472 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Seventy were not fed sugar, and these, 

 we are told, had •' less bee-bread than 

 usual," while those that were fed, 

 "had not cue-fourth as much bee- 

 bread as usual." Mr. Heddon gives 

 us no information as to the consump- 

 tion of bee-bread, either in the 70 un- 

 fed colonies, or those which were fed ; 

 he merely informs us that he " lost 

 about 30 colonies by diarrhoea,"' but 

 does not state any facts as to the con- 

 sumption of bee-bread by the colo- 

 nies he lost. 



The history of the 45 colonies is 

 not so conclusive, when you come to 

 think it out as it might seem to be on 

 the first blush. That 44 of them win- 

 tered well, only proves what we knew 

 before, as I have already stated, viz : 

 that under favorable circumstances 

 in other respects, bees will winter 

 well in the absence of either honey or 

 pollen. The report on the 4oth hive 

 is open to criticism on at least two 

 points : First, it does not appear that 

 this colony had any more bee-bread 

 than many of the 291 which wintered 

 well ; and secondly, though this col- 

 ony had, by mistake, pollen left in it, 

 the " pizen " does not seem to have 

 been eaten by the bees. When the 

 foreman examined that hive, in the 

 fall, one comb had a patch of brood 

 nearly as large as his hand ; and when 

 Mr. Heddon opened the hive in the 

 spring, one comb had " a little brood," 

 while the comb was " nearly half full 

 of bee-bread." So, then, the bee- 

 bread, which the foreman saw in the 

 fall, appears to have been left un- 

 touched, for there was about the same 

 quantity at the two examinations. Is 

 bee-bread so fatal that its mere pres- 

 ence in hives will cause diarrhcea V 



My comment on ^Ir. Heddon's re- 

 port would be, that his bees were pre- 

 pared for wintering with great care, 

 and that the season happened to be of 

 acharacter that most of the colonies 

 were able to hibernate, and so, did 

 well. There is nothing in the whole 

 narrative to conflict wi'th the position 

 I have taken in regard to wintering. 

 I would like to know what amount 

 of stores those bees consumed. If a 

 small quantity, then the hibernating 

 conditions were nearly perfect ; and 

 if a considerable quantity, then the 

 bees were only able to hibernate par- 

 tially—still, hibernation was so far 

 practical as to bring them through 

 the ordeal in good condition. 



Too much consumption of food, 

 whether honey, sugar or pollen, in- 

 terferes with normal hibernation. 

 Establish the hibernating conditions, 

 and they will eat the minimum of 

 food. 



Mr. Heddon does not tell us how 

 well any of his colonies wintered, ex- 

 cept the 44 which were prepared with- 

 out a cell of pollen. Did others that 

 had some pollen winter equally well 

 with the 44 that had none ? If so, 

 what becomes of the no-pollen theory V 

 The fact is, that whatever may be 

 true in regard to the pollen question, 

 Mr. Heddon's report squares exactly 

 with my discovery, that successful win- 

 terinq depends on hibernation. That is 

 the key to the mystery, and I earn- 

 estly hope that every bee-keeper in 

 the country will accede to mv modest 



request, and prepare at least one col- 

 ony for the winter of 18S4-o, so that it 

 can hibernate as it would do in a hol- 

 low-tree trunk. 



I am sorry that Mr. Heddon in- 

 dulges in such a contemptuous fling 

 at " our ever-present corps of inex- 

 perienced apicultural writers." Of 

 course, by these he means all who do 

 not obtain their livelihood exclusively 

 by bee-keeping. At the head of this 

 " corps " stands the Rev. L. L. Langs- 

 troth, who gave us the movable-frame, 

 and, at the tail, there is your humble 

 servant, who has lately evolved the 

 hibernation-theory, out of which, 

 after due experiment, will come to 

 the true method of wintering bees; 

 and in the success of which we shall 

 remember tlie " bacteria " and " pol- 

 len " vagaries of a certain experienced 

 apicultural writer, as an illustration 

 of the fact that " it takes great men 

 to put forth great nonsense." 



Warren Pierce's article in the same 

 number as is Mr. Heddon's report, is 

 a splendid contribution to the mass 

 of proof that will soon be forthcoming 

 to show that the problem of winter- 

 ing is solved by hibernation. 



Speedside, Ont. 



F(»r the American Bee Jciumal. 



Facts in Regard to Wintering. 



.1. E. POND, JE. 



I do not intend, at this time to en- 

 ter into a discussion of the " pollen 

 theory," but, instead, to give a few 

 facts from my own experience. Dis- 

 cussions on mooted questions will al- 

 ways prove valuable, and whether the 

 "pollen theory " is correct or not, a 

 full and complete investigation in re- 

 gard to it will aid all of us greatly, 

 in solving the winter problem, for the 

 reason that it must bring out facts 

 which otherwise would not have been 

 generally known. 



I do not know that the facts which 

 I shall recite will add anything of 

 value to the discussion on wintering; 

 but having wintered my bees on the 

 summer stands for years without the 

 loss of a single full colony, possibly 

 these facts may prove of some interest. 



Last fall I prepared 2 colonies for 

 winter by selecting and giving to them 

 such frames as contained the largest 

 amount of pollen of any that I could 

 find. I should judge that at least }4 

 of the cells in each frame contained 

 more or less pollen. These 2 colonies 

 were of fair size, and covered 6 Sim- 

 plicity - Langstroth frames. They 

 were both put in single-walled Sim- 

 plicity hives, with division-boards on 

 each side of the frames ; a " Hull's 

 device " ovei> the frames, covered with 

 a thin woolen blanket, and the upper 

 story filled with forest leaves ; the 

 cover having inch holes in each end 

 for ventilators. An entrance ^g of an 

 inch wide by G inches long was also 

 given them. 



My other colonies were prepared for 

 winter in much the same manner ; the 

 only real difference being that I took 

 no particular pains in regard to pollen, 

 and giving them such frames as I had 

 containing sufficient stores. In pre- 



paring the frames for winter, I always 

 begin as early as Sept. 1, and so ar- 

 range them that at least the upper 

 third part of each frame is filled with 

 capped stores ; thus giving food 

 enough in a situation where it can be x 

 reached at all times, no matter how 

 severely cold the winter may prove. 



The result of my experiments was. 

 I did not lose a single colony ; that 

 iione of them showed any signs of 

 bee-diarrh^ea ; but that the 2 wintered 

 on what ordinarly would be called an 

 excessive amount of pollen, came 

 through in the best condition of any. 

 15rood-rearing having begun early, 

 one of those colonies gathered 72 

 pounds of honey from apple bloom. 



I have no tlieories to advance ; I 

 simply state tlie facts. I am of the 

 opinion, however, that bees prepared 

 for winter, as an experience of years _ 

 teaches me, is the correct method for M 

 my own location, will meet with a 1 

 minimum of loss. I will say that if 

 pollen is the cause of bee-diarrhoea, 

 the 2 colonies mentioned above, ought 

 to have been terrible sufferers from 

 its effects. 



Foxboro, Mass. 



Texas State Convention. 



The Bee-Keepers' Association met 

 at McKinney, Texas. April 12, 1884, at 

 10 a. m. judge W. H. Andrews, 

 President, declared the sixth annual 

 session called to order. He said it 

 was now swarming time, and that the 

 bee-keepers had now clustered and 

 were ready to be hived. That the 

 Association was, year after year, 

 drawing some new member from a 

 distance. This year we have the 

 Cyprian from as tar south as Xavarro 

 —Mr. Carroll, of that county, now 

 being for the first time present with 

 us— and that he hoped to see the good 

 work go on. 



Business now being in order, a 

 motion was made by Dr. Marshall, 

 was carried that a committee on 

 questions be appointed, and that all 

 members desiring to put questions to 

 the Association, present them to the 

 committee ; the committee to select 

 the most important for discussion, 

 and report them to the Association. 

 T. C. Goodner. .J. S. Kerr, and M. H. 

 Davis were appointed on the com- 

 mittee. 



A motion by Dr. Marshall to ap- 

 point a committee on foul brood, was 

 carried. Dr. Marshall and Judge 

 Goodner were appointed. 



Moved and carried that the Asso- 

 ciation recommend the Asierican 

 Bee JouiiNAL, and that it be the or- 

 gan of the bee-keepers in Texas. 



Report of committee on questions 

 was next made. 



1. "Should the queen's wing be 

 clipped ?" Answer by committee, 

 " Yes." 



Dr. JIarshall opposed the clipping ; 

 thought it would end in a race of bees 

 without wings. Mr. Carroll took the 

 same ground, saying in addition, that 

 it injured the beauty of the queen. 

 Mr. Davis favored clipping as a means 

 of preventing swarms from abscond- 

 ing. Mr. Graham opposed clipping. 



