were the nearest to the cellar- 

 bottom, were the most diseased, and 

 those which were nearest the top of 

 the cellar, were the least diseased. 



Garrettsvill^, O. 



For tie American Bee Journal. 



"Wintering Bees in Cellars. 



IRA ISARBER. 



I notice on page 3.56, that Mr. Doo- 

 little has met with heavy losses of 

 bees, on a new plan of wintering. My 

 sympathy is with the dead bees, and 

 not tor Mr. Doolittle ; for, in my opin- 

 ion, any man who originates a plan of 

 wintering bees, and fails to make a 

 success of it, should not try to make 

 it appear that his plan was" substan- 

 cially the same as the one xjiacticed 

 by me for more than 20 years without 

 atailure. 



He used a cold cellar built in a side- 

 hill, and depended on coal-oil to 

 furnish heat ; while the plan which I 

 have practiced, requires a warm cel- 

 lar under a dwelling-house, and one 

 wliich never froze when bees were not 

 in it. 



Mr. D. says that he found, by my 

 reply to his letter, that I knew but 

 little about the matter, as I used a 

 thermometer only when the bees were 

 put in and when they were taken out : 

 and at such times the bees were agi- 

 tated, and would raise the tempera- 



ture. The tests of degrees of heat 

 given were 12- above zero, outside, 

 and 6-5' inside. i24 hours after the room 

 was closed ; and that of 60° outside 

 and 90° inside were taken before a 

 colony was carried out, and when the 

 cellar was first opened. I should 

 make tests oftener if I lived where 

 the cellar is ; but as my home is 20 

 miles from it. I did not propose to 

 ride that distance, on extreme cold 

 days, to test the degree of heat the 

 bees were keeping up. He says that 

 the mercury might fall to 40- below 

 zero and stay there the most of the 

 winter and I not know it. I am not 

 located near enougli to the north pole 

 to have the mercury remain at 40- be- 

 low zero nearly all" winter : while the 

 fact is. the mercury seldom, if ever i 

 goes so low in the coldest places in J 

 the open air ; and tiiat for only a few j 

 hours at a time. I 



Does Mr. Doolittle. or any intelli- i 

 gent bee-keeper. Ijelieve that a frost- 

 proof cellar without bees would be in 

 any danger of getting too cool for 

 safety when tilled with beesV The 

 same week that 1 received Mr. D.'s 

 letter, several other parties wrote to 

 me asking the same questions that 

 Mr. D. did; but this case is the first 

 that I have lieard of coal-oil being 

 used to generate heat sufficiently to 

 warm bees. 



Mr. D. says that on Jan. 1 his bees 

 were all right : but was surprised to 

 find them active. What would he 

 l*flve done if he had seen my bees on 

 March 24, when no part of the hives 

 could be seen ; for all that could be 

 I seen was piles of bees -5 feet high, or 

 rather, walls of bees ; for they were all » 

 from top to bottom and lengthwise of ' M 

 ! the rows of hives. All the damage ■ 

 done to them was the mixing up of ■ 

 Italians and hybrids, and tliey never ? 

 saw a day, while in winter quarters, 

 that the mercury was as low as 50° 

 above zero. 



Again, he says that the bees were 2 

 inches deep oii the cellar-bottom on _ 

 March]. I All the cellar full of hives, ■ I 

 on my plan, and there is no cellar- 1 

 bottom left to be covered with dead 

 bees ; and if any get tired of staying 

 at home, they can step in to the next 

 door neighbor and be received as a 

 welcome guest. 



He says that bees died of old age 

 in winter quarters. Wliat van he of- 

 fer as proof of the assertion V In my 

 experience in examining dead bees 

 found in winter repositories. I have 

 never seen any evidence of old age 

 among the dead. The down or hair 

 on their bodies was as bright and 

 fresh as we find it on bees 3 or 4 weeks 

 old ; and the wings were in perfect 

 shape, showing plainly that they had 

 not been used to any extent. Bees in 

 this locality often cease breeding 

 quite early m August, and whiter just 

 as well as" when breeding is kept up 

 until Oct. 1. 



Mr. D. asks if there is any condi- 

 tions in nature, unaided by man, 

 which will confine bees for several 

 months in so high a temperature that 

 moths will mature. My answer is : 

 A warm cellar well filled with colo- 

 nies of bees, will naturally furnish all 

 tlie heat required to mature the moth 



