664 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ing without a queen, aud there was a 

 smell of diarrhoea without evacuation. 



On entering the cellar, one morn- 

 ing, the cluster was found broken and 

 the bees performing in a way peculiar 

 to bees badly afflicted with diarrhoea. 

 I doubled back the enameled cloth 

 one half and left them until evening, 

 when I found them quietly clustered 

 at the tops of the combs. After dry- 

 ing and replacing the enameled clotli, 

 they remained as quiet as they had 

 been during the 70 days, when they 

 were taken to the stand and found 

 without brood, and (with the excep- 

 tion of a few slightly-distended bees) 

 in prime order. 



The other, having the enameled 

 cloth perforated in the centre and 

 covered with course straw, remained 

 quiet 80 days, when my attention was 

 drawn by the appearance of a dis- 

 tended bee. More days brought more 

 distended bees, increasing symptoms 

 of diarrhoea, and a quick, spiteful 

 roar about once a minute. On exami- 

 nation I found the straw near the 

 perforations, in the enameled cloth, 

 dripping wet, and that the roars cor- 

 responded to the drops of water that 

 passed through the perforations into 

 the cluster. 'After the straw was re- 

 moved, the moisture passed off, and 

 the bees gradually returned to their 

 former quietness, and so remained to 

 the end of the winter. 



In answer to a question on page 37 : 

 After wintering bees in a cellar that 

 resembled the one described on page 

 C, in the place built, number of colo- 

 nies put in, material used in con- 

 struction, ventilation, size, moldy 

 combs with the bottom-boards left on 

 the hives, arrangement of hives, and 

 the dropping of water from the walls 

 and joists, I believe it to be another 

 instance of the condensation of mois- 

 ture, the same as that on the pitcher 

 of water on the summer dinner-table, 

 as the moisture on the joists varied 

 with the outside temperature ; and if 

 I should open the door letting warmer 

 air into the cellar, condensed moisture 

 would soon drip from the walls, and 

 shutting the door caused the moisture 

 to disappear. 



To all appearances my cellar is very 

 damp, yet last winter when the bees 

 were in it, salt would lose moisture 

 while moisture condensed as before 

 described, and ran down, swelling the 

 wood on the inside of the hives, which 

 caused them to split open. The draft 

 in the ventilator was able at times to 

 carry pieces of paste-board, and again 

 it moved in an opposite direction. 



In the early part of the season I 

 sometimes feed diluted honey to my 

 whole apiary, in the open air, from a 

 pan about 4 feet square, the bottom 

 of which is filled with slats set up 

 edge-wise % of an incli apart. I have 

 often fed 7.5 pounds in a couple of 

 hours, with perfect satisfaction, ex- 

 cepting that I believed from the 

 searching by bees and flies on the 

 grass, in a line from the feed to the 

 apiary, and the fact that the quality 

 of the feed varied the size and num- 

 ber of drops, that the bees wasted a 

 share of the feed in the spray de- 

 scribed by Mr. S. J. Youngman on 

 page .S56 : " I have seen this water- 



like spray, day after day, for 50 or 

 more days, and at the same time in 

 each day I saw pollen -colored excre- 

 ment (that was too thick to be called 

 a liquid) well strewn on everything 

 over which the bees flew, and it was 

 always of about the same consistency, 

 and conformed in quantity to tlie 

 amount of brood-rearing going on. 

 Bradford, Iowa. 



For the American Bee Joumsil. 



Northeastern Kentucky Convention. 



The Xortheastern Kentucky Bee- 

 Keepers' Association met in Walker's 

 Hall, at Covington, Ky., on Sept: 2.5, 

 1884. The attendance was good. The 

 minutes of the previous meeting were 

 read aud approved, after which regu- 

 lar business was transacted. The 

 committee appointed at the last meet- 

 ing to attend tlie State Association, 

 which met at Eminence, Ky., on Sept. 

 2 and 3, reported as follows :. " Owing 

 to some misunderstanding, the at- 

 tendance was very small ; the meet- 

 ing was, nevertheless, very interest- 

 ing. The Rev. L. Johnson, of Wal- 

 ton, Boone county, was elected Presi- 

 dent, and .John T." Connley, of Walnut 

 Lick, Gallatin county, Secretary for 

 the ensuing year." The above named 

 gentlemen are both members of the 

 Northeastern Kentucky Association, 

 and tlie remaining members heartily 

 endorse their election. 



To return to our own meeting : 

 Several members who were absent at 

 the last meeting gave in their reports, 

 whicli were about the same as those 

 previously given. A great many sub- 

 jects were discussed, the winter prob- 

 lem receiving the most attention, al- 

 though a threadbare question to 

 many. Still its solution is occupying 

 the talent of the fraternity. The gen- 

 eral opinion seemed to be that a 

 plentiful supply of pure, ripe honey, 

 witli a moderate consideration of 

 other necessaries, would insure suc- 

 cess. 



Air. Wm. Blick, of Covington, re- 

 ported that he had but 3 colonies of 

 bees, all of which were badly infected 

 with foul brood. How it came, or 

 where it came from, he knows not. 

 Mr. Chas. F. Muth. of Cincinnati, O., 

 stated that he had seen Mv. Blick's 

 bees, and advised him to suffocate 

 them with sulphur and then cremate 

 their hives and all connected with 

 them. Mr. Blick promised to do so 

 immediately after the meeting of tlie 

 Association, as he wished the mem- 

 bers, who had never seen a case of 

 foul brood, to see this. On motion, 

 Messrs. Blick and Cree were ap- 

 pointed a committee to visit apiaries 

 in this vicinity in quest of foul brood. 



Rev. L. Johnson offered the foUow- 

 resolution : 



Whereas, Foul brood in its malig- 

 nant form has appeared in Covington, 

 Ky., we, therefore, request all per- 

 sons who discover bees so affected, to 

 immediately burn all hives and fix- 

 tures so affected. 



The resolution was unanimously 

 adopted. 



It was reported by some members 

 present that there is a party in New- 



port, Ky., adulterating honey and 

 then selling it as pure. All agreed 

 that this is injurious and detrimental 

 to the bee-keeper's interest. Tlie 

 Rev. L. Johnson again came forward 

 with a resolution : 



Wherea!!, It is reported that a cer- 

 tain party is selling adulterated honey 

 in Newport and elsewhere, 



Resolved, That we request the Sec- 

 retary of this society to ascertain the 

 name of such party, and properly in- 

 form the public against him. 



Rev. L. Johnson advanced some 

 very wholesome suggestions in regard 

 to the meeting of the State Associa- 

 tion here (Covington) on Sept. 23 and 

 24, 188-5. He proposes to give a por- 

 tion of his time, this coming winter 

 and spring, to lectures on " Bees and 

 their Management ;" to which Mr. 

 Chas. F. Muth offered the following : 

 In consideration of the proposition 

 of Rev. Johnson, President elect of 

 the State Association, that he contem- 

 plates to give a series of lectures on 

 bee-keeping, during the coming win- 

 ter and sping, for the benefit of bee- 

 keepers, be it 



Resolved, That Bro. Johnson is re- 

 quested to take a collection at every 

 meeting to defray his own personal 

 expenses, and put the surplus, if any, 

 to the " Langstroth Fund." We are 

 aware of the gratitude which every 

 one of us feels towards Mr. Langs- 

 troth, and knowing that he is in needy 

 circumstances, the assistance of sym- 

 pathizing associations is invited. 



Our own nieetings are growing in 

 interest, and the bee-keeper, Ije he a 

 novice or an expert, can always learn 

 something new. We certainly con- 

 sider it a treat to listen to such men 

 as Muth, Johnson, Stith, Connley, 

 McVean and others discourse on the 

 science of apiculture. 



On motion it was decided to hold 

 the next meeting at Walton, Boone 

 County, Ky., on the first Wednesday 

 in April, 188-5. G. W. Cree, Sec. 



Peter McVean, Pres. 



For She American Bee Jourc*il- 



Poisonous Honey— Fertile Workers. 



C. M. HIGGINS.»0 



On page 613, Mr. A. Osborn strives 

 to be ingenious in finding the cause 

 of poisonous honey, but his argument 

 is " too thin." if all honey were 

 alike in quality, color, etc., then a 

 clear reason might be found to fit ; 

 but all honey is not alike. Who ever 

 heard of well-ripened honey produc- 

 ing serious effects ? Uncapped honey 

 from the yellow jessamine in Florida 

 is actually poisonous, and has pro- 

 duced death ; but after it is once 

 capped, there is no honey nicer or 

 more wholesome. Besides in good 

 extracting weather— when the weather 

 is clear and vi'arm, and honey is being 

 gathered rapidly, bees pay very little 

 attention to disturbance, and can 

 often be handled without smoke or a 

 veil, and do not show those little 

 poison drops on their stings that they 

 do when the weather is unfavorable 

 for manipulation. This seems to be 



